Underlays - What can done to protect carpets getting soiled when you have guests over?

What can done to protect carpets getting soiled when you have guests over?

My house is brand new. We are afraid to invite people over just because we are worried something will be spilled and our carpets soiled. Please give me a good solution to this. Not that we wont have people over, just hesitant and worried about what we should do... Is it right to keep guests away from the carpeted area when they are eating/drinking something? Or whats the decent way to tell them to be careful about it?

Public Comments

have them take their shoes off. clean up any messes right away. area rugs. plastic wrap. your carpets are bound to get dirty, it's a fact of life. invest in a good vacuum cleaner and either a carpet steamer or a mini version just for spot cleaning.
tell them to take shoes off and to be carefull not to spill anything on it, or do like we did and just have people eat at a table or over a laminated floor
Since we also have carpet floors, I usually inform our guests to take off their shoes in advance. If they had spilled something, it's no big deal. I use scrub the stains with hydrogen peroxide and put baking soda over the wet spot. The baking soda soaks up the wet part from they hydrogen peroxide so you can vacuum it. And once or twice a month, we would rent a steam cleaner vacuum to deep clean our carpet. You can rent one at the grocery stores.
Carpet just gets dirty and I think making guests uncomfortable by hounding them to not eat, drink, or not wear shoes in certain areas is rude I have a cheap $100 carpet shampoo machine and when the carpet starts looking dirty, I shampoo and it looks new again.
When my dad and stepmom moved into a house, it too had brand new carpets. It was white to boot. My dad made our guests remove their shoes. It's been 6 years from now and the rule is still strictly enforced but the carpet is already stained.
I'm glad I'm not your friend if you place a few bits and bobs as more important than the friendship.Why dont you get honest with them and put a trough in the garden fill it with grub and tell em to eat out of it, cos your mikey mouse house is more important than they are.
You need to live in your house and not treat it like a museum. I would never ask someone to take off their shoes in my home. Unless for some reason they stepped in mud. Have a nice doormat outside and an area rug inside the door to wipe their feet. If you want to keep food away from the area make sure that you only serve food in the kitchen or dining room. If you offer someone something to drink you should allow them to have it in the living room or den. You could try buying small easy to handle glasses for cold drinks and cups with saucers for coffee or tea. Go ahead and invest in a carpet cleaner and live a little. I would never give someone something to drink and then tell them to be careful. I would be insulted if someone told me that. Why would you assume that they would not be careful?
i ask people to take their shoes off and give them a nice pair of slippers if their feet are cold. or if its aparty, i have bought bulk saran wrap and covered the whole carpet and it worked out fine!
You have to be upfront with everyone about the house rules. Everyone knows that comes to my house that we don't have colored beverages anywhere there is carpet nor do we eat in those areas. People take their shoes off as well. Everyone is perfectly fine with it. But you also have to loosen up a bit. New houses don't stay new and occasionally things will happen. It won't be the end of the world. Of course after saying that, I almost killed my husband for breaking the rule and spilling an entire full bowl of red wine on my new cream carpet. The steam cleaners got it up and you can bet he won't be anywhere near the carpet again with red wine.
Personally, I think there are ways to do this without making your guests uncomfortable by asking them to take their shoes off or chasing them around while they eat. If it's a party, people will be eating and drinking all over the place. It will be hard to prevent stains and dirt, so be ready to treat. Before you have company over, get some scotch guard. http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Scotchgard/Home/Applications/Carpet/Do-It-Yourself/Carpet_Protector/ And treat the entire carpet with that. It will make it harder for stains to set. Have some absorbent old towels stashed all over the place so they'll be easy to get to. I have a two story house, and I have a stash of old towels on the first and second floors. If something spills, it never takes longer than a few seconds to get a towel. Have two cans of this Woolite cleaner handy: http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=142160&catid=134692 It is the best stain treatment I've ever used. If you do get a stain, soak it with this Woolite cleaner, you will see results. Other things to do would be to put good rugs so people can wipe their feet, inside and outside. Put rugs under obvious eating and drinking areas and have the serving areas over tile. If there are kids coming, make a kiddie table and put little puzzles or activities for them, to encourage them to stay there instead of walking around with a cup full of juice. At my house, I would either stick them in the garage or outside in the yard. If something does spill, just say "That's ok, no big deal!" Grab a towel, soak up as much as you can, and then douse it with the woolite cleaner. It might take a couple soakings for something like red wine or chocolate, but I'm telling you, this cleaner gets it out. Finally, just remember to have a good time! The carpet seems important now, but after a few years of being in the house, you won't feel as nervous about it. Enjoy your company!
Your best bet is to not invite anyone over if your carpets are more important than your friendships. Otherwise, wait until the weather is nice and have an outdoor barbecue. Hopefully, you have a restroom that's accessible through an uncarpeted area of your house, but if you don't you may want to try runners between the door and the bathroom.
The absolute worst is when you are invited to a home and there are "rules". At that point it is not a comfortable, inviting home where freindship is the real key. It looks like the carpet is more important. It is so super tacky it is not even funny. Enough money to buy a house but not smart enough to plan it out. The carpet will eventually need to be cleaned regardless.
You're going to need to decide whether you care more about your carpets or your friends and family. You can't prevent things from spilling, or people from walking on the floors. Get some good cleaning products. A big pile of salt is good for red wine spills. Really. Pour it on, and leave it until it's all dried out.