When you have a carpet in your home or office, a mess or stain is simply an inevitability. What actions you take after a spill occurs is what matters in regards to the stain setting. Taking care of it fast ensures you’re less likely to develop a stain on your carpet, or may even prevent it entirely.
But is there a way to keep your carpet clean? There are actually quite a few ways, thankfully, and this article will go over a number of them so you know exactly where your options are.
How we test stain removers
Stains happen, that’s just part of life. In a perfect world, you would treat your stain immediately, but as is often the case the stain will have plenty of time to set or dry before you manage to get around to them. This will lead to throwing out more clothes than you needed to.
We have taken expert advice from a expert carpet cleaning company while we put each stain remover and method to the test, each product is tested as a pre-tester using cotton material swatches that have various stains imbued on them. Each method and product is tested on these swatches to measure the degree of stain removal and overall effectiveness.
1. Removing ink
- Wet a cloth with isopropyl alcohol and dab it into the stain. Don’t scrub or rub the carpet as it will just spread the ink even further and help it set faster. Let the alcohol stand for a few minutes, then use a vacuum to suction up the rest of the moisture.
- Some hairsprays, nail polish remover, and vinegar may also be used – so long as it has a high concentration of alcohol.
- Tip: you may need to repeat this drying and vacuuming process a few times before it’s fully dry.
- BE sure to test an area of the carpet that isn’t totally visible first, before you use any products. Some types of chemicals can damage certain types of carpet
2. Removing coffee
- First, dry the spot by blotting it with a towel. If there’s a big spill and a lot of liquid soaking into the carpet, do your best not to spread it around even further when you’re swapping towels for cleaner ones.
- Try a vinegar, water, and non-bleach detergent mixture first.
- If that doesn’t work, you can find specific cleaners that clean up this type of stain from any major department store.
3. Removing blood
- When treating blood, remember one thing: always use cold water. Blood coagulates with heat, which will hasten the process of it soaking into the carpet fibers thus leaving you with a nasty stain. Use cold water to stop this from happening.
- Use a spray bottle full of dish detergent and spray it liberally on the stain. Blot this up with a paper towel, repeating until the stain is gone and the carpet is dry.
4. Removing pet feces
- First, remove the waste. Use an old spatula or butter knife to lift any residue left on the carpet.
- Soak the area thoroughly with a laundry detergent stain remover, or an enzyme cleaner specifically for pet stains.
- Blot the area with a mixture of cold water and laundry detergent, then blot the area dry.
5. Removing pet urine
- Blot the stain with a cotton cloth.
- After, spray the stain with a mixture of 1 part vinegar and 1 part water to neutralize the uric acid.
- After that’s soaked for a few seconds, mix a teaspoon of non-bleach laundry detergent into 4 cups of water and pour it over the stain.
- Rinse the spot with water and press a clean cloth into the area til dry.
6. Removing Kool-Aid
- Blot the Kool-aid with a dry towel. Don’t scrub the stain because this will make it easier for it to permeate the carpet fibers and will be harder to remove.
- Mix white vinegar, dish soap, and water into a spray bottle and liberally apply to the stain.
- Soak the area for 5-10 minutes.
- Blot and repeat the process until the stain is gone.
7. Removing Grass
- Spray stain with cold water and laundry detergent
- Blot gently with a towel
- Repeat until the grass stain has been transferred to the towel
- Tip: frequently change the blotting towel to a clean one to avoid spreading the stain
8. Removing Paint
- Blot the spill with a cotton cloth damp with cold water
- Repeat and swap towels out for clean ones until spot is clean
- If the paint is dry, consider hiring a carpet cleaning professional
9. Removing oil/grease
- Dab a small amount of dish detergent onto the stain
- Dab the stain with dry-cleaning solvent if that doesn’t work
- Sprinkle baking soda onto the spot and vacuum once it’s dry
10. Removing wine
The following tips will help to remove wine stain from carpets:
- As soon as the spill occurs, blot the stain with a cotton cloth
- Mix 4 cups of water, tbsp of dish soap, and ¼ cup of white vinegar
- Blot into the stain with a sponge
- Let sit 5 minutes
- Blot again – don’t scrub
- Repeat till stain is gone
Conclusion
When it comes to stains, fast action is usually the key to making sure they don’t set. But when that’s not an option, thankfully there are still other things you can do. Spills don’t have to be so anxiety-inducing.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
