How To Remove Stains from Carpet
When you have a nice clean carpet the entire room looks nicer.
It is surprising how much one stain can make a room look dirty and unkempt. Removing stains from your carpet will help keep your space looking neat and tidy.
There are many different ways to clean stains from carpet, most of them depend on what the carpet has been stained with.
One common mistake is to use carpet shampoo, but this often does more harm than good. With a shampoo or soap you can’t really rinse the carpet.
What ends up happening is the carpet gets gummed up and the stains actually get worse. The only time you want to try a shampoo is when you have a carpet cleaning machine that will actually spray the carpet with water and then suck that water back up.
The Basic Process
- When there is a spill immediately get a towel or cloth to absorb the spill. Don’t rub the stained area.
- Instead lay the towel on top of the spill and put pressure on it. This will transfer the spill from the carpeting to the towel.
- Do this as fast as possible and blot the spill until a towel pressed against it comes up dry.
Stain Removal Products
If it is too late and the stain has set or has been in the carpet for awhile don’t worry there are still quite a few things that you can do. Here are a few do it at home fixes for many of the stains that commonly happen:
Shaving Cream
Yes, it’s true! Shaving cream can get out many food stains, but you have to resist wanting to rub it in. Just spray on the cream and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. After that time blot the area until it is dry.
Club Soda
Another old wives tale is true and does the trick very well. Club soda is great at getting out things that are red in color; like red wine, pet food, popsicle, kool-aid, and so on.
Hydrogen Peroxide
No stain removal list is complete without my personal favorite, hydrogen peroxide. Household strength 3% hydrogen peroxide is my secret weapon for many stains, dyes, coffee, wine, berry stains and many more.
Hydrogen peroxide, has a bleaching effect, with out being an actual bleach. It is the active ingredient in the "oxy" line of cleaning products. Hydrogen peroxide leaves no residue, and it converts to water when exposed to sunlight.
Work the hydrogen peroxide into the stain, cover the area with plastic wrap, and set a book on the plastic wrap to keep the hydrogen peroxide in the dark.
Check the stain in 30 minutes, if the stain has lightened, cover for another 30 minutes
Brake Cleaner
Not just for mechanics anymore brake cleaner is made up of the same stuff that dry cleaners use on your stained clothing. This cleaner can do wonders for food stains, but be careful to dilute it and not apply it directly to the carpet as it is so strong it can damage the carpet adhesive.
Enzyme Cleaning Products
These cleaning products are used for pet stains to carpeting. Pet stains are notoriously the hardest to take care of because the spread quickly and deep into the padding.
An enzyme cleaner will need to be left on the carpet for a long time and might even need to be poured on and left to dry. Make sure that you keep your pet from the area until it is completely dry, this is probably the hardest part.
