Emergency Stain Removal Tips

Have a stain on your precious carpet? Did your child just knock over his cup of milk for the third time today?

There are plenty of accidents that happen to each and every one of us throughout the course of owning our home. A dinner party may end up with red wine on the floor. Some may find that they are suffering from sticky grease messes. To get through any of these stains, you need to know a few basics about stain removal.

Having a nice little resource like this to come to in order to get your stain removal advice is nice too.

Stain Removal Basics

There are several basic things to keep in mind for any type of stain removal that you may need. Knowing how to react quickly is essential. Here are some tips that you need to have at your disposal at any given time to help you to get rid of stains quickly.

• A key method for cleaning up any type of carpeting stain is to use club soda. You can easy have this on hand. You can use it to remove many stains that have not set in including red wine, soda pop, coffee, and many others. To use club soda, carefully blot the soda onto the stain. Soak it back up with a terry cloth. The club soda works by drawing out the stain and keeping the stain from setting as well.
• Never rub a stain. Remember that if you rub a stain you’re are rubbing it in, not helping it to come out. Blotting is the best method for soaking up wet types of stains.
• Always use clean cloths to help you to absorb the stain. The first priority is to pick up any lose debris. If a cookie is dropped and the fruit filling is on the carpet, try to remove as much of the debris as possible to avoid pushing it into the carpet more so.

Cleaning Solutions

You can purchase over the counter products to clean your home, if you want to. They do not work any better than the things that you probably already have in your home though. For that reason, it makes sense to use a high quality carpet cleaning solution that you make yourself. There are a couple of them that you can use throughout your home.

• Mix half of a cup of ammonia with half of a cup of white vinegar. Add in just two tablespoons of your liquid style laundry detergent. Add two quarts of water. You can keep this on hand in a spray bottle for an instant solution to cleaning stains.
• Mix a quarter of a cup of Borax with two cups of cold water. You will want to use a sponge to blot this onto the stain, and then use cold water to soak it up and remove the stain.
• Some products can be used by themselves to get rid of stains. These include white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, castile soap and Fels Naptha.

Milk Stains

Use a balanced pH detergent (one teaspoon) with one cup of warm water. Blot on the stain and then blot off again with a terry cloth.

Coffee Stains

The above solutions will work well for coffee stains on your carpeting. If you get coffee stains on things like your cups or your countertops, use baking soda to remove them.

Grease and Oil

These are messy stains. If this gets on your carpeting, work quickly with the solutions above. If they are on your driveway or in your garage, use kitty litter. Sprinkle the litter over the stain and then crush it into the stain with your shoe. Rubbing will help the litter absorb the stain. Then just sweep it up.

Lime and Mineral Deposits

Hard water stains, as they are called, can be cleaned. For your faucets follow these directions. Soak a few layers of paper towels with vinegar. Place them onto the stains and let them sit for an hour or so. Remove and rinse.

Shower Heads

Remove bacteria, mold and hard water stains with a mixture of half of a cup of vinegar to one quart of water. Place the shower head into the mixture and allow it to soak for an hour or so. Plastic versions can be cleaned with one pint of white vinegar to one pint of hot water.

Mold and Mildew

Use 3/4 of a cup of chlorine bleach to one gallon of water. Scrub tile with mixture with a bristle brush. Rinse it completely off.