With kids, pets, and dinner guests, it’s hard to know what damage can be done to your carpet. So when your daughter spills a cup of coffee, your lab tracks in paws full of dirt, or a guest spills a glass of wine, it’s important to act quick so you can ensure that the stain doesn’t set in and cause permanent damage to your carpet. But beyond coffee and mud, there are carpet stains that are more difficult to remove if not treated effectively. While there are things you can do to prevent carpet stains, a professional carpet cleaning service is a surefire way to know that your carpet will last and look as clean and bright as the day you got it.
Here are the top five carpet stains that are found in our customers’ homes and how to remove them.
Kool-Aid
The cool drink that stains even our mouths does considerable harm to our carpets. The brightly-colored drink does quick damage to carpets, but there are still methods to remove the color from your carpet.
- Instead of rubbing the carpet trying to remove the stain, use a dry, white towel to gently dab and blot the stain. Rubbing the stain will cause the liquid to further saturate the carpet and will be more difficult to remove.
- In a spray bottle, mix a quarter cup of white vinegar, one tablespoon of dish soap, and fill the bottle with water. Soak the stain with the mixture and let it soak for five to 10 minutes. Then, use a clean, dry towel to continue dabbing the stain.
Pet Stains
There’s nothing worse than coming home from work and finding your pet left a surprise on the carpet. There’s no knowing how long it’s been there, but there’s still hope for removing the stain.
- It’s important to pick up the debris left on the carpet as much as possible. Use the same dab and blot method as with Kool-aid to try to remove the remaining stain as much as possible.
- To remove the final discoloration, fix a quart of water with laundry detergent that has special stain-fighting properties. Spray the stain, let it soak, dab and blot, and rinse thoroughly with warm water.
- To rid the carpet of the odor, there are several different methods. Try soaking in white vinegar and warm water (or substitute white wine) into the carpet and blot away anything that remained.
Blood Stains
Like many other difficult carpet stains, acting as quickly as possible will make removing the stain easier. Blood is one of the challenging stains, but still possible if done quickly.
- It is important to use cold water when removing blood stains from the carpet. Hot water would cause the blood to coagulate, cold water will prevent the blood from soaking into the fibers.
- Mix up a spray bottle with cold water and two tablespoons of grease fighting dish soap, spray on the stain, and let the liquid soak into the carpet. Dab the stain with a dry white cloth, rinse with cold water and repeat as necessary.
- Blood may take more than a few attempts at removing the stain. Continue letting the mixture soak into the carpet and make sure to be using clean, dry cloths to soak up the stain.
When accidents happen, your first thought may be that the carpet is ruined, but there is hope with carpet cleaning services and steam cleaning. When tough stains persist, Steam Master Cleaning will use our powerful carpet cleaning equipment to give you your bright carpet back. Call us today for an appointment.