Oops! The butter from the melted popcorn for movie night has landed on the carpet. The ink from your new fountain pen splattered all over your new carpet. If this sounds familiar and you have an old stain lurking under a mat, this article will be of assistance.
Ink Stains
These can be caused by you or by your artistic children. Ink attaches and absorbs into the fibre of the carpet, making it a particularly difficult stain to remove. Another issue is that while cleaning you don’t want to spread the stain either, which is easy enough to do if you add water. This is a stain you want to deal with as soon after it happens. Dampen a clean cloth with isopropyl alcohol, with as high a percentage of alcohol the better. Use a blotting motion. Test the solution on a small area of the carpet that is out of the way to see how it reacts to the solution. If there is no reaction proceed with the blotting motion. Rubbing or scrubbing will spread the ink, so is not recommended. Keep on going till the stain is removed. The chemicals will now need to be rinsed out using water. Use a damp cloth soaked in water and blot. Then use a clean towel to soak up the damp till dry and then finally vacuum.
Blood Stains
Removing blood stains from carpets is thought to be a challenge, but the quicker you act will go a long way to resolving the problem. Here the trick is using cold water, not warm or hot water, as that will set the stain due to the blood coagulating with heat. Using a spray bottle filled with cold water mixed together with around 2 tablespoons of an effective grease fighting dish washing detergent. Spray until the area is quite damp. Then start blotting using paper towels. The blood should transfer to the towel as you blot. Continue this motion till the blood is removed. If you find that the blood is persistent a bio-cleaner is the next step your cleaning arsenal. Even though it says mix with hot water on the label, mix with cold water instead. Mix to a paste and then apply to the stain. Wait for 5 minutes, blot and then dry. Repeat if necessary.
Red Wine Stains
Good only dish washing detergent to the rescue. First blot as much of the liquid up as possible using paper towel. Make up a mixture of dish washing liquid and tepid water. Pour carefully onto the affected area. Use a blotting motion to work the dish washing liquid into the fibres of the carpet to lift the stain. Then use a clean cloth and water to blot. The stain will soon become a distance memory.
Pet Urine Stains
This is a big one, no pun intended. We cover this particular issue extensively in another article. Read more about it in the pet stain removal article
Coffee Stains
You’ve split some of the macchiato from the Nespresso machine on your way to watching a movie. Quickly blot with paper towel to absorb as much of the liquid as possible and without spreading the stain. Mix a combination of water, white spirit vinegar and dish washing liquid in a spritzer. Spray liberally and then blot with paper towel. Keep on blotting till the stain is dry. Then vacuum.
Fortunately, most of the solutions used in the above mentioned tips are common household products. But if you find that the stains or smell lingers contact a professional carpet cleaning service.