Top Tips for Carpet Stain Removal

Alas! Your sister in-law just spilt red wine on your beautiful clean carpet.

Your neighbour dropped her ‘famous’ spaghetti bolognese on the floor.

Your little one pulled your new lipstick from your handbag and drew you a pretty Christmas tree picture on the carpet.

Whatever it may be; drink spills, dirt, lipsticks, grass stains, grease and even stains too mortifying to report on, will most likely find their way to your carpet this Christmas season. But there’s no need to panic. These things happen, and your sister in-law didn’t do it on purpose.

Cleaning carpets isn’t rocket science and it’s not as scary as it sounds. We have gathered our best tips to bring you the ultimate guide for carpet stain removal. Let’s get started with the basics.

An essential part of stain removal is knowing what not to do when cleaning stains from your carpet. So first things first here are our DON’Ts and DO’s of carpet stain removal.

Don’t

• Don’t scrub your carpet. Scrubbing at a stain can actually push the stain further into the carpet fibers making it harder to remove.
• Don’t iron your carpet. Some people might suggest ironing over certain stains as a removal technique but try to avoid this at all cost. You are more likely to leave scorch marks on your carpet and melt nylon or polyester ones.
• Don’t leave the stain. The more time a stain has to settle, the harder it becomes to remove.

Do

• Do contain the spill – with salt, a paper towel or cloth.
• Wipe away any excess liquids
• Scoop up any solids with a spoon or knife.

Depending on the type of stain these household products are always good to have in the cupboard incase of emergency.

• Cheap Vinegar – great for lifting away all sorts of light stains.
• A simple home detergent, (or multi-purpose detergent) is also a fantastic tool to get out stains and germs.
• Bi-carb soda – the carpet lifesaver.

When using any cleaning agent on your carpet test on a small, inconspicuous part first. This is to ensure the cleaning agent doesn’t discolour your carpet or have an unexpected reaction.

Coffee/ Wine/ Beer / Cordial Spills

The Christmas period brings these liquid favuorites by the bucket load. Here is an easy DIY remedy to get these stains out of your carpets. This one calls for the little satin removal, superhero: Vinegar.

Vinegar is a bulletproof member of the stain removal family. This little baby is great for removing light stains off any carpet. A home brand, white vinegar is all your need.

• Wipe away excess liquid with a paper towels or clean cloth.
• Mix two tablespoons of salt, half a cup of white vinegar and one to two litres of water.
• Using a paper towel or clean cloth dab at the stain starting from the outside and working your way in.
• Follow by applying a small amount of your simple home detergent to the stained section and gently dab until odours and colours are removed.
• Finish with water to remove any soap suds from the detergent.
• Repeat process 4-5 times depending on severity of stain.

Red Wine

There is an endless supply of information on Google on ‘How to remove red wine stains’ that can send you into a dizzying cleaning panic of ‘Where do I even begin?’ Begin here! This is an old favourite that works.

Although two wrongs rarely make a right, here’s an exception to the rule that would put even your mother to shame. When it comes to red wine stain removal, white wine is a valuable resource. White wine counteracts the red wine and makes it easier to remove the original red wine stain.

1. Simply pour a small amount of white wine over the red wine stain.
2. Blot with a clean, absorbent towel.
3. Once you have blotted as much of the stain as possible, treat any remaining remnants with regular fabric or carpet stain remover of your choice.

If you don’t have any white wine to hand, or more to the point you have drunk it all, then here is another favourite that works:

• Immediately cover the stain in a layer of table salt. This will stop the wine from travelling deeper into carpet fibres.
• Place a relatively thick layer of bi-carb soda over the spill and leave for a few hours until all the wine becomes evaporated.
• Vacuum dry. *Bi-carb soda will sanitise and deodorise your carpets so this product is great for vomit or urine stains as well.

*When using any cleaning agent on your carpet test on a small, inconspicuous part first. This is to ensure the cleaning agent doesn’t discolor your carpet or have an unexpected reaction.

So when your sister in-law spills here red wine across your carpets use this stain removal guide, keep your cool and get on with those Christmas celebrations. More wine we say!But for the extra tough jobs or if you just want someone else to do the hard work give us a call. We love cleaning those tough stains out of carpets!