No matter how much you try to keep your carpet spotless and stain-proof, you can never win this battle. It seems like whatever is not supposed to get on the carpet always does, like red wine, chocolate sauce, food dyes, ink, mud, nail polish, finger paint art work from your 3 year old artist, tomato ketchup, oil, blood (Oops!), vomit (Phew!) and the list goes on. And to add to this nightmare, if these stains are not attended within minutes, your carpet suffers from a permanent damage and you end up paying heavy amount in dry-cleaning. Here are some tough carpet stains & tips to remove them in detail.
Carpet stains and tips to remove them
Red Wine:
This stain gets on to your carpet every time you have a house party. Isn’t it? Your friend got little tipsy and ended up spilling red wine on your carpet. So as soon as it happens this is what you should do:
- Cleaning Solution (Mixture of 1 tablespoon liquid detergent +1 tablespoon white vinegar +2 cup of warm water): Dab the spill with a thick cotton towel or paper towel. Do not smear the spill. Now soak the cleaning solution in a sponge or dry cloth and dab it gently. Rub the cloth very lightly on the stain. Alternate between gentle dabbing & rubbing on the cleaning solution and drying it up till the stain lightens. Finally spill a little cold water on the stain and dab it dry. Hopefully the stain will be gone.
- Baking soda paste (Mixture of 1 part baking soda 3 parts water): Soak the red wine with a paper towel or cotton towel. Now pour some cold water on the stain. Water will dilute the stain. Soak water with a paper towel. Alternate between adding and soaking water till the stain lightens. Now apply the baking powder paste on the stain in such a way that the stain is completely covered. Let the paste dry. Finally vacuum clean the dry baking soda. The carpet should return to its normal appearance.
- Salt: Dab the stain gently using cool water on a sponge.This will absorb the top layer of wine and some color. Do not rub, press or scrub just dab. Now put enough salt on the stains (enough to cover the stain and put pressure on the stain). Finally cover the salt layer with a cloth or paper towel and put some heavy object on top like a paper weight or a fat book. Leave this setting undisturbed for 6-8 hours. After the standing time is over, throw away the salt and vacuum up the carpet. Your carpet will be back to normal and new.
Ink:
Ink stains are also stubborn. If ink has make carpet stains & tips to remove them are needed, follow these points:
- Cleaning solution: Same as in case of red wine. Use the same cleaner and technique to remove the tough ink stains.
- Shaving cream: Spray and spread shaving cream on the stain area. Pour water to form foam. Gently scrub the stain (but not too much). Let it stay for 25- 30 minutes. Add more water to rinse. Finally vacuum clean the carpet over the stain area. This technique will remove the ink stain.
- Alcohol or Nail polish remover: If the stain is tough and does not go off completely using above trick go for alcohol or nail polish remover. Apply rubbing alcohol to the stain and cover with an pad or thick cloth moistened with alcohol. Let it stand as long as any stain is being removed. Change the pad as it picks up the stain. But be careful, use this technique only on synthetic fabric carpet, wool carpet, silk, or nylon carpet.
Vomit:
Removing vomit stains is not all a pleasant one and especially if its not yours. So put on your disposable hand gloves and follow these tips:
- Baking Soda: Scrape off excess vomit with a paper towel and throw it away in the garbage. Now pour some cold water on the vomit stain. Water will dilute the stain.Now apply the baking powder paste on the stain in such a way that the stain is completely covered. Let the paste dry. Finally vacuum clean the dry baking soda. The carpet should return to its normal appearance
- White vinegar Mix ( 1 tablespoon white vinegar +1 tablespoon liquid detergent+ 2 cups of warm water): Sponge the stain with vinegar mix. Blot until the liquid is absorbed. Now pour water on the stain and blot dry to remove the detergent/vinegar solution. This will make your carpet new as never. The detergent will reduce the pungent vomit smell.
Blood:
This stain is easy to remove if it is wet. Apply the below tricks to get rid of this stain. Always use cold water to clean blood stains. Do not use warm or hot water.
- Liquid detergent solution: Make a detergent solution mixing 1 tablespoon of liquid detergent and 2 cups of cold water. Soak a clean white cotton cloth with the cleaning solution and apply it on the stained ares. Gently scrub the stained area with a tooth brush (do not scrub too hard). Pour cold water over the stain and rinse it. Repeat the applying, scrubbing and rinsing process till the stain is gone completely. Finally dry the stained area or vacuum clean it.
- Iodized salt: Fill up a small bowl with cold water and salt (enough salt to make a thin paste). Apply the salt paste on the blood stained area. Finally cover the salt layer with a cloth or paper towel and put some heavy object on top like a paper weight or a fat book. Let the paste sit for a while and dry out. After the paste dries out throw away the salt and vacuum up the carpet. Your carpet will be back to normal and new
Oil & wax:
Place a paper towel over the carpet and iron on warm setting. The wax, or oil should come up off the carpet and stick to the paper towel. Clean the remaining oil using a cleaning solution (same as in case of red wine).
Glue:
Moisten a soft cotton clot with alcohol or nail polish remover ( whatever you have readily availabe at home ) and press it against the stained area. Once the glue residue is completely moistened, gently wipe it off and repeat the process until the carpet is clean.
Nail polish:
Blot the stained area with a cloth dipped in nail polish remover and press it hard. Repeat the process until the carpet is clean.
If you have carpet stains & tips to remove them mentioned above do not work (in case your stains are really stubborn), go for stain remover availabe in market or carpet dry cleaning.
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Stay Clean! Stay Happy!
Team Mr.Right