DIY Carpet Cleaning-How to Get Rid of Stains and NOT Ruin Your Carpet

There’s a Murphy’s Law that states: The probability of a toast falling with its buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet. Imagine a can of juice going bottoms up on your brand new $2000 silk rug. An incident like this one can ruin a perfect Sunday, apart from giving an(other) ugly smear to your living room. Why is it that the more precious your carpet, the more prone to stains and spills it appears to be?

Although there are many residential carpet cleaning Escondido firms available, your first impulse is to DIY. Some people would go into a fit of scrubbing in order to get the stain off immediately, causing the polluting particles to penetrate deeper, or worse, ruining the carpet by damaging the fibers. On the other hand, you cannot afford to call the carpet cleaners to your home every time there’s a mess on the carpet. Here’s how you can get rid of ALL kinds of carpet stains to keep them from turning your plush carpet into a collage of abstract art.

The Basic Carpet Cleaning Formula

Have you ever noticed how professional carpet cleaning Escondido crews go about making your carpets brand new? They never scrub, just wet and dry the carpets using different kinds of cleaning solutions. When removing carpet stains, you’ll be working on a small portion of your carpet, so you don’t need all that carpet cleaning Escondido machinery that your typical household cleaners are armed with. However, the methodology for cleaning would remain exactly the same.

The basic formula for cleaning all sorts of stains—coffee, ketchup, beer, chocolate, oil, dirt, juice, grease, and everything else—is to work from the top to the bottom of the carpet. This is what all carpet cleaning Escondido companies do. If you try to scrub the stain off, it actually becomes even harder to remove. In order to get rid of the stain, wet the spot with the cleaning solution suitable for that particular type of stain (discussed below), and dab it dry using a white cloth or sponge. Then, wet and blot again and again, working from the outside in.

Cleaning Solutions for Cleaning Different Types of Carpet Stains

Before you wet the tainted area with one of the following solutions, you should be sure about two things—the type of stain and the type of your carpet. Carpets can have silk, wool or synthetic fibers and threads that may have been colored using different techniques. You never know when a cleaning solution might cause discoloration and ruin your carpet. Although the cleaning solutions suggested in this article are fairly benign, it would be a good idea to test the solution on an inconspicuous spot on your carpet and see the reaction. Always seek advice from a good carpet cleaning Escondido company if you are unsure.

Easily Soluble Stains

Alcohol (except wine) food colors, gravy, jelly, ice cream, milk, mud, ink, most of the fruit juices, and poop stains are easily dissolved by water. You don’t need to call in professional carpet cleaners for these minor stains; you just need a solution of non-bleach detergent (or white vinegar) and water. Depending upon the size of the stain, prepare a solution by tossing one tablespoon of Tide or white vinegar into a jug of water and pour the solution into a spray bottle. Spray the stained part until it’s soaked and pat hard with a dry sponge or clean white cloth. Repeat the procedure multiple times until the stain is gone. You can also use Shout stain remover if you don’t want to make a solution yourself.

Hard to Dissolve Stains

Coffee, tea, chocolate, mustard, wine, blood, and vomit stains are not easily dissolved by water. Use a solution of 1 tablespoon ammonia with one cup of water to remove the toughest of stains. However, be careful not to use this solution on woolen rugs and carpets, as it might bleach the color. You can also use a chlorine-water solution in ratio 1:5, but only if you are certain that your carpet is solution-dyed. If you are not certain about the type of your carpet, you can ask the manufacturer or call in carpet cleaning Escondido experts.

Oil and Grease Stains

Butter, cheese, egg, cooking oil, lotion, lipstick, nail polish, shoe polish, and other such substances contain oils that are not dissolved by water-based solutions. For these buggers, you’ll need an appropriate oil solvent solution. Nail polish remover is one example of such solutions. You should be very careful using chemicals as they might harm your carpet as well as your health. Do not use a spray bottle for applying a solvent solution. Instead, apply small amounts directly onto the affected area using a white cloth. Use the solvent in combination with lukewarm water to pull out the toughest stains. For cooking oil or butter stains, you should start by placing a paper-towel on the stain and ironing it on a hot setting. The oil will get absorbed into the paper-towel and the stain will lighten considerably. You can then remove it completely with a detergent or solvent solution. Never use a solvent on your carpet unless you are 100% sure that it will not cause discoloration. Call a good carpet cleaning Escondido company if the strain is ugly and you don’t know how to get rid of it without ruining your carpet.

Other Stains

Other nasty substances that can scar your beautiful carpet include cigarettes and chewing gum. To get rid of cigarette stubs, scrap off the burnt fiber tops with a blunt knife. For chewing-gum stains, first freeze the gum by placing an ice-filled metal container on the stain. Once brittle, the gum stain can be removed using a spoon handle or another blunt object. Clean the residues with solvent and wash with lukewarm water.

You can get rid of most of the common stains by using these recipes. Even if the stains don’t go away completely, they’ll fade away and wouldn’t stay noticeable. Never use a hard chemical or thinner on your carpet, as you may cause irreversible damage. Whenever unsure about a particular stain or the type of carpet that you want to clean, get in touch with professional carpet cleaning San Diego experts. OSHA considers dirty carpets as a major source of indoor air pollution, and professional organizations have issued guidelines for carpet cleaning Escondido.

Did this post solve your problem? Is there anything more you’d like to know about cleaning a particular type of stain? Feel free to put your questions in the comments.