How to Remove Carpet Stains

Ketchup drips. Chocolate drops. Wine spills. If the party's at your place, expect a festive, colorful carpet after your last guest has gone home. If you act fast, you'll keep common carpet visitors from taking up permanent residence in your home. First things first: Blot (don't soak) or spoon up the excess, then try the remedies below. Use a plastic bucket or old plastic container to create the solutions described.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Blot the excess. This is the overarching rule of carpet-stain cleaning. Don't soak or wipe it, otherwise you're stuck with the stain for life.

2. Know your stain. Figure out what kind of stain you have on your hands. Unlike clothing, carpet stains can often be difficult to discern after a few moments. Smell it if you have to. Seriously.

3. For grease stains, dab with a small amount of dry-cleaning fluid. Then, blot with a small amount of dishwashing liqiud and warm water. Blot from the outside in, and let stand for five minutes.

4. For juices and wines, mix a small amount of laundry detergent with lukewarm water (or ammonia) and blot the stain. Then, sponge lightly with club soda and blot on the detergent-water solution again.

5. For eggs and dairy products, blot with ammonia and sponge with warm water. Then, blot with white vinegar and warm-water mixture.

6. For ink, blot with dry-cleaing fluid, and then repeat the steps for step 3:

7. Place paper towels over the stain and let dry, overnight if you have to. This is a universal step that should be performed after steps 3-6 (depending on stain type).

8. Brush clean and vacuum once the stain is dry. The flat brush should pick up and dried particles that are lingering, and the vacuum will do the rest.

[isj003]

on 5/14/2009 Over the years I've tried many 'home made' recipes to remove carpet stains with mixed results. The one thing that haunts me is when I completely botched a coupel of spots on my carpet and thought i had ruined it. I contact a local carpet cleaner Wizard Carpet Cleaning and they were so helpful and put my mind at ease. Their technician was very friendly and very skilled. I was totally amazed at the results. From hereon I will call them when I'm not confident on doing it myself. Take a look at www.wizardcarpetcleaning.com.au

[isj003]

on 5/14/2009 Over the years I've tried many 'home made' recipes to remove carpet stains with mixed results. The one thing that haunts me is when I completely botched a coupel of spots on my carpet and thought i had ruined it. I contact a local carpet cleaner Wizard Carpet Cleaning and they were so helpful and put my mind at ease. Their technician was very friendly and very skilled. I was totally amazed at the results. From hereon I will call them when I'm not confident on doing it myself. Take a look at www.wizardcarpetcleaning.com.au

[payless70]

on 1/26/2009 The professionals at Payless Carpet Cleaners provide information and tips in regards to removing stains from carpets. Refer to http://www.payless-carpet-cleaners.com or if located in the South Florida region contact by telephone at [phone] or [phone].

[MKRICH]

on 11/12/2008 I need to know how to get finger nail polish out to carpet?
Mary Richbourg
[e-mail]

[Service-Tech]

on 6/15/2008 If you use laundry detergent to clean your juice stains be sure not to use a bleach product. If you have used a bleach detergent (Tide with Bleach, ect) be sure to tell your professional carpet cleaner next time they come to your home, because the water extraction will activate the bleach leaving you with bleached carpets!!!

www.professionalcleancarpets.com