How to Remove Colored Fruit Drink from Carpet

Kool-Aid and similar drink stains are tough to get out of carpeting - especially if your carpet isn't stain resistant. Particularly if your carpet is made of nylon, the carpet's fibers may "mistake" these products' acid-based dye for the kind of pigment used to color such carpets at the factory. Act quickly for best results!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dishwashing Liquid
• Cleaning Cloths
• Ammonia
• Cleaning Cloths
• Ammonia
• Dishwashing Liquid
• Vinegar
• Vinegar
• Bowls
• Bowls

1. Mix 1/4 teaspoon clear, mild liquid dishwashing detergent with 1 cup lukewarm water in a bowl.

2. Fill a second bowl with lukewarm water.

3. Blot the stain with the detergent solution using a clean, white cloth, working from the outside of the stain toward the middle to keep from spreading the stain.

4. Dip a second clean, white cloth into the lukewarm water and blot the stained area, again working from the outside in.

5. Place a third clean, white cloth over the satin and apply pressure to absorb as much of the liquid as possible.

6. Repeat steps 2-4 as necessary to remove the stain.

7. If the stain hasn't disappeared, mix a solution of 2 tbsp. ammonia and 1 cup lukewarm water in a third bowl and a solution of 1 cup white vinegar and 2 cups lukewarm water in a fourth bowl. Get more clean, white cloths to work with.

8. Blot the stain with ammonia mixture followed by lukewarm water and a clean, dry absorbing cloth, as above.

9. Then blot the stain with the vinegar mixture followed by lukewarm water and a dry cloth absorbing, as above.

10. Keep blotting with the ammonia and vinegar solutions as described until the stain disappears.

Tips & Warnings

• Using clean, white cloths ensures dye won't bleed from the cloth to the carpet; it also makes it easier to notice the stain being pulled out of the carpet.
• Dip your cloths into each solution rather than pouring the solutions directly onto the carpet.
• Avoid scrubbing or rubbing when cleaning the carpet; you don't want to damage the carpet fibers.

on 8/8/2006 Mix 1/2 cup Biz to 2 cups hot water. Use a white cloth and drench the area of carpet with the Biz mixture. Put a dry, white towel over the spot. Put a heating pad over towel. Place another towel over the heating pad. Place a hard, flat board over towel and apply something very heavy on top of board. Do not rub! This may take several applications, but this saved us from replacing brand new carpet.

on 11/22/2005 I use baby wipes to remove a lot of stains from carpets. Just blot first if the stain is fresh. If the stain is old, scrub till the stain is gone. No harm done to carpets. This method has removed red Kool-Aid, chocolate, juices, oil, grease and many other stains from my carpets.

on 11/22/2005 I finally found a way to get red (and other colors) Kool-aid out of carpet and clothing. Spray it with Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner. This really only works on the fresh Kool-aid. Once it's a dry stain, it won't work nearly as well. Also, it will get Kool-aid stains off kitchen counters without bleach.

on 2/12/2007 Act quickly by retrieving a container of salt and completely covering the stain. Leave it to dry, and then vacuum up. The salt completely absorbs the moisture and color from the carpet.