No matter how hard you try, you will have to deal with a carpet stain from time to time. They are inevitable. Here are a few tips from professional carpet cleaners that you can perform with common household products.

The recommended technique to remove a stain is blotting the area and working from the outside of the mess inward. Rinse thoroughly with clean water, dry with a towel, then blot again. Never scrub or wipe the stain. Scrubbing the carpet risks damaging the fibres, or even worse, letting the stain soak through to the carpet pad.

Be careful with using these products on your carpet. Depending on the colour and type of carpet you own, the recommended cleaning product could stain the carpet on its own. Always test the solution out on a non-visible patch of carpet to see if it is safe for your carpet.

Water-Soluble Stains

These type of stains include: berries, carbonated drinks, feces, ice cream, jam, milk, mud and washable ink/paint, just to name a few. For these stains, use a solution of 5ml of white vinegar mixed with 1L of water. Use the blotting technique noted in the first section.

Special Water-Soluble Stains

These types of stains include: blood, chocolate, coffee, mustard, tea, vomit, and wine, among others. For a wool carpet, use 15 ml of detergent mixed with 250 ml of water. For all other carpets, try 15 ml of ammonia mixed with 250 ml of water. Again, use the blotting technique noted above.

Lipids

These types of stains include: butter, cooking oil, grease, mayonnaise, margarine, peanut butter, etc. Place a paper towel over the stain. Take an iron, set it to warm, and gently iron the paper towel. The stain should come off and stick to the paper towel. Be careful not to iron too long. You don’t want to risk burning your carpet!

Urine

Soak up as much as possible with clean white towels then blot with a damp, cool cloth. Then blot with a solution of one part white vinegar to one part water. After that, apply a solution of 2 ml of clear, mild, non-bleach detergent mixed with 1 L of water. Rinse and blot dry with another clean towel.

Still having trouble with your carpet spill or stain? If none of these helpful tips solve your issue, contact an Ottawa carpet cleaning company like Ja-Doc Inglis. Any carpet mess can be taken care of with the use of professional equipment and the highest quality cleaning products available.