One reason that people love carpeting—besides its warmth and softness—is that it requires less maintenance and upkeep than hard-surface floors. Frequent vacuuming and occasional deep-clean scrubbing can keep your carpet looking new and fresh. However, if you ignore your carpet, it can soon become home to mites, pathogens, and accumulate dust. Eventually, polluting your air quality and causing several health issues.
This means attending to stains and spills is a matter of urgency. In this blog, we will share some tips to help you keep your carpets clean and stain-free.
Contents
Blot Stains
When a stain or spill first occurs, resist the urge to immediately start scrubbing. That’ll only drive the stain down into the carpet. Instead, gently dab stains with a cleaning solution and a clean cloth, paper towel, or sponge.
The key is blotting. Blotting puts a small amount of pressure on the stain, so you can soak it up. Rubbing causes the particles to get ground into the fibers, which can lead to the premature breakdown of those fibers.
And always blot from the outer edge of the stain inward toward the center. Blotting outward can spread the stain further across the carpet.
Steam Vacuum Cleaner
A steam vacuum cleaner is your best bet when it comes to deep cleaning your carpets. Whether it’s stains or dust that has gathered in the carpet over time, the vacuum will efficiently pull it out of the carpet and give you a professionally cleaned look. You can steam vacuum your carpets every 3-6 months to ensure the carpet does not accumulate any stains or mites over a long period of time. You don’t need to call professionals every time you steam clean your carpet. The market is filled with multiple options, so you should choose the right carpet steam vacuum cleaner according to your needs. We recommend weighing all options before buying any product. This will ensure that you make a sound purchase decision.
Shaving Cream
The best carpet cleaner for general stains is—believe it or not—ordinary shaving cream. It will remove just about every type of stain. Apply the shaving cream directly to the stain and let it sit for about 30 minutes.
Once the shaving cream has been set, blot it up with a dry white cloth.
Finish by spraying the area with a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water, and then wipe away the solution with a cloth. Make sure you cover the stain completely with the shaving cream to get the best results.
Razor
Now you may be thinking we should just be cleaning our carpets with the shaving kit. But trust a razor for the amount of hair and pet hair it is able to capture and bring out even after vacuuming. You would be surprised as to where it is coming from. This is the easiest hack to clean your carpets. Though of course using a tiny razor on a big carpet can be tiring. Get more family members to join in this fun activity.
Dish Soap
Greasy spills are some of the most difficult to remove from carpeting, but again, the secret is to use the proper product and technique: Place a few drops of grease-cutting dish soap, such as Prill, into a cup of warm water. Gently mix the solution to dilute the soap.
Pour the solution into a spray bottle and soak the greasy stain. Then blot it up with a white cloth or paper towels. Depending on the size and age of the stain, you may need to repeat this treatment multiple times. Dish soaps have strong chemicals in them for cleaning the fibers off dried stains.
Freeze The Gum
The trick to removing gum from carpeting can be found in your freezer.
Grab a few ice cubes and press them against the gum for 30 to 45 seconds. Once the gum is frozen solid, use a spoon to lift up the glob, then use scissors or a sharp knife to cut the carpet strands as close as possible to the gum. If you cut only a small amount of carpet, the spot will be undetectable. You wouldn’t even notice this spot once the gum is off with this smart hack.
Heat Up Hard Wax Drops
We know how difficult it can be to get wax out once it has cooled and hardened. Burning candles in the house can result in wax dripping onto the carpet, where it quickly hardens and becomes embedded in the fibers. Heat the wax back to a semi-liquid state in order to remove it. Place a white cloth over a warm clothes iron (use the “no-steam” setting). Then set the iron on top of the wax until it melts. Scrape off the softened wax with a butter knife or a comb.
You may not get it off completely in the first go. Do not lose hope there. Repeat this hack over and over again till all the wax has been combed off.
Shampoo
Carpet hair is still hair that can be cleaned to a brand new state with shampoo. Lather up some shampoo to get the dirt, dust, hair, pet hair, and other settled gunk out and just vacuum the whole carpet. You will see how effective it is to wash your carpets with shampoo rather than other detergents. It helps maintain shine and bounce just like it does for your hair.
Rubbing Alcohol
Ever dropped nail polish on the carpet? And then used a nail remover to get rid of it but instead, the polish has only spread further and set in deeper. Use rubbing alcohol with a cloth on the paint first. Let this cloth be in place for some time. The alcohol will dissolve and transfer the paint to the cloth.
You may have to use a knife to scrape out the residue of paint. Repeat this process till it is all clear.
Conclusion
We hope the above solutions will ease your carpet stain worries. All you require is to not panic when there is a stain and think of the sort of substance that has caused the stain and come up with solutions accordingly. There is an antidote to all sorts of stains out there.
