Tough carpet stains happen and if you haven’t come across any on your carpet yet, just wait. Carpet cleaning definitely isn’t difficult to do on your own but sometimes we let stains set in so long that you have to call the professionals to help you out. Facing tough carpet stains gets a little easier when you keep the following tips in mind.
Carpet Stain DO’s
- Do work from the outside of a stain toward the middle. Don’t help spread the stain by starting centrally.
- Do be tough on tough stains. Use towels, rags, brushes, your fingers, even your toes to work cleaning chemicals into tough stains.
- Do let your carpet breathe. Leaving treatments or chemicals on a tough carpet stain for a period of 15-30 minutes can increase their effectiveness.
Carpet Stain Don’ts
- Don’t wipe carpet stains. If you’re at the scene of the crime right when it happens, blot the stain with a paper towel. If you find it later, pour cold water over the stain to loosen it up.
- Don’t forget household remedies. Using small amounts of household chemicals or cleaners like ammonia, dishwasher detergent, hydrogen peroxide, bleach, or vinegar with water can help you tackle tough stains.
- Don’t use ammonia with coffee or tea stains. Using cleaning solutions that contain ammonia will only make coffee or tea stains worse.
A Pro Stain Remover Checklist
When should you fight tough stains on your own, and when should you call a pro? Home carpet care products can be very effective with basic stains, but sometimes even the best and most aggressive cleaners among us need some help.
If you encounter tough carpet stains like the following, it can be best to leave them to the professionals:
- Ink
- Oil
- Paint (Some paints are water based, but the oil-based paints are harder to fight).
- Dangerous chemicals
When elbow grease and home remedies don’t work, calling a pro can also a great way to learn new tips from the pros. Chat them up when they’re in your home. Knowledge is free, and you should be better prepared for your next tough carpet stain battle! Plus, quite a few cleaning companies actually offer do it yourself tips on their websites where you can search by the type of stain you have and see step by step how to eliminate it. There is no reason why some tough stains on our carpets should control us and how we go about our daily lives.