Stains happen every day. A guest could drop a full glass of red wine onto the carpet at your dinner party. Your family dog could have scampered through the living room with muddy paws right after playing outside in the rain. Maybe some of your daughter’s friends spilled nail polish on the carpet in the basement during a sleep over. It isn’t important how the stain got there, but what is important is how you plan to get rid of it. So what do you do? You immediately run to the computer and search how to clean the stain yourself. The results will give you a long list of steps you need to follow in order to get the stain out, but what you don’t know is that those ideas can potentially ruin your carpet, not clean it. You can certainly try to clean the stain with some of those crazy Internet techniques, but know that you’re doing so at your own risk.
Here is What We Suggest
Most websites will tell you to dip a white cloth/white paper towel into your favorite brand of carpet cleaning detergent and dab repeatedly.Well there are a couple of problems with this approach. First, you shouldn’t even be using a cleaning solution or detergent from your local grocery store because they are all much too abrasive for your carpet. Even if the product is specifically made for carpet stains, it will contain too many harsh chemicals that can bleach or ruin the fiber of your carpet. Not good. Red wine mixed with your carpet requires a very gentle approach and a very gentle cleaning solution. A mixture of one part water and one part vinegar is the only homemade concoction you should use to treat a stain.
The next issue with these online articles is that they never tell you how much of the cleaning solution you are actually supposed to use on the stain. Do you cover the entire stain in detergent? Do you need a teaspoon or a tablespoon amount to get the job done? Should you just follow the instructions listed on the detergent bottle? It’s all very confusing. You should only be using a few drops to treat the stain. You do not want to over saturate the stain with cleaning solution. If you decide to use the water/vinegar mixture just spray the stain once. No need to get trigger happy. Gently dab the stain with a rag. Use as little pressure as possible. You do not want to scrub the stain. It will only push the stain further into the carpet fibers causing an even bigger mess to deal with.
The only way to get a stain out without causing more damage is to call a professional. They will be able to properly assess the stain and extract it without further damaging your carpet.
Written by: Langenwalter
Here is What We Suggest
Most websites will tell you to dip a white cloth/white paper towel into your favorite brand of carpet cleaning detergent and dab repeatedly.Well there are a couple of problems with this approach. First, you shouldn’t even be using a cleaning solution or detergent from your local grocery store because they are all much too abrasive for your carpet. Even if the product is specifically made for carpet stains, it will contain too many harsh chemicals that can bleach or ruin the fiber of your carpet. Not good. Red wine mixed with your carpet requires a very gentle approach and a very gentle cleaning solution. A mixture of one part water and one part vinegar is the only homemade concoction you should use to treat a stain.
The next issue with these online articles is that they never tell you how much of the cleaning solution you are actually supposed to use on the stain. Do you cover the entire stain in detergent? Do you need a teaspoon or a tablespoon amount to get the job done? Should you just follow the instructions listed on the detergent bottle? It’s all very confusing. You should only be using a few drops to treat the stain. You do not want to over saturate the stain with cleaning solution. If you decide to use the water/vinegar mixture just spray the stain once. No need to get trigger happy. Gently dab the stain with a rag. Use as little pressure as possible. You do not want to scrub the stain. It will only push the stain further into the carpet fibers causing an even bigger mess to deal with.
The only way to get a stain out without causing more damage is to call a professional. They will be able to properly assess the stain and extract it without further damaging your carpet.
Written by: Langenwalter
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