How to Clean Minor Carpet Stains

The thought that keeps carpet owners awake at night; stains. Unfortunately, no matter how careful you are with your precious carpet, a stain is bound to happen sooner or later.

But don’t fret, because we’ve got your back. Minor carpet stains look scary, but with this guide at your fingertips, you’ll have your carpet spick and span in no time at all. 

For general stains, follow this method:

You’re going to need two empty spray bottles.

1. Add cold water to one, and in the other mix ¼ of a teaspoon of mild dishwashing soap and a cup of warm water. 
2. Next, spray the dishwashing soap/ warm water mix onto an absorbent cloth and dab (don’t rub) the stain. As the stain begins to dissolve, use a clean section of the cloth. Keep blotting until the stain is gone. 
3. You then need to spray a new cloth with the cold water and dab this onto the carpet to remove any residue from the dishwashing soap. 
4. Now time to dry the spot. Pile a stack of paper towels onto the wet area and put a heavy pot or book on the top. This will help to absorb the remaining stain and excess water from the carpet. 
5. Leave this overnight, and then the next day fluff up the fibres and allow air-dry! 

Unfortunately, this doesn’t work for all stains. If you are still facing a problem the next day, try and tackle the stain with a more targeted approach.

Pet stains

Our four-legged friends may be cute, but the stains they leave behind are not. To remove unsightly stains from your pets use a carpet cleaner that has enzymes in it. This will help to destroy odour-causing bacteria. 

Once you’ve sprayed the carpet with the cleaner, work it into the area with a clean, damp cloth. 

Next, rinse with another clean, damp cloth and leave this same cloth over the area for at least 12 hours. And voila! Clean as clean can be. 

Red wine stains

We’ve all been there. One minute you’re enjoying sipping on a glass of red wine, the next it’s all over the carpet. But don’t panic. Grab a clean absorbent cloth and try to absorb as much of the spillage as possible. 

You may even want to stand on the cloth and use your weight to help absorb the stain. You then need to saturate the area with a wine specific carpet cleaner. If you don’t have this handy, there are several other options. 

If you do not have a wool carpet, add one tablespoon of ammonia to a cup of water and soak the spot. If that fails, why not try one part chlorine to five parts water.

Only use this on solution-dyed carpets, such as polypropylene. Unfortunately, bleach can harm other types of carpet. 

Coffee stains

Similar to red wine stains, you firstly need to try and blot up as much of the coffee as possible using a cloth. 

Then mix one tablespoon of washing up liquid with one tablespoon of white vinegar and two cups of warm water. Using a clean cloth, add the mixture to the stain, blotting it frequently with a dry cloth. 

The stain should disappear. You can then sponge the area with cold water and blot it dry. 

And there you have it! You are now very well versed in cleaning up any pesky stains from your carpet. The most important thing to remember is to never scrub or rub at the stain as it will ingrain it further into the carpet. Stick to blotting, and you should be good to go.