Often times when professional carpet cleaners are called upon to take care of carpet stains the first question is usually, “can you get it outâ€? If the tech answers “yes” before seeing the area then you might want to consider hiring someone else. In all honesty, not all stains are removable. Your potential hire should always tell you that up front. The better response would be “Let’s take a look at it and if it can be removed, we have what it takes to get it outâ€.
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Most dark colored, brown or black, spots are sugar or oil based. These can be removed 90% of the time. Some examples of stains from this category would include colas, tea, coffee, and non-red juices. In most cases a traffic lane cleaner is all you need to remove a cola stain. Tea and coffee are sometimes a little more difficult and may require an acid rinse in conjunction with the traffic lane cleaner. Juices like apple or orange are relatively easy to get out. The biggest headaches would be red juices such as grape or cranberry, especially on light carpets. Red juices can fall into the red dye category where sometimes the only solution is a heat transfer dye process. This process is usually left as a last resort and even then there are no guarantees.
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So what about stains such as blood, vomit, and urine? Like all other stains, these also need to be addressed quickly. The quicker you have them removed the better. You do not want to clean blood with hot water or alkaline cleaning products. You might think you’re helping the carpet tech out by using these treatments but you’re actually setting the blood in the carpet. You’re better off leaving it to the professional. Vomit and urine are similar in that they are both removed through a process. It is important to remove urine as soon as possible. The longer you ignore it, the more it will continue to deteriorate the carpet. These types of spots are usually removed by using a pre-treatment that breaks down the stain. Then the spot is wholly extracted. These steps are repeated as necessary and afterwards an enzyme is sprayed that will continue to break the spot down.
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Sometimes you can get stains through no fault of your own. These would include stains from yellowing, water rings, and filtration soiling. Yellowing is one of those stains that can either be easily neutralized or near impossible to remove. It is very common and can be treated with citric acid or an acid rinse. Water rings can also be hit or miss. They are treated with an acid rinse or traffic lane cleaner. Filtration soiling is usually found in hallways near air conditioning units or where the carpet meets the baseboards. These black lines are usually caused by the carpet “filtering†soil. Getting rid of these stains requires a special spotter and manually scrubbing the area with a towel. Due to the extra labor involved, this process could be a little costly.
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The bottom line is that there are no guarantees with spot removal. A stain that appears easy to remove could prove very difficult, and vice versa. The odds of getting rid of any spots or stains increases greatly when approached correctly and in a timely manner.
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Filed under Home Improvement Tips by on Aug 16th, 2010. Comment. 
To get out carpet stains of specific types, you need to learn the specific steps for those stains. However, there are some general rules for getting out any stains, and some things to try before you get too technical in your efforts. Taking these simple steps may get many things out without the need to get out a specific stain removal guide.
Stain Removal Rule Number One
The most important point is to prevent spills from becoming stains. In fact, until they are more permanent, carpet cleaners refer to them as “spots,” which are generally easily removed, rather than “stains,” which require some special procedures. Rule number one then, is: Act Fast. The longer you wait after something spills on or marks your carpet, the more permanent or difficult to remove it becomes.
Also, don’t believe that there are “stain-proof” carpets. Such a thing has not yet been invented. Many modern carpets are very stain-resistant, but this is not the same a stain-proof. Generally, this just means that the stain will take longer to set, so you have more time to get the spill or mark cleaned up.
To Get Out Carpet Stains
Don’t rub stains or spills into a carpet. You’ll only make it worse. You want to blot it up. This means using white paper towels or a clean white cotton cloth and pushing it straight down on the spot to soak it up. This is the way you get out liquid carpet stains or spills.
With semi-solids, such as peanut butter or jelly, you should first scoop up any excess carefully with a spoon. What if you find the spill hours (or days) later, and it has dried and hardened? Break it up and vacuum first. At this point, whether you have blotted, scooped or vacuumed, it is time to clean up the remaining spot.
Usually, this involves using a liquid solvent (cleaning solution) of some sort to loosen the carpet stain and allow more blotting of it. Try water first, before you move on to other solvents. Water is the universal solvent, the safest to use on almost any stain. If water doesn’t work, then you’ll want to get out that stain removal guide and choose a solvent according to what kind of stain it is.
Whatever solvent you use, here is the basic routine:
Apply the solvent to a clean white cotton cloth and work it into the stain. Start from the outside of the spot and work your way in, to prevent spreading the stain to the surrounding carpet. Extract the solvent by blotting it up, then rinse with a little water and blot that up.
Repeat the process until the spot is either clean or no more stain is being extracted. You can test this by pressing a clean part of the cloth into the stain to see if there still is some transfer. If so, keep cleaning.
Always extract solvents completely. Some solvents, especially the stronger carpet-cleaning solutions, can damage the carpet and even remove the color from the fibers if not completely removed. Blot it up, rinse it and blot up the rinse water, and rinse again.
If you have a shop-vac, use it to get out carpet stains. It can extract the solvent and water quickly, allowing you to more quickly repeat the process. This not only makes it more likely that you’ll fully complete the process, but it also is potentially less damaging to the carpet than a cloth might be.
Finally, when you have gotten out as much of the carpet stain as is possible, dry the area as quickly as you can. You can put some plain white paper towels over the spot with some weight on them to get the last of the moisture out, or you can place a fan where it will blow on the spot for a couple hours. Fast drying prevents any remain stain that is deep down in the fibers from wicking up to the surface where it could become visible again.
Filed under Home Improvement Tips by on Apr 18th, 2009. Comment.
Your short lesson on how to remove carpet stains: act fast. Carpets today (most) come with stain-resistant treatments, so spills can be removed if you get to them quickly. The longer you wait, the more difficult removing carpet stains becomes. And no, there are no stain-proof carpets – yet.
Spot Cleaning Carpets
Professional carpet cleaners will tell you that “spots” are removable, and stains are permanent. In any case, the appearance of carpet stains can be improved even when the stain cannot be fully removed. Follow these guidelines :
Blot up liquids, don’t rub them in! Just use a clean white cotton cloth or plain white paper towels. When you have removed the liquid, rinse the spot with water and blot again until dry. Repeat this if necessary to remove more of the stain, but don’t scrub, or you might damage the carpet and set the stain in more permanently.
With semi-solids, such as peanut butter, pudding and such, scrape and lift gently with a spoon. Rinse out the remaining spill and blot dry.
Dried solids can be broken up and vacuumed. Repeat this until it’s all gone, then rinse with water and blot dry.
Stain Removal Guidelines
When you’re not sure how to get out specific carpet stains, try water first, before you try carpet stain removers.
When you use a cleaning solvent, apply it to a cloth, then work it in from the outside of the stain to the center, so you don’t spread the spot. The procedure is this: apply the cleaner, extract (blot), rinse, extract, and repeat until you can’t get out more of the stain. Always extract solvents completely, then dry the carpet quickly when you are done. If any of the stain remains, deeper down in the carpet, quick drying prevents it from wicking up to the surface.
One of the best tools for removing carpet stains is a shop-vac. A wet/dry vacuum cleaner can quickly suck up spills, and more importantly, you can repeatedly flush the area with water and suck it out. This is more efficient than blotting with a cloth, AND less likely to cause damage to the carpet.
Filed under Home Improvement Tips by on Apr 16th, 2009. Comment.