The carpet is both a furnishing and a means of concealment.  Its colored fibers blend well with the themes of sala sets and living rooms.  As for dirty and stained floors, some people use the carpet to gracefully hide the floor's unwanted details, as opposed to cleaning.  So what happens when it's carpet's turn to become stained and dirty? Hiding the carpet with another carpet is just plain silly.  You should know how to clean the stains off of your colorful decorative rugs.

Serious Stains Need Serious Scrubbing and Serious Solutions

Cleaning the carpet is quite tricky, much less removing stains.  The discolored spots are separated by fibers, so you have to isolate all the fibrous clumps with stains.  Each fiber is fluffy, filled with tiny hair-like projections, making smears harder to remove, as compared to fabrics.  Serious scrubbing is needed, as well as strong stain removers, if you want to make your carpet spotless.

Stain Types and Solutions

Before you focus on removing stains, you should know what you're up against.  Some of the stains require particular removers or procedures, since normal washing won't work on them.  Remember, the carpet fibers, which easily absorb discolorations, play a factor in the stains' staying power.  Some removers or chemicals work well with certain stain types, but are ineffective on others, so better take note of the following:

• Food Stains - Food stains are the most common issues for carpets located beneath dining tables.  Some of the stains are taken care off by a simple washing and scrubbing with soap and water, but items heavy on food coloring like catsup, mustard and curry will probably remain.  Brake cleaner appears as the perfect solution for these hard-to-remove spots.  Apply a small amount on a rag then scrub it on the stained area.  Rinse off the brake cleaner with soap and water then the spots will be gone.  Take note that applying the cleaner directly on the carpet is a big no-no.  Use too much of the stuff and it will erode your carpet's fibers, which is worse than any type of stain.

• Grease and Ink Stains - Grease and ink are headaches in terms of carpet cleaning.  The stains they produce merely diminish when scrubbed or washed with soap and water.  You obviously need something of higher potency than detergents and normal stain removers.  Your carpet's salvation comes in the form of dry cleaning solution, perhaps the most potent stain remover available.  Just like brake cleaner, it must be applied using a rug, instead of pouring the solution directly.  The cleaner's formulation will erase those unwanted stains, rather easily.

• Bleach Stains - No amount of washing or applying of stain removers will remove a bleach stain.  Bleach, being a strong chemical, will take out the color of your carpet.  You have to dye the discolored portion to restore the fibrous rug to its original state.  The color of your dye should exactly match your carpet's, or else the recolored spot will be a definite eyesore.  If you are not adept at mixing colors or applying dye to a fibrous surface, better hire professionals to do the job.

• Coffee and Chocolate Stains - Stains coming from coffee and chocolate, upon removal, can re-stain your carpet.  You must be careful when removing them.  Blot stain remover with a clean cloth on the affected areas then rinse with soap and water.  Repeat the process until your carpet is free from these stubborn spots.  Aside from using a stain remover, you can also blot the spots using a mixture of white vinegar (one-third) and water (two-thirds).

• Mud - Removing hardened mud has a two-step process.  First, you must dislodge the hardened bits then clean the stains off.  For removing the bits of mud stuck to the fibers, you can use a small knife in conjunction with a scraper.  Apply a little water so the hardened pieces will loosen their grip on the fibers.  Once they are dislodged, you can remove stains using a good stain remover, ammonia or hydrogen peroxide.

• Juice and Wine Stains - Juice and wine stains can be remedied by cleaning your carpet with stain remover.  Though, you an make things easier by adding a cocktail ingredient that is used for diluting both drinks - club soda.  Apply some club soda to the stains before placing the stain remover.  The cocktail ingredient will loosen the stains' hold on the fibers, boosting the efficiency of the remover.  Talk about making a carpet cleaning cocktail.

• Gum Stains - The only problem with gum is, they are hard to physically remove from your carpet's fibers.  To make your work easier, you can apply ice cubes to the gum until it becomes brittle.  Use a knife and a little to remove the sticky stuff.  The stains coming from the gum can be removed by simply washing the carpet.

• Eggs and Milk Stains - The stains caused eggs and milk can be resolved through regular washing and the application of stain remover.  Though, if you want to increase the cleaning efficiency, you can rub the stains off with ammonia and vinegar solution.  Just finish off the stains using the stain remover, if ever there are still some left.
• Bloodstains - A bloodstain, composed of hemoglobin, which gives it color, is one of the stain types that merely diminish upon washing the carpet.  To remove this difficult stain, you need to use either a dry cleaning solution or a brake cleaner.  Both solutions are pretty abrasive, gradually dissolving the bloodstain into nothing.  Just be careful when applying any of the two substances.  They can wear out the carpet's adhesive.

If you do not have time to collect all of the materials necessary for each cleaning solution, you can just subject your carpet to steam cleaning.  The procedure is more effective than washing with soap and water,  since the steam's heat loosens the stains' grip on the fibers.  You will have to splurge on the necessary tools, though.

Your Last Resort for the Removal of Carpet Stains

In the event that the given solutions fail to completely remove the stains on your carpet, don't give up just yet.  You still have one final option and it is the most effective among all of your choices.  You can hire professionals to clean your carpet.  These people, trained with removing stains, have the tools, cleaning solutions and scientific procedures to get rid of all types of carpet stains.  The only drawback of this options is, they charge a bit high for the service.  Ideally, you should exhaust all of your options first before hiring professionals.

Move or Forever Hold Your Carpet Stains

Removing carpet stains is not much of an issue, given the number of options you have.  You just have to bear the tedious process of scrubbing and washing the carpet.  Just like any problem, you can either act now and erase the stains, or wait until all of your friends and colleagues notice how unsightly your carpet is.  Surely, you'll make the right decision.

 

* Stains on your lovely, plush carpet are downright annoying, but for these and other carpet dilemmas, many solutions are available. If you know how to repair carpet, these problems can be diminished right away. Sometimes, though, the damage to the carpets are beyond repair. You must then change it. Learn how to install carpets.