Dealing with Carpet Stains

Everyone has a different approach to combating fresh stains on a carpet. Most people I know are quick to run to a nearby cabinet to snatch some sort of solution and pour it over the stain. While this may seem like a smart idea, it’s not always the best, particularly if we’re talking about an expensive rug or carpet, or a vintage rug with delicate fibers. In many such cases you may end up damaging your carpet so if you care about maintaining your rug or carpet just pause for a second before grabbing the first thing that comes to mind.  

Image credit: The Spruce

There are currently so many various types of carpets available, each made of different materials and fibers but most people don’t pay attention to the type of carpet they have. Thus, as they shop for a cleaning solution they grab the one which seems most fit to them or, in many cases, the cheapest one because it’s not really a priority to them.

When dabbing their carpet with this random solution, they usually find it has an opposite effect – the stain didn’t go away or it got even bigger and uglier. Now, I’m not recommending that you spend hours researching carpet cleaning solutions but just that, at a minimum, you consider buying some neutral carpet cleaning supplies, ones that are fit for just about any material.  That’s still not the case though for those delicate rugs, like vintage Persian rugs, silk rugs or any expensive or very high-quality fibers. For those I recommend you contact the rug dealer you purchased it from or a specialized rug cleaner.

That said, even in the case of regular carpet there are instances where you’ll need more than some neutral cleaning solution. Stains like ink, red wine, or pet urine may require the help of a carpet cleaning professional. Of course, if you’re up to the task, you can always consider tackling the project yourself but you’ll need some equipment rentals and a bit of elbow grease. In the end, you’ll probably find that it’s a easier and more cost efficient to have a professional do it.

So how will a professional go about cleaning carpet stains? Well, first of all, he will assess the carpet in order to decide on the best treatment option. Some common cleaning techniques may include dry chemical cleaning, steam cleaning, hot water extraction, and dry cleaning, depending on the severity and type of stain.

Carpet stains are unfortunate but shouldn’t be made a huge deal of. As always, just ask your Butler^TM  for help when that happens and we’ll take care of it for you.