5 Tips for Cleaning Carpet Stains

Carpet stains can be an unattractive blemish on an otherwise perfect room. While you can clean many less resilient stains on your own if you act fast, you can also damage to your carpet worse if you aren't aware of a few common pitfalls. Here are five tips every homeowner should keep in mind when cleaning stains on their carpet.

1. Blot, Don't Scrub

When it comes to cleaning carpet, you should use less elbow grease than you may think you need. The right way to clean a stain is by blotting the area with a rag while the spill is still wet. Scrubbing the spill will simply spread the liquid around and press it into the padding of the carpet. Scrubbing too hard can do more harm than good, as it can also cause the threading of the carpet to unravel.

2. Avoid Cleaning Your Carpet With Colored Rags

Consider the effect that spills and cleaners will have on the rag you are using to clean as well as the carpet itself. Certain chemical cleaners can cause the dyes in colored rags to leach out onto the carpet as you try to scrub the stain away. This effect is usually more pronounced on light-colored carpets, but to be safe, you should always use a white rag to clean any carpet stains.

3. Consult Your Carpet Manufacturer for Cleaning Tips

You can easily find numerous guides online for cleaning virtually any type of carpet stain, but these should not always be trusted. You cannot consult an online carpet cleaning guide without first considering the material your carpet is made of. This is because an effective cleaning method for one material may cause damage to another material.

If your carpet is made of wool or a blend of wool and synthetic fibers, it will have natural water-repellent properties that make it easier to clean. Conversely, carpets made exclusively of polypropylene or polyester will be harder to clean and show dirt and stains more easily. Contacting your carpet manufacturer is the best way to get information about cleaning methods specific to your carpet.

4. Test Cleaners Before Using Them

If you are using a new carpet cleaner for the first time, you should always take it on a test drive. Applying the cleaner to a section of your carpet that is covered by a rug or furniture will allow you to avoid bleaching a visible section of the carpet. Be sure to read the instructions of any carpet cleaning product to make sure it's intended for your type of carpet.

5. Don't Neglect Professional Cleanings

No matter how well you maintain your carpet or how experienced you are at cleaning carpet stains, regular professional cleanings will do more to extend the life of your carpet than anything else. Professional carpet cleaners have experience and equipment that can provide better cleaning than any consumer-grade cleaners or machinery.

Professional carpet cleaners use a number of special techniques to provide carpet cleaning that is superior to any cleaning homeowners can accomplish on their own. One such method is foam encapsulation, a type of cleaning that traps dirt in foam detergents that crystallize into a dry powder that is easy to remove. Commercial-grade steam cleaners also provide higher levels of suction and deep cleaning that consumer machines cannot match.

Carpet cleaning is more complex than many homeowners realize, but knowing the common mistakes to avoid will always provide a better result. Contact us at Smith Mathis Carpet + Upholstery Cleaning if you are looking for the best professional-grade cleaning so you can get the longest life possible out of your home's carpet.