There are few worse things for your home than having a stained carpet. A perfectly clean house will still look dirty — and reflect on you as a host and a homeowner — if it has stains and spots. Regular carpet care like vacuuming is a good step toward keeping your carpet looking clean, but stains happen and usually in the worst ways. Here are three of the worst stains a carpet can have, how to get them out, and when it’s time to hire a carpet cleaning service.
Gum
One of the worst things that can get stuck in anything, let alone a carpet, is chewing gum. Sure it tastes great and freshens breath, but a carpet doesn’t need either of those things. If you do end up with gum in your carpet because you tracked it in the house in the bottom of your shoes, there is an easy way to get it out. The first thing you should do is freeze the gum with a couple of ice cubes to make it solid and less pliable. Gently pick out the debris and wash the spot with a carpet cleaning solution.
Candle wax
Candle wax is another substance that can seem really tough to get out of a carpet. Your first instinct is probably going to be to try to wipe it up, but don’t because that could spread the stain. You should wait for the wax to cool and dry. After it has dried completely, pick and scrape up as much of the wax as you can. Then lay a paper bag over the spot and go over it with a warm iron until the bag soaks up the remaining wax. Use a spot carper cleaner to remove any discoloration.
Red wine
Red wine is the most notorious carpet stain offender. When a stain happens, do not wipe it. Blot gently with an absorbent cloth to soak up the liquid. You should then spray the stain with something to help lift the discoloration — in most cases hydrogen peroxide works well. Let the stain dry and then vacuum. If the stain remains, repeat the hydrogen peroxide step.
Some stains are just impossible to get out of a carpet, so if yours is looking a little less than spotless you might want to hire professional carpet cleaning services to give it a once over. Experts recommend that people hire carpet cleaning services at least once every year to year and a half anyway, so if you haven’t had yours done you might as well. Learn more: www.envirospec.org
