While about 43 percent of homeowners who renovate their homes purchase non-carpet flooring, carpeting seems to be making a comeback. However, although carpeting is great for kids and adds more comfort, it can be difficult to clean.
If you have carpeting in your home, a stain can alter the appearance dramatically and make it look less than ideal. Removing stains in the wrong way can make the problem worse, so you need to be careful about how you approach stain removal.
Here are 7 carpet stain removal mistakes that you need to be sure to avoid.
1. Scrubbing Carpet Stains Vigorously
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when cleaning their carpet is that they scrub the stain too much. Scrubbing a stain to remove it will do more harm than good and isn’t a very good way to get it out of your carpet.
Doing this will simply push the stain deeper into the carpet and its underlay. Scrubbing excessively can also harm the carpet fibers and decrease the longevity of your carpet.
Make sure that you’re using blotting stain removal techniques rather than scrubbing techniques when trying to remove carpet stains.
Remember that removing stains from carpets and rugs can be tricky, so you might want to hire professionals to help. Be sure to look for the right professional rug cleaning services.
2. Waiting Too Long to Remove Stains
Another big mistake with carpet stain removal is failing to act immediately. As soon as you first stain your carpet, start working to get it out. The longer you wait after a spill to clean it up, the harder it will be for the stain to come out later.
Dry stains will be harder to remove, so make sure to keep this in mind. If you must leave a stain alone for a little while, then at the very least, you’ll want to place a dry towel on top of it in the meantime to soak up some of the moisture.
3. Assuming All Cleaning Products Are the Same
During the stain removal process, don’t just use any cleaning product that you have around. You should make sure that you get a cleaning solution that’s suited to the exact type of carpet you have as well as the type of stain you’re trying to remove.
Be sure to do your research before choosing a chemical to use on your carpet and carefully consider which one to use. General-purpose cleaners or cleaners that are meant for bathroom use or other purposes may do more harm than good when cleaning a carpet stain.
4. Failing to Spot Test Carpet Cleaners
If you’re using a chemical on your carpet for the first time, then you need to make sure that you test it out first. You should always pre-test any chemicals that you use on a small area of your carpet that’s in a less visible area to make sure that it doesn’t have any harmful effects on the carpet.
Some chemicals will cause carpet discoloration and other problems. By spot-testing the carpet cleaner first, you’ll ensure that using it doesn’t end up making matters worse than they already were.
5. Using Deodorizing Powders Instead of Cleaners
While carpet deodorizing powders can be useful for making your carpet smell great, they aren’t necessarily the best cleaning solution for a stain.
If you use these powders too often and use too much at once, then they could build up on your carpet. Your vacuum cleaner could have trouble removing it properly. When using deodorizing powder, make sure that you clean it up soon after you add it to your carpet.
You should also realize that this powder could cause small amounts of damage to vacuum filters and could reduce the longevity of your vacuum cleaner as well.
6. Heavily Soaking the Carpet
You should be careful when using water and cleaning solutions when treating carpet stains. Liquid materials could end up spreading the stain if you use too much. Using too much liquid can actually carry the stain further through your carpet and can make the spot even larger.
If the carpet stain has already dried out, then you’ll want to be sure that you eliminate everything you can before adding liquid to the mix. Scrape away any dried stain materials that you can and then use a vacuum to vacuum it up. After that, you may want to proceed to use water or a chemical solution.
7. Using Colored Cloths to Remove a Stain
Using a colored cloth when trying to remove stains from a carpet is also a big mistake.
The dye in colored cleaning cloths could potentially bleed over to the carpet when blotting and trying to remove a stain. This can cause even bigger issues with your carpet’s appearance than it had before.
To combat this issue, make sure that you always use a white cleaning cloth when trying to remove stains from your carpet. This will ensure that no dye bleeds over into the carpet while you’re trying to clean up the initial stain.
Avoiding These Carpet Stain Removal Mistakes
If you want to keep your carpet in great condition as time goes by, then you might want to learn from the carpet stain removal mistakes above. By removing stains in the correct way or using professional cleaning services, you’ll extend the life of your carpet and will improve the appearance of your home.
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