7 Common Carpet Stains and How to Remove Them

Dancing around in your apartment living room with a glass of wine in your hand is all fun and games until you spill it on your white carpet. That’s a stain that’s never going to come out which means you can kiss your security deposit goodbye.

Don’t give up hope yet! While red wine is pretty annoying to scrub out, with the right technique you can accomplish anything. This holds true for any common carpet stains no matter if it’s pet urine or ink. 

To help you with your carpet cleaning in Roswell, GA, keep reading to find out how to get rid of all the most common stains.

1. Pet Stains 

No matter how trained your fur baby is, accidents happen. If their stomach is upset they might not be able to hold it while you put on your shoes to take them out. When this happens, you’ll have to act fast if you want to avoid a stain. 

Use tissues or paper towels to get up as much of the mess as you can. It’s important that you scoop (or blot in the case of urine). Don’t scrub. 

Scrubbing will only spread the mess around further and push it deeper into the fibers of your carpet. Once you’ve gotten up as much as you can, spray the area with a solution that’s composed of water and dishwashing liquid. 

Let the soap water sit on the carpet for a few moments before you blot it dry. Next, make a second solution of water and vinegar and spray it on the carpet. After it’s been allowed to sit for a bit, dab it dry as well. 

The stain should be gone but there’s probably still going to be a persistent odor. You can get rid of this by sprinkling baking soda around the area. Vacuum up the baking soda once the smell has left. 

2. Coffee 

You’re carrying your coffee over to the couch when some of it slips over the rim of the mug and lands on the carpet. You knew you filled the mug up way too much. Put the cup down and start working on the stain ASAP. 

If you allow it to sit the result will be a permanent yellowish-brown stain. Soak up as much of the spill as you can with paper towels. Again, don’t scrub or you’ll make matters worse. 

Grab that water-vinegar solution and spray the stain with it. You can also use a non-bleach detergent if need be. After it’s been allowed to sit for a bit, blot it up and sprinkle the area with baking soda. 

In the case of coffee stains, it’s a good idea to leave the baking soda on the carpet overnight. You can vacuum it up in the morning. 

3. Blood 

Your child has come into the house with a cut and dripped blood on the carpet. Tend to your little one’s boo-boo and then set to work on the stain. The first thing you should do is spray it with cold water. 

Using warm or hot water will only make the stain set in further. Once you’ve wet the area, create a solution of cold water and dish detergent.

Thoroughly coat the stain and dab it dry. Repeat this process until you can no longer see the blood. 

4. Ink

You pick up your pen to sign a document and it leaks ink all over the floor. Ink stains are tough but not impossible to remove. pour a bit of rubbing alcohol on to the spot. If you don’t have rubbing alcohol, you can also use hair spray or fingernail polish remover. 

Whatever you end up using, let it sit on the stain for one hour. Dab the stain up until you can no longer see ink. 

5. Red Wine 

Dropping red wine on your white carpet can feel like a death sentence. It can be a pain to get out but if you act fast you can save your carpet. Run to the kitchen and grab a bottle of tonic water. 

Pour it onto the stain without completely drenching your carpet. The bubbles should break up the stain before it gets the chance to set in. Dab the tonic water away until the carpet is dry and then spray the spot with your water and vinegar solution.  

Blot the water and vinegar mixture until the area is dry. Sprinkle baking soda on the stain and let it sit for an hour before you vacuum it away. 

6. Chocolate 

You’re carrying a bowl of melted chocolate into the living room and accidentally drop it. Lucky for you, out of all the stains on this list, chocolate is the easiest one to clean up. First thing’s first, you’ll need to freeze the chocolate with ice cubes. 

When the chocolate has hardened you should be able to scrape it all away. That is unless the stain has set in.

Spray the area with your water and dishwashing liquid mixture. Let it sit for a few seconds before you dab it away. This should do the trick.  

7. Gum 

Chewing gum won’t leave a stain per se but it is gross. Like with melted chocolate, you’ll need to freeze it using ice cubes. Fill a bag with ice and allow it to sit on the carpet for half an hour. 

From there, you should be able to slowly pick at it without doing any harm to your carpet fibers. If you don’t have ice on hand you can use hairspray.

No matter what method you use, the important thing is to have patience. If you try to rush through the scraping process you’ll damage your carpet. 

Be Gone Common Carpet Stains 

Accidents happen. It can feel like the end of the world when you get red wine or coffee on your carpet but it doesn’t have to be. Use the tips that you’ve read here to clean common carpet stains and keep them away. 

If you don’t act fast enough to clean up a stain it will set into your carpet. We can help you with all your carpet cleaning in Roswell, GA. Schedule an appointment with us today.