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Cleaning Carpets : No-Nonsense Real-World Carpet Stain Removal
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By Garfield Benjamin
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Regardless of how hard we may try to keep our carpets intop-notch condition it seems an inevitable fact of life that wewill all be faced with the problem of carpet stains.
Carpet stains are even more unsettling to those who haverecently purchased new carpeting. It is very frustrating to havenew carpet installed only to find a glaring stain in just amonth's time despite your best attempts to avoid that scenario.
In this article, I hope to provide you with the knowledge youneed to effectively tackle common carpet cleaning problems.
First, a little about me, after all, why should you listen to me?
The information I am about to share is backed up by many yearsof carpet cleaning experience both commercially andresidentially.
I was a professional cleaner and cleaned carpets many times forvarious office buildings in northeast Pennsylvania. Having beenexposed to commercial carpet cleaning it seemed natural to me tospend time cleaning my own carpets at home rather than hiringthe work to be done.
As you might guess, this article is not based on a bunch oftheory. It is based on real-life "in the trenches" carpetcleaning experience.
Carpet Cleaning Problems
Let's start by taking a look at some of the more common carpetcleaning problems you may face.
Some of the most common, and yet intimidating, carpet stainsinclude barbecue stains, beer stains, blood stains, coffeestains, ink stains, and even candle wax stains.
Rather than try to go into detail in this article on how totackle specific stains I have decided to cover the criticalsubject of process.
I realize you might be thinking that you do not want to wastetime on these "basics" and just want to get the stain out nowbut I assure you it is very important that you learn how toclean carpet the right way before taking on any carpet cleaningchallenge. When you know how to clean carpet stains these jobswill not seem nearly as overwhelming to you as they do to mostpeople.
Carpet Cleaning Process
Here is a 4 step process you can use whenever you tackle acarpet stain.
1. Remove Solid Particles
Remove all of the loose solid particles that you can. You mightwant to wear protective gloves when doing this. Here is anexample of removing solid particles. Let's say you are dealingwith a pepperoni pizza stain. Don't begin the stain treatmentuntil you have removed all of the pepperoni and cheese piecesfrom the carpet fibers. Just pick up as much of the pepperoniand cheese as you can and throw it away.
2. Blot the Carpet Stain
Start the actual stain treatment by finding out if you can blotup any of the mess with a dry cloth. Often you will find thatblotting the area will remove a large part of the stain. Useclean dry cloths. If clean dry cloths are not available youshould be able to substitute paper towels.
3. Test Your Carpet Cleaning Solution
Although a lot of household items such as club soda and peroxidecan help remove carpet stains, it's important to know first whatkind of cleaning job and carpet dye you're dealing with.
You need to test the cleaning solution on a tiny area, ideally aspot that is hidden out of the way of plain sight.
To test a cleaning solution to determine if it is safe for useon your carpet this is what you need to do: apply a small amountof the cleaning solution of your choice to a very small part ofthe carpet that no one will see. If your carpet does notdiscolor in this test area you can proceed to treat your carpetstain.
4. Remove the Carpet Stain
Apply the cleaning solution you've chosen into the fibers andblot.
What I am about to tell you now is very important so pleaseremember this. Do not rub when attempting to remove a stain.Always blot. Why? Because rubbing can actually push the staindeeper into the carpet fiber. And you certainly do not want todo that!
Blot the solution onto the stain repeatedly until the stain isremoved.
Rinse the area with clean water and blot again until you haveremoved as much water as possible.
Your last step is to keep traffic away from the cleaned area andlet it fully dry.
Carpet Cleaning Solutions
Now that you know the process for cleaning carpet stains I wantto share some of the cleaning solutions you can use. When I saysolutions I am talking about the actual liquid cleaners you willuse to help break up the stain.
Peroxide works well for cleaning carpet stains caused by blood(but always remember to test your carpet first).
For juice stains, ink stains, coffee and other similar stainstry club soda or tonic water.
To recap what we covered above in the cleaning process, blot thesolution onto the stain repeatedly until the visible stain isremoved. When you have removed the visible stain, rinse the samearea with clean water and blot again until you have removed asmuch water as possible. Now keep traffic away from the area andlet it fully dry.
I hope you have found this information useful and the next timeyou are faced with a carpet cleaning challenge you feel betterprepared to handle the situation.
If you would like specific carpet cleaning informationexplaining how to remove several types of carpet stains as wellas information on used carpet extractors and carpet installation prices I highlyrecommend that you visit the CarpetCleaning Information website.
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