There isn’t a soul on this planet that hasn’t had a mishap with some food, drinks or any other matters on their carpets. Now if you are unlucky you will have this happen on a brand-new carpet that you are dying to preserve as much as possible.
Truth be told we aren’t always the ones that make stains on our carpets, sometimes we see a nice old or vintage one that we would like and that could grace a room in your house, but it has a stain, smudge or something unfamiliar to you, that doesn’t belong there. What to do in those situations?
Most of us would probably go for the cheapest option out there and hit the web in search of common household items that can clean this, or search for chemicals that are sold, that can effectively destroy staining. When all of those efforts fail, because there are damages and stains that no widely available cleaner can sort out, we have to do the only smart thing left – call carpet cleaning services.
These guys are so advanced now and with most of these you don’t have to take your carpets and rugs out of your home, they will simply come to your address and do the cleaning on the spot. Since we are on the pro side of cleaning, today we will discuss the ways that they clean stains and how they battle those stubborn ones. Stick with us and learn something new today.
1. Know your stains
Now what may seem a bit funny to you is the fact that it takes some knowledge when it comes to stains. You need to differentiate them if you want to successfully clean them. At some point, there were a bunch of universal carpet cleaners out there stating that they can get rid of any stain but that simply wasn’t true. I remember using one of those to a red wine stain on my new carpet and the next thing I recall is throwing that carpet because it was ruined. Not one stain and piece of dirt trapped in your carpet is the same and not one thing can affect it the same way. Some stains are simply rubbed off with alcohol, some will work with warm water and dish soap, and some will take solutions that include ammonia and so on. We also need to remind you that some solutions, although they can clean your carpet, can be bad for it. It may get discoloured, it may leave a darker or brighter spot and it can easily tear right there. Knowing what you are fighting against and what you need to fight it with wins battles successfully.
2. Pet stains
As you already know there are several types of stains you can destroy your carpets with but ones are particularly difficult to get rid of. Stains left by your pets can leave your carpets dirty but smelly as well. Sometimes it is harder to get rid of the smell than the stain itself. If you have a pet that spends a lot of time indoors and that is prone to “accidents” then you know what we are talking about. Some household items can help you get rid of stains and clean the carpet but the smell is usually very tough to get rid of. This is where professionals have special solutions that penetrate deep into the carpet and clean it. they will get rid of the stain and smell and you can be sure that even the back side of your carpet will be clean and smelling nice.
3. The process
Before a pro starts cleaning, they will always pre-spray the stain or stains with whatever solution suits it the best. It is important to leave the stuff on the stain for at least a little bit and leave it to do the work before you go on to the next step. The next step would be agitation of the stain after the solution penetrated it thoroughly. It can be done manually with a brush that has bristles of a certain strength. You don’t need to go hard on some of the stains and you also need to have the carpet in mind, you don’t want damage. After agitations, heavier machinery is up for the task and that includes an extractor. Now we know that these are widely available now and some can be used for personal use, but heavy-duty ones made for professional cleaning jobs are just a bit better and more powerful. Another piece of equipment you will see in the hands of the professionals is the steamer. Now, this is probably the most essential piece next to a good solution that can and will conquer those tougher stains.
4. Drying process
One thing that most of us forget while doing our carpets is the fact that the spot, or a whole carpet, that was treated needs to dry as fast as possible. There is a huge misconception out there that leaving carpets to dry slowly and naturally is normal and that it is OK, but we are here to tell you it’s not. Slowly drying a carpet or a spot on it will lead to it picking up a lot more bad smells as it dries out. The moister is the enemy of carpets and you need to understand that. You will not see it on top of the carpet but be sure that the one that slowly dried on its own has a huge moisture-created stain below and you better believe that that spot is going to smell bad soon again. Professionals will always advise and work on faster drying especially if they are doing a job in your home. You will be advised to get a box fan that will blow directly at the spot that needs to dry out. You can turn on your ceiling fans to help air circulate and dry it faster or you can set your temperature to about 70 degrees and let that dry out that way.
To most this doesn’t seem a bit difficult, spray some solution, give it a nice rub, use a vacuum to get it out and you are done. This does seem easy but the reality is that there is room for so many mistakes and that people destroyed their carpets by trying to DIY a lot of things. Leave bigger surfaces and more stubborn stains to the professionals, you will not regret it.
