Remember when you first moved into your new home and promised yourself that you’ll never eat on the couch? Most of us have made the same promise lest we ruin our furniture and carpet.
But we all might have broken that promise one too many times now. And as a result, our carpets have become home to unsightly stains.
While cleaning carpet stains seems daunting, there are easy ways to lift out stubborn dirt and spills.
To help you make your carpet look as good as new, we put up this guide to removing the most common carpet stains. Read on and start cleaning!
Coffee or Tea
If you’re like most people, you love drinking a cup of coffee or tea in the morning. You might also have spilled a few drops of your favorite breakfast drink on your carpet.
With a paper towel, white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and detergent, you can easily lift caffeine stains out of your carpet.
Blot as much of the stain as possible with a paper towel. Then, dilute 1/3 cup of white vinegar and a drop of detergent in 2/3 cup of water. Spray this solution onto the stain.
Next, soak the excess moisture with a paper towel and apply 3% hydrogen peroxide to the stained area. Leave it for at least an hour.
Grease
Love digging into greasy meals during your Saturday night movie binges? Tough butter and oil stains won’t stand a chance with some baking soda and dish soap.
Sprinkle baking soda over the stain and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. Go over the area with a vacuum.
If the stain still isn’t lifted, apply a mixture of warm water and a few drops of liquid dish soap to the affected area. Leave it for a few minutes, brush it off, and blot the spot with a paper towel.
Blood
When removing blood, avoid using warm water as it will make the stain harder to remove. Instead, stick to cold cleaning solutions.
Blot the area with a clean cloth or paper towel soaked in rubbing alcohol. Then, apply a diluted detergent solution to the stain. Blot it again with a paper towel.
For tougher stains, saturate the area with 3% hydrogen peroxide. After letting it sit for an hour, soak up the moisture with a paper towel.
Mud
To make mud easier to clean, let it dry completely first. Then, scrape it off using a dull knife and vacuum the area to remove as much mud as possible.
Spray a diluted detergent solution onto the remaining mud and leave it for 10 minutes. Blot it with a paper towel until it’s gone.
Candle Wax
Forgot to blow out a candle, unintentionally letting the wax melt all over your carpet? An ice cube and an iron are the perfect stain-removing combo.
Pack an ice cube in a plastic bag and rub it on the wax to harden it. Then, scrape it off with a dull knife and vacuum the pieces.
Cover the stain with a paper towel and go over it with a warm iron. Treat the area with a carpet cleaner and blot it dry.
Chocolate
Chocolate stains seem difficult to remove. With the wrong cleaning technique, you might make the stain worse by smearing it all over your carpet.
Thankfully, this kind of stain is the easiest to clean up.
All you need is to harden the chocolate with an ice pack and scrape the pieces off with a dull knife. After vacuuming the loose flakes, add a few drops of liquid dish soap to a cup of warm water and spray the mixture onto the stain.
Let it sit for five minutes and blot the area until the stain is removed.
Before trying any of these easy stain remedies, always test the mixture in an inconspicuous area first to make sure that the carpet dye isn’t affected.
Oxford at Estonia Apartments in San Antonio, TX