Carpet Stain Removal – Avoid These Common Mistakes

We’ve all attempted carpet stain removal at least once.  Ugly stains not only ruin that comforting feeling of your carpet, they can also lower the value of your home.  In terms of household expenses, carpet ranks right up there with the family automobile.  It’s not cheap!  So, it’s understandable why many carpet owners take it upon themselves to perform spot removal treatments.  Unfortunately, the average consumer lacks proper carpet stain removal training and can actually make the problem worse by committing one of the following mistakes.

Three Carpet Stain Removal Mistakes You Never Want To Make…

  • Waiting Too Long! – If you don’t respond quickly to a spill, it may become a permanent stain.  This is especially true if your carpet hasn’t been recently treated with carpet protection to protect against stains.  If the spill has any type of dye, it will have a chance to seep into the fibers and possibly even penetrate the protective barrier if you don’t act fast enough.
  • Using An Inappropriate Cleaning Product – Because the average consumer lacks the proper training, they reach for any type of cleaner they can get their hands on.  Some ‘all-purpose’ cleaners claim to be safe for carpet but the reality is, they aren’t.  We frequently see homes in which these types of chemicals have caused permanent color-loss on the carpet.  What’s worse is even some of the most popular and “effective” carpet stain removers are ineffective and dangerous to your carpet.  You see, professional cleaners carry sometimes in excess of 25 specialty stain and spot removers to address every different type of carpet stain they encounter.  You should be wary of products that claim to be effective an all types of stains while also being safe for your carpets.  For an acceptable cleaning product, contact a professional for a recommendation.
  • Over-Agitation Of The Stain – For some reason, it is our natural human instinct to scrub a stain to get it clean.  This is probably necessary on other surfaces such as counters or hard floors, but it is damaging to carpets!  Over-agitation causes the carpet fibers to “bloom” (just a fancy way of saying distort).  Once the fibers bloom, they will have a ‘fuzzy’ appearance that stands out from the rest of the carpet.  Unfortunately, this is an irreversible problem so any damage done by scrubbing is permanent….So, don’t scrub.

And there you have it.  If you avoid these three carpet stain removal mistakes, you’ll have better luck at keeping your carpet looking its best.

3 thoughts on “Carpet Stain Removal – Avoid These Common Mistakes

  1. Carpets can be one of the best accessories that you can get for your home. It adds comfort in any room you place it in as well as providing you an opportunity to inject the room with a little bit of your personality and touch. The problem though is that carpets can get dirty quite easily. One of the main concerns that homeowners have is having a stubborn stain on the carpet.

    Stains are no laughing matter for carpet owners. This is because having a stain can ruin your carpet’s appearance. It can also defeat one of the purposes of having a carpet, which is to improve the look and feel of your home. Nobody wants to have a stain-filled carpet which is why a lot of homeowners try to get the stains out of their carpets as soon as possible.

    Sadly, some carpet owners go about it the wrong way and some don’t even know how to properly get rid of the stains on their carpets. This can be pretty risky as you can end up making a mistake that can harm your carpet. Here is a list of some common stain removal errors that countless homeowners commit and mistakes that you should always stay away from.

    Not Cleaning Stains Immediately – Time is of the essence when it comes to cleaning up stains and trying to remove them. This is because the longer you wait before trying to remove a stain, the higher the chances are that you will have a more difficult time getting it out. This is because the longer the stain stays on the carpet will mean that it will seep deeper onto the carpet fibers, making it very tough to eliminate. That is why you should always clean up the stain as soon as you are able in order to avoid having a very difficult time cleaning up the mess.

    Using Improper Carpet Cleaning Products – Many homeowners think that all carpet stains are the same thus they use the same old cleaning solution for all kinds of carpet stains. This is a big mistake as not all stains are equal and they won’t get removed if you use an improper cleaning product. Some stains react differently to certain kinds of carpet cleaning products and solutions thus it is always wise to do some quick research before you do any stain removal on your carpet. This way, you won’t be wasting your time and money on a carpet cleaning solution that won’t be effective in eliminating your carpet stain.

  2. This concept has also taken hold to family and friends that visit. It is important to us that our carpet stays clean without having to pay large sums to have it cleaned bi-yearly so I stress the importance that people remove their shoes before they enter our home. I have put a seat out in the shoe removal area to make it cozy and an extra rack especially for the shoes of our guests. I know it sounds very anal but having a house full of clean carpet is something I am willing to be anal over.

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