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.