If your house is carpeted, you have kids and pets and no steam cleaner what do you do if it’s not time yet for your regular cleaner, and you’ve had a red wine or child’s paint spill, with friends coming over the next day? If you have embarrassing carpet stains, you need to get onto them as soon as possible so you need to know how to clean your carpets without a steam cleaner.
Clean carpets are important for the appearance of your living space and the health of you and your family (Oh, and the pets!). A dingy, stained carpet can disturb the ambience of your home, and dirt, bacteria and allergens can cause or exacerbate respiratory problems.
We have some methods for vacuuming and carpet cleaning, and knowledge on how to remove stains from carpet that will help to keep your carpets healthy, clean and longer lasting.
Smart and Simple Tips to Remove Carpet Stains
First, start with a thorough vacuuming of the carpet. Pick up toys, papers or other items that will get in the way of the vacuum cleaner, and anything that will be sucked up inadvertently causing you to waste time removing the obstruction. And make use of nozzle attachments.
- If furniture can’t be moved, use the cranny extension to get in under the lounge suite and other furniture to suck up the dust bunnies.
- If you’re planning to clean other parts of your home, start up high with blinds, furniture, windowsills, and skirting boards. The dust that falls can then be vacuumed up.
Then follow the steps below to remove stains but make sure you don’t put the vacuum cleaner away yet because you will need it for the last step.
We offer a full range of domestic and professional house and carpet cleaning services in Sydney and Adelaide, so whatever state you’re home may be in, we happily clean without judgement.
How to get food colouring out of carpet
Remember, food colouring is dye and while it's safe to eat, if you spill it on your carpet you’ve effectively dyed it. You’ll need paper towels, rubbing alcohol, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, white vinegar, ammonia, white cloths and dishwashing detergent. So follow these steps:
- Gently blot excess spillage with paper towels.
- If the stain is dry, wet it with a little cold water and wait a minute for the water to sink into the stain before blotting it with the paper towels.
- Mix equal parts of a tablespoon of the white vinegar and liquid dishwashing detergent with two cups of cold water. If the dye is red, use ammonia instead of vinegar.
- Pour some of this solution onto a clean, white cloth and dab the carpet stain.
- Blot the carpet stain dry with a paper towel.
- Repeat these steps until the stain is gone as much as possible.
- Sponge any leftover carpet stain, alternatively with a bit of rubbing alcohol and then a small amount of warm water.
- Blot dry after every wetting cycle.
- Moisten any stained carpet areas with three percent hydrogen peroxide and let it stand for around an hour then blot and repeat as needed.
How do you get old pet stains out of carpet?
There are many ways to clean carpet, depending on what is causing the mess. And while carpets have many advantages as floor coverings, there are some disadvantages such as spills that leave nasty stains, the family’s daily traffic leaving mud and scuffs, and pet hair dropping from the beloved animals. There are also urine stains, especially if you're toilet training a new puppy. What you need:
- Clean cold water and a bucket.
- White vinegar
- Store bought pet odour remover or baking soda
- Toothbrush
- Towels
- Hydrogen Peroxide
Vacuum the dried urine spot slowly and thoroughly to remove as much dirt as possible. Then moisten the spot with a mixture of cold water and 3 percent white vinegar solution and leave for 10 minutes. Make sure you don’t make the carpet soaking wet.
Soak up as much of the moisture as possible with the dry towel but don’t press down, just leave it to sit for another 10 minutes. Then dab with a mixture of water and deodoriser (baking soda or pet odour remover) and use the dry towel again, dabbing until the towel is picking up no stained water. Open windows and doors or run fans to help the carpet dry.
At Cleaning Ease, our team of professional domestic cleaners have perfected their art so if you’re looking online for a ‘carpet cleaner near me’ call us for a booking on (02) 9157 8588 or email hello@cleaningease.com