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Carpet maintenance
You want to protect your investment, have your carpet cleaned once a year by hiring a service, or do it yourself by renting a carpet steamer. If your carpets are not heavily soiled, I see little evidence that the over hyped high-tech van services do any better of a job than just renting a shampooer and doing it yourself. It's more a factor of whether you want to do it or not. If you have allergies, see oursection on allergy cleaning strategies. Make sure yo...u blot spots and vacuum prior to cleaning your carpets.
We do not endorse spray-on aerasol cleaners. We've seen no evidence that they work better than the aforementioned techniques, and in fact quiteoften can discolor your carpet. This never happens with baking soda andvinegar.
See our natural cleaning section for brilliant tips and convincing case studies.
If your carpet is heavily soiled, you may have to go the professional cleaning service route. Make sure you get at least three bids, theyvary a lot, it's amazing, and ask if the quote includes their moving thefurniture and their choice of cleaners, if you're sensitive to sulfites.
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carpet cleaning tips
Ink stain on carpet (other materials too) Ball-point inks are all a bit different in their make up, they containany different number of resins, oils and solvents, so it's unlikely onetip is going to work on them all. We list some recipes and techniques herethat may help entirely or at least reduce the stain somewhat. Here is a listof known treatments.
... Using an absorbent cloth
1. Spray hair spray on cloth, dab on area and blot with dry cloth to absorb ink. 2. Soak cloth in Isopropyl rubbing alcohol, dab on area and blot with dry cloth to absorb ink. 3. Soak cloth in spirits of turpentine, dab on area and blot with dry towel to absorb the ink. 4. Same as above using nail polish remover. 5. Same as above using tea tree oil.
Never apply solvents directly to the stained material! Always test an inconspicuous area first.
Rust Do not use chlorine bleach, it sets the rust. You have two options, as far as we have found -- The first is Oxalic acid, rather toxic and the other is a product called Whink, which contains hydrofluoric acid, whichis extremely poisonous, so we would try to avoid using it, but you may findit to be your only option.
We have heard that a pumice stick will work, we use pumice stones on hard water and rust stains in the toilet bowl, and it works great, so maybe try using pumice on your carpet, it can't hurt. It would probably only workon a carpet with an extremely short nap. Let us know if it works for you.
Lipstick Scrape and blot excess, apply mild detergent on damp cloth. Blot don't rub. Apply ammonia on damp towel, blot, don't rub, apply white vinegar on damp towel, blot, (don't rub!), rinse with water, put paper towel with weight on top to absorb the stain, repeat blotting and not rubbing till dry.
Blood stains on fabrics As soon as possible soak the spot in COLD water, do not use warm or hot water, it will set the stain. For stubborn blood stains, apply a paste of meat tenderizer crystals, leave for about an hour and rinse with cold water. For really nasty blood stains use Hydrogen Peroxide, which is the main ingredient used in commercial blood stain cleaners.
Blood stains on carpet Use a paste of corn starch and water. Apply the paste and wait a few minutes and rinse with cold water.
Pet stains and carpet -- removing pet stain from carpet (Removal of excrement, vomit and urine)
After scraping off solids, use 1/2 tsp. of mild detergent per pint ofwater and blot, then use 1/2 tsp. of ammonia per cup of water and blot,follow with a solution of equal parts vinegar and water, blot again andrinse area. The ammoniarepels the pet. They won't want to resoilthe area.
We hope these specific cleaning tips have been helpful. We've got three indoor kitties -- we've used this last trick and were pleased with the results!
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carpet cleaning Tips
Carpet cleaning tips:
Covered in this article, general carpet stain removal tricks such as:... Coffee stains and carpet Red wine carpet stain Bleach carpet stain Ink carpet stain Rust carpet stain Lipstick carpet stain Blood carpet stain Pet stains
It's vital for the long term health of your carpet that you deal with stains as they happen. The proper way to deal with a spill is to blot it up right after it happens. Don't rub at the stain, that just spreads it out and pushes the stain deeper into the carpet fibers.
Three ways to remove carpet stains --
1- For fresh stains use plain baking soda, pour it dry on to the fresh spill but do not soak the baking soda. Let it foam and bubble, let it sit for a few minutes, then sponge up thoroughly.
2- For older stains, combine two tablespoons detergent, three tablespoons vinegar and one quart warm water. Work into carpet pile and blot dry. Repeat if needed.
3- Using shaving cream, let it foam on the carpet, wipe clean with sponge and rinse with damp cloth.
After any of these methods, cover the spot with a clean paper towel and place a heavy item, like a floor lamp, on top of it. Once the towel becomes damp, replace it and repeat till dry.
Specific Stain Removing Solutions
Removing coffee stains from carpet Coffee stains on carpet is a common problem. Blot coffee stains immediately! Then mix one tablespoon mild detergent, one tablespoon vinegar and one quart warm water. Apply the solution to the stained area. Let the carpet dry. As a worst case scenario, apply dry-cleaning fluid at this point, and let carpet dry again, then vacuum.
Removing red wine carpet stain Sponge with club soda (if you drink red wine make sure youhave a bottle of club soda around!), or cover with salt and let it absorb the wine, vacuum up the salt, with the HOSE, if a stain remains, wipe gently with a solution of detergent, water and vinegar.
Bleach carpet stain As soon as possible, blot the area. Bleach is going to discoloryour carpet. You may be able to water the bleach down immediatelyafter the spill to lessen the effect of the bleach, but this may simply spreadit out more as well. Soak up as much of the bleach as possible, assoon as possible, and let dry.
Your only real option is dying the spot to match the rest of the carpet. This really depends on how noticeable the spot is, if it's a bleachstain on blue carpet, you might as well dye it and blend it in, if it's ableach stain on off-white carpet, you may be better off leaving it becausethe dyed spot may end up darker than the rest of the carpet. This isreally your call, since after a bleach stain you're pretty much in repairterritory, not cleaning. We rarely use bleach, nine out of ten times thereare safer and better formulas that don't have the destructive and poisonousqualities of bleach. See our section on natural cleaning for examples.
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