How To Clean Carpet Effectively

The first thing to do when cleaning your carpet is to thoroughly go over it with a powerful vacuum cleaner.

The initial vacuuming of the carpet will remove most of the dust, grit and grime in the weave of your rug or carpet. And once that's been done, you can decide if further carpet cleaning is required.

Any small carpet stains such as drink spills should have ideally been diluted and mopped up with a damp rag or a towel within a minute or so of the accident occurring. But if the liquid has been allowed to soak in for several hours or more, then the stain removal becomes much harder.

If you know what substance has marked the carpet, then you can choose your best line of attack.

Alcoholic drinks can start as minor stains which are hardly visible. But if they are ignored, the alcohol stain will gradually turn brown. If this has happened already, you can try getting the stain out by sponging with laundry pre-soaking liquid or a 50:50 mixture of methylated spirits (wood alcohol) and household ammonia.

Test first on some far corner of the carpet to see if your cleaning mixture changes the carpet color, and keep your test area small to minimise any possible damage. If the cleaning mixture seems safe after an hour, then try to shift your problem drink stain.

Beverages such as coffee or tea can be swabbed copiously with warm soapy water and then mopping with a towel. Once the soapy water is removed, and hopefully much of the stain, give the area a rinse with another sopping wet rag and then pat-dry the area again. Any remaining stains can be attacked carefully with a dilute solution of Napisan (daiper wash and sanitizer) or diluted household bleach.

Urine stains should first be soaked with a dilute mixture of diaper wash/sanitizer (containing sodium percarbonate), or you can try sponging the area with a solution of 2 tablespoons of household ammonia in a cup (250 ml) of warm water. Rinse well with sopping wet but clean rags, and mop it dry with an old towel.

If this fails, the urine stain may have been alkaline. (The ph can vary.) So try a 50:50 mix of white vinegar and warm water. Sop it on and rinse well with clean warm water. Mop it dry.

Lastly, for stubborn urine stains, where the previous two methods have been tried and failed, sponge the area with diluted hydrogen peroxide - which acts as a mild bleaching agent and a disinfectant. Sponge the area again and mop it clean with water.

Vomit stains are acid, since the stuff comes straight out of the stomach. Scrape off the vomit with a flat edged tool, such as a knife blade or a ruler. Mop or sponge the dirty area with warm water containing a little household ammonia. You can also sprinkle the area with bicarb of soda powder, since this is also alkaline. Allow the powder to dry and then suck it all up again with your vacuum cleaner.