Our carpet and upholstery take a beating every day, and should be professionally cleaned every 6 months to remove allergens and toxins, maintain it’s beauty, and ensure longevity. . But what about the times where you knock over that glass of wine, or spill the beans so to speak. Most people panic, and run for the Resolve or other retail product. and start spraying away. In many cases you don’t have to though. Here’s what you need to know about cleaning up everyday spills and preventing permanent stains on your carpet or upholstery.
Timing is everything. Get to it while the spot is fresh. The sooner you get to it, the better success you’ll have removing the spot.
. Remove as much as possible right away. If there are solids, grab the towels and pick up as much as possilble. This is where the wet / dry vac you can get from the hardware store is invaluable, especially on the liquid stains. If you have one, use it, and remember that if you’re getting up liquids, you need to use the filter in the vac intended for liquids….it looks like a sponge, not paper. If you DON’T have a wet / dry vac, use towels, place it on the spot, and stand on it to absorb up as much as possible. DON’T RUB IT OR SCRUB IT WITH A TOWEL. BLOT.
Once you’ve removed as much as possible with either a vac, or a towel, …Apply solution to dilute the stain. And here’s where I recommend the 1st product you should use - WATER! Yes, that’s right, WATER is the universal solvent and if used when the spot is new, will likely work in most cases. Apply a modest amount of water, and repeat the process of blotting or vacuuming out the spot until it’s gone.
If the spot remains, we recommend Citrus Plus’ Carpet and Upholstery Spot Cleaner because it’s powerful, soap free, safe ,and natural. Citrus Plus will give you a free bottle of carpet and upholstery spot cleaner at every cleaning appointment just for this purpose.
If these tips don’t work, or you’d just rather not deal with it, call Citrus Plus Carpet, Upholstery, and Tile Cleaning @ 650-919-3996
A couple things to know:
*If you spill enough liquid to go in to the padding, or over apply water such that it goes in to the padding, you WILL get a dirty spot in a day or so when it’s all dry. Why? Because the pad is filthy and dusty, so adding liquid, makes very dirty liquid down there. As it drys, it’s evaporating UP, back through the carpet and will appear as a dirty spot. A light application of water and a towel will usually work.
** If you plan to use Resolve or any other chemicals that make bubbles (aka, soap / detergent / “carpet shampoo” etc. you need to rinse it away or you’ll soon get a dirty spot. Why? soap is sticky, so if you leave it in the carpet, it’s going to attract dust and dirt and get dirtier faster than the rest of the carpet.