Children, pets, parties and such
can tend to create accidents on your carpets and rugs. It is wise to clean them
and remove any spots as quickly as possible to prevent stains. We have found that
many people will use products purchased from the store to try and remove these
accidents. As cleaning professionals, we do not recommend that approach for the
following reasons. Consumers assume that if a little bit of something works
well, than a whole lot of it should work even better. This philosophy is bad in
the spot cleaning world. The reason is that store bought cleaners will leave a
residue. The amount of residue left is based on how much cleaning product was
applied to the spot and how good of a job the consumer did trying to remove the
cleaner after application. The problem is that the residue left on the carpet
will then attract dirt.
Also, some of the store bought
cleaning products can utilize harsh products to address spot removal. If these
type cleaners do not remove the spot, they tend to make it a permanent stain.
So what do you do? First, removal
of the initial insult is top of the list. For liquid spills, use a dry clean
white cloth or towel. Put it on the spill and apply pressure. The liquid will
migrate from the carpet/rug onto the towel. Keep moving the towel so a dry area
is over the spill and keep this up until no more liquid is transferred to the towel.
For any solid particles, scrap them off with a spoon or dull object. If a spot
is still visible, we recommend starting with clean water. If the water does not
work, try either 1 teaspoon of a neutral detergent with ½ pint of lukewarm
water (a non-alkaline detergent that does not contain bleach such as used for
washing delicate fabrics) or 1/3 cup white vinegar to 2/3 cup of water. Using a
spray bottle, sprits the spot with the cleaner but do not over wet the spot.
Then blot it up as described above.
For more information, visit my website at
www.graysoncleans.com
