Cleaning Spills off of Carpets

A Familiar Story:

You just had your carpet cleaned and it looks beautiful. Wanting to keep your carpet clean as long as possible, you ban all food and drink. But while you’re gone shopping, your son invites his friends over and they decide to have a party. In the living room. On the carpet. With red soda.

You come home to discover a nasty red spot in the middle of your beautiful carpet. Red, of all colors! You panic and pick up the phone to get a carpet technician to come over at once to clean the spot. You are in luck – a technician can be over within 30 minutes.

The van rolls up and the tech starts to work, spraying the spot with chemical and then blots the area with clean rags. Most of the stain comes out, but not all.

The tech tells you that he has done the best he can. You thank him and he leaves.
Spills are an unavoidable part of life, especially if you have kids at home. Your best bet is to prepare for them.

How to prevent stains

Make sure that every time you have your carpets professionally cleaned that you have your technician apply Scotchgard. It costs a little bit extra, sure, but it protects against stains. This doesn’t mean that stains won’t happen, but rather that they will be easier to clean. Scotchgard forms a protective layer over the strands of your carpet so that dirt and liquids cannot penetrate the fiber. When the carpet is cleaned the spots go away.

In the event of a spill, clean the area immediately by dabbing with towels, not scrubbing. Scrubbing pushes the staining material down into the backing, as well as spreads it out to unaffected strands, making the stain larger.

Next, apply a mild detergent, such as liquid dish detergent, and agitate the pile to let the detergent sink in. Let the detergent sit for a minute or two and then rinse with a small amount of water. Dab up as much water as possible. Rinse again, following the same procedure. Keep rinsing until all the detergent is gone (there will be no more suds.)

Immediately dry the area with a blow dryer or space heater. Make sure that your carpet does not come into contact with any heat source.

If you desire, you can call a technician at this time to finish off the job properly.

Here’s to your success,

The HiCaliber Team

P.S. For all your cleaning and restoration needs, please feel free to contact us at 435-674-9338, 800-492-6333, email us at Lonnie@hicaliber.biz, or look through our website to find the service you’re looking for.