Tips for removing stains from carpet & furniture

Most of us have been there – that moment of horror when a glass of red wine gets knocked on the carpet or some tomato sauce from your pasta splashes on your couch or that clean white shirt.

Luckily, there are some clever ways to remove stains from carpet and furniture:

• Make sure you quickly wipe up any liquid that has not already soaked into your carpet or fabric. Then, use a clean cloth to blot the stain, starting at the edges and moving inwards.
• Never rub or scrub a stain – this will make removal more difficult.
• If you have grease stains on carpet, try dishwashing liquid. If the grease has already hardened, apply baby oil first, then dishwashing liquid.
• Dishwashing liquid can also help remove oil stains from carpet.
• If you have a steam cleaner handy, treat the stain with steam to loosen it, which will make it more responsive to cleaning.
• Stains from tomato-based pasta sauces can be treated with white vinegar. If it is on clothing, wipe with white vinegar then hang the clothing out in the sun.
• Red wine stains on clothing can be treated with salt. After you have soaked up any remaining liquid, sprinkle salt on the stain and leave for three minutes, then rinse with cold water. You can also use baking soda in place of salt.
• If you’ve spilt red wine on carpet, lightly spray water and a cleaning solution on the stain. Then, use several cloths to blot the stain instead of reusing the same cloth. Cover the stain with paper towel weighed down by a heavy object and leave overnight – this will help draw out any residual liquid.

 If all else fails, you can contact your local carpet and upholstery cleaning specialist to give you a hand.