Common spills and how to handle them
Coffee and Wine
The best thing is to have a clean terry cloth towel folded in fourths. Press straight down on the rag and absorb as much as the color of the liquid spill, do not scrub. Keep flipping to a clean part of the rag until no more color appears on the rag. Then use cold water or white vinegar/water mix (50/50) and continue blotting and flipping the rag, repeat until all or most of the color is gone. Many people try and do too much often times setting the stain with a mix of different soaps. Less is usually best. We can get most stains out that have not been damaged or set by doing the wrong thing in a panic.
Many people who use a lot of spot cleaners don’t realize they are putting soap into a fiber and only removing a small percentage of what they put down. They often say it looked great and then a month later the spots came back. This is because the soap they used to break up the spot is not rinsed out and grabs dirt off of shoes. One can only extract so much of a solution without a machine extracting it. Rags only remove a small percentage.
Colored Spills
Colored spills such as red, blue, green, etc. use blotting technique same as coffee. Time is important on these as they set very fast and once set can only be removed by a lengthy technical “red-out” procedure. This can take us about an hour in some cases. Colored drinks are common damage to carpets, avoid buying them whenever possible.
Common Damage
Most common damage- Plant pots that are porous or wood/wicker, these can bleed color into carpet which can not be removed! Also, rubber backed area rugs can cause a yellowing effect to your carpet; they transfer latex adhesives which can also not be removed.
Rust
No worries, just call us and we can remove rust completely
Animal fluids/vomit/excrement
Scoop up large debris with a spoon, use blotting technique as described in coffee. Always start with small amounts of water and a clean rag. White vinegar/water, if necessary, finish with a low residue spot cleaner.
