Removing spots from the carpet

Pets, mud and grease can stain carpets.PHOTO/unsplash.com

What you need to know:

In case of a stubborn stain, add some alcohol to the cleaning formula. Alcohol helps to break down oils, which makes the cleaning easier.

A greasy spot or stain, cat droppings, muddy shoes, and more are characteristic of any family home. It gets worse in a home with carpeting because spots are a great way to make your carpet look ugly because even after cleaning the spots glare at you making your work seem a waste of time. However, Adrian Obonyo, an interior designer with Concept MacFaj, says with a few ingredients in your home, you can get rid of several spots, even pet droppings if you get to them early.

Ingredients

● 1/2 teaspoon of liquid dishwashing soap

● Two tablespoons of 91 per cent rubbing alcohol as anything of lower percentage will not give you effective results.

● Spoon – one that you will not need thereafter is the best because in some occasions, it will be used in pet droppings

● A clean towel/rug- preferably white or any neutral colour to avoid ruining the carpet in case of a colour fast cloth

● A cup of warm water to help the chemicals work better

● A dish (if possible, let it have a spout end to ease pouring)

● Spray bottle

● A wet-dry vacuum cleaner- this is the heart of the cleaning process because extraction is the only way to get rid of these spots. “While many will want to dab and dry with the cloth that will not remove suspended dirt or effectively dry the carpet. Moreover, rubbing the carpet to remove the spot will fray the carpet fibres leaving you with a damaged patch,” he shares

While many people love using vinegar when cleaning, Obonyo says it is only a disinfectant and has no ability to clean dirt out of the carpet. “When doing carpet cleaning, you need something with some soap, which will grab on to the dirt and suspend it so you can pull it out. Additionally, when mixing the ingredients, stir gently so you do not create foam that makes it difficult to add the mixture into the bottle.  The mixture also has a great shelf life in that even when you do not use it all, it can still work later,” he shares.

Procedure

One of the tricky stains is shoe polish and if you have it on your carpet, spray some of the mixture on to it and with a spoon, ensure the mixture has soaked the spot well. “Thereafter, get the wet/dry vacuum to suck up the liquid while cleaning up the spot (picking up suspended dirt). You might have to do this three times, spraying the mixture over the spot and using the vacuum repeatedly,” he explains.

In case of a stubborn stain, Obonyo says rather than add some more soap, you can add some alcohol. “Adding soap will a filmy mess that you will hardly remove from the carpet. On the other hand, alcohol, more so with greasy and oily spots, helps to break down oils making the cleaning easier. However, rubbing alcohol on the carpet can easily damage the carpet fibres therefore only add it on a spot when you have something to suck it out. That is why the wet/dry vacuum is important. It is also not right to let the alcohol sit on the carpet for too long before evacuating it from the carpet,” he advises.

In case there is excess liquid that the vacuum did not suck out, get the cloth and dab it (do not rub) on the carpet to get rid of it.