How to Clean Carpet Stains

Since they're all over our home, carpets can get stained super easily. Whether it's food, drink, pets, blood, or just mud stains, all sorts of things get trapped into our homes, and it can feel impossible to get rid of them. If you've noticed a stain in your carpet, you're probably thinking about reaching for the nearest stain remover or carpet cleaner to tackle those tough carpet stains; but did you know there are specific hacks and tricks that work for all of the stubborn stains you might get on your beloved carpet? Here are some great tips from the Carpet Team.

How to remove most stains from carpet

For light stains or your typical mucky footprint or two, there's a pretty simple DIY method to remove stains.

Dish soap and water

All you need for the vast majority of marks on your carpet is some dishwashing liquid and warm water. Mix these in a spray bottle, and get some cold water in another as well as a wet cloth, and you're good to go. Simply spray the detergent onto the cloth and dab it onto the carpet stains. Rinse with a clean part of the cloth and the cold water, and then leave to dry or blot dry with a dry cloth.

How to remove stubborn stains

Some stains are a bit tougher, though, and will not budge with any old DIY carpet cleaner. For those stains, you might need to try:

How to remove pet stains from carpet

Carpet cleaner with enzymes

Our pets are our family, and much like any other member of the family, they sometimes make a mess. If you're struggling with pet messes and carpet stains, then there are a few things you can do. There are specially designed cleaning products to help with removing stains caused by pets, but generally, any carpet cleaner that has enzymes in it will do a good job. Enzymes will help to digest the bacteria and remove the stain and any odour in it.

How to remove coffee stains from carpet

Dish soap, white vinegar and water

Coffee is a very common stain on carpets, and it is often why people find themselves reaching for carpet stain remover. Fortunately, it's actually one of the easier stains to remove from carpet fibers. All you need is liquid dish soap, white vinegar and warm water, as well as a clean white cloth or two.

To start with, you need to mix a quarter of a teaspoon of dish soap, a tablespoon of white vinegar and a cup (around 220 ml) of warm water together. Using the cloth, dab the mixture onto the stain a bit at a time until the stain is gone. For particularly harsh coffee stains, you may need a bit more dish soap. When done, rinse with cold water through blotting, and then dry with a paper towel or dry cloth.

How to remove wine stains from carpet

Microfiber and club soda/sparkling water

Wine is also a very common stain on carpets. It really gets into the carpet fibres and even some carpet cleaners won't get rid of it. The best way to go about wine on a carpet is to remove as much spilled wine as possible (and to act as quick as possible) and then you can use club soda (or sparkling water) to dab the wine away. A microfiber cloth works best in this situation, and will help to remove the stubborn stain.

How to get blood stains out of carpet

Cold water or club soda

Too often, people use warm water to try to remove blood stains. The best way to remove blood from your carpet is to use cold water or sparkling water and a clean cloth. This will allow you to clean blood stains quickly and easily.

How to remove candle wax carpet stains

Freeze and break up

The issue with candle wax is that when wet, it's impossible to move. To remove candle wax from your carpet you will first need to freeze it using a bag of ice (or a bag of something frozen if there's no ice available). Once hardened, you can then pick and break up the wax into small fragments which are then suitable to be vacuumed or swept up with the dustpan and brush.

How to remove chocolate stains out of carpet

Freeze and break up

Just as with candle wax, melted chocolate can be almost impossible to remove from carpet fibres. To help remove it, you will need to freeze it and then break it up and remove each individual piece. Then you can remove any leftover discolouration using one of the above methods.

How to remove gravy carpet stains

Baking soda and rubbing alcohol

For fat-based stains (things like butter, gravy, cheese) you will need to sprinkle the stain with some baking soda and let it sit. Then, after around four to five hours, you can vacuum and blot with a cloth and some rubbing alcohol. Be sure to test this on an inconspicuous part of your carpet before you begin carpet cleaning to ensure it doesn't harm the carpet itself.