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Spotting Guide

General Statement:

  Spots: Usually easy to fix.

   Stains: Some are just permanent and others can be fixed. Some require   professional removal.

  For most spots you will encounter the solution should be very easy to accomplish. There is no one quick fix for everything, so don't believe all those commercials you see on T. V. One major secret is to get to the spot or stain as quickly as is possible.

  There are some stains that we don't have a solution for or they may require some special chemical not available to the general public. If we know what caused the stain, we will better know how and if we can correct it, so please identify it for us if you can.

  I'm not going to give you a bunch of complicated steps to try to remove something on your carpets because I've tried them myself and most do not work very well. If the stain is on an item of furniture, it is important to note that these fabrics generally are more delicate and even the simplest stain removal could result in an even more serious problem, so proceed at your own risk. Synthetic or man made fabrics are the easiest to fix.

**These are merely suggestions.  Some of the chemicals suggested can pose health problems when not used according to the manufacturers directions. When in doubt, it is best to call a professional.**

General Steps:

  The first thing I would suggest to you is that most modern synthetic carpets are made to release soils easily so we would suggest first trying warm to hot water before going to detergents. Detergents, if not rinsed properly with water may cause a collection of soil themselves and a spot reappears.

1.On a fresh spill, blot up with paper towels or if the spill is large, blot with an old clean bath towel.

2. If a lot of liquid is in the carpet, put the towel over it and stomp on it with your foot to drive it into the towel. The towel is more absorbent than the carpet and acts as a blotter.

3. Follow the above rinsing with cool water, but do not flood it. You are trying now to dilute the sticky spill and follow again with blotting. Repeat until you are satisfied you can do no more.

4. For small spots:

  a. Put hot water in a spray bottle, spray spot to wet it, agitate with your finger or   spoon and blot. Do not use a brush as this could permanently damage your carpet.

  b. If spot reappears after a few days, wet a small towel or wash cloth, ring it out   and lightly wipe over spot to remove it.

5. If this doesn't do the job, use a little degreasing agent, apply to the spot and blot. Rinse with water and blot again.

More difficult spots and/or stains:

Beverages: Blot, blot and blot! Wet with cool water and blot, blot, blot!

Blood: Rinse with cool water. If stain remains, apply a small amount of Pure Ammonia (not the foamy kind) and blot. No need to rinse.

Butter & Other Fats: Scrape up as much as possible with medium spoon. Apply degreaser, agitate, blot. Apply warm water and blot until nearly dry. Repeat if necessary.

Candle Wax: For large amounts, use a hair drier set on warm to hot or whatever it takes to soften the wax. Scrape wax as it softens. When you get all you can, out take a paper grocery bag (do not use any area with printing on it) and tear or cut so you are working with one thickness of the bag. Place it over the remaining wax. Take a warm iron and place it on top of the paper bag. As the wax melts into the bag, rotate to new areas of the bag until no more wax transfers to the bag. **Do not set iron directly on your carpet as it will melt the carpet fibers.**

Chewing Gum: Try freezing it as best you can with an ice cube and while it is hard, try scrapping it out with a spoon. Finish by applying a small amount of non-volatile dry solvent, agitate and scrape out with spoon. Do not apply enough dry solvent to penetrate backing of carpet as this will damage the bond between the primary and secondary backing.

Cosmetics: Many of these have oily bases. Try the degreaser, agitate and blot. Repeat if necessary. Finish with hot water and blot.

Food: Scrape up and wipe up as much as possible. Use degreaser, agitate, wipe up and blot with towel. Lightly wet with hot water and blot.

Fruit Juices: Blot, blot, blot. Apply cool water and blot. repeat if necessary. If stain remains, it may need professional treatment.

Small Salad or Cooking Oil Spills: Blot as much as you can. Apply degreaser, agitate, blot. Repeat if necessary. Apply warm water, agitate and blot again.

Small Paint Drops or Spills: (Latex Paint) Scrape up as much as is possible. Rinse with warm water, blot. If stain remains, apply degreaser, agitate, blot. Repeat as is needed. If paint has dried, professional service may be able to improve or remove. If this is a large spill, clean up as much as you can, cover with a wet towel to keep the paint from drying out and call a professional as soon as possible. (Oil Base Paints) For small amounts, carefully apply a small amount of mineral spirits, agitate and blot. Repeat as needed. Large spills require a professional as soon as possible. If paint dries, it cannot be removed without damage to carpets.

Sugars or Candy: Sugars are water soluble so wet with warm water and blot. Repeat if necessary. Chocolates contain oils. Scrape up all you can, apply degreaser. agitate and blot. Repeat as needed and follow with warm water and blot.

Urine Stains: Blot, blot, blot if still wet. Urine is acid when fresh so apply an alkaline based cleaner such as your degreaser to neutralize the acid. This should minimize potential damage from staining. Wet, but do not flood and blot, blot, blot. Do not apply vinegar to fresh urine deposits. You may apply distilled vinegar to old urine deposits as with age they turn to alkaline.

Yellow to Light Brown Stains : Some stains that contain lignin dyes from water damage or yellowing from some aggressive cleaners may be reduced by applying distilled vinegar. Mix this distilled vinegar with about 50% water. Simply spray it on work it in with fingers. Allow it to dry naturally. No rinsing is needed.

Supplies Needed:

Degreaser     (Smart and Final’s Pro Pride Degreaser is inexpensive and can be used for many cleaning tasks. Mix according to the task at hand)

Distilled Vinegar   (Mix 50% with water)

Spoon   (For Scraping)

Towels     (Paper and/or bath towels)

Solvent     (Non-volatile/ Nonflammable) dry solvent/spotter.  Available in paint departments of most hardware stores.

Iron and Brown Shopping or Grocery Bags

Spray bottle