4 Carpet Cleaning Blunders and How to Avoid Them

10 Aug 4 Carpet Cleaning Blunders and How to Avoid Them

Carpet cleaning accidents can strike at any hour, and when they do, there are plenty of things you can do to make the situation worse. Your carpet is an important investment. When spills and other carpet accidents strike, it’s important to know what not to do in order to protect your carpet and avoid making a minor incident into a carpet catastrophe!

1. The Knee-Jerk Scrubbing Reaction

When accidents happen on carpet, the first thing many people do is scrub with a vengeance. The harder your scrub, the better your chances of removing the stain completely. Right?

Maybe—but there’s something you’re not considering. Rigorous scrubbing will eventually cause the fibers on your carpet to become unraveled, leading to a warped and unattractive appearance!

One DIY approach is to press out all excess liquid with a spoon before using a cloth. That way you won’t have to scrub so hard. Serious stains may also warrant an emergency call to a professional carpet cleaner. 

2. The No-Big-Deal Approach

The opposite of the “knee-jerk” approach is taking a casual attitude toward your carpet accident. While you’re busy refilling your drink and wondering what to do, that grape juice or red wine (or whatever it may be) is busy seeping into the fibers of your carpet, where it will be visible for all eternity. The no-big-deal approach is not a good idea!

With carpet stains it’s always important to act quickly, whether you’re going for a well-considered DIY strategy or calling in the professionals to make sure it’s done right.

3. Spray First, Ask Questions Later

If you’re like most homeowners, you have a closet (or cupboard) full of various cleaning products. One of the worst things you can do when a potentially staining agent splashes onto your carpet is to grab the first bottle you see and start spraying.

Not all cleaning agents are created equally, and many of them are downright damaging to carpet. There are even cases where people inadvertently sprayed bleach on their carpet, turning a minor stain into a major blunder.

If you’re going to treat a carpet stain yourself, make sure you only use products that are packaged and marketed specifically for use on carpets. 

4. The Obsessive Cleaner

Having clean carpets is a nice feeling. It makes the entire home feel fresh and new. But don’t get too attached to that feeling! Whether you’re doing it yourself or paying a professional, cleaning the carpet too often can damage the fibers and ultimately shorten your carpet’s lifespan. 

Consult a professional carpet cleaner about a cleaning schedule that will preserve and prolong your carpet’s life instead of wearing it down. 

5. The Cover-Up

Sprinkling the stain with deodorant powder may seem like a great idea, but it does nothing to lift the actual stain. If you’re doing to use a deodorant powder, it makes sense to do so after the stain has been properly treated, and only as a way to minimize odors. If deodorant powder is your main treatment for a stain, you’re unlikely to get good results!

We hope you’ve found this information helpful. We’re here to help educate you on better carpet care, so please leave questions or comments below.