How to Get Stains Out of Carpets and Rugs

Spilling a drink is annoying at the best of times: not only is your drink gone but you’ve now got to clean up a mess when you were most likely wanting to kick back and relax. Notorious for leaving stains is red wine, but knowing the best ways to clean carpet stains can nip a blooming stain in the bud. If you’re not quick enough to respond to the spillage when it happens it will probably stain, but fear not: We know how to get rid of carpet stains.

For red wine, you can dilute the stain with sparkling water and then mop up the excess water. Use white paper towels or napkins to avoid colour bleeding and making the situation worse. There are dedicated fruit, juice, and wine cleaning products, so getting one of these onto the scene as quickly as you can will make all the difference.

Dark chocolate is a true delight, but not when it comes to cleaning. Particularly as sauce or ice-cream, it has a tendency to get on hard-to-clean textiles. Chocolate stains are also best attended to quickly, but even after you’ve scraped off any crumbs or residue you might still be left with a spot or two. How to get these spots out of your carpet depends on their size, but here are a few of the best methods. Because chocolate usually has fat in it, grease-cutting dishwashing liquid can help lift it from your textiles. This applies to carpets too.

1. Mix warm water and dish soap, have some paper towels at the ready and apply the solution to the stain and rub it gently.
2. Follow up with a solution of diluted white vinegar and water, and rub the spots again gently.
3. Using cold water, flush the spots, mopping up excess liquid with white paper towels.
4. If the stain persists, look into buying carpet-cleaning solution and apply in the same way.

Pet mess is inevitable and something pet owners know they’ll have to face across a pet’s lifetime. Removing stains from a carpet because of pet mess is a common task, but can be tricky. Here are our best ways to do it.

1. Remove any residual mess such as pet hair. Whether solid or not (icky, but it’s all part of the process), make sure you’ve cleaned the area well.
2. Get an empty spritz bottle and add one cup of warm water with one tablespoon of white vinegar. Flush the area with plain warm water and then spray the area with the vinegar solution. Using white paper towels, mop up excess liquid.
3. To be effective, the vinegar has to sit for a bit. Once the stain has loosened a little, spray it again and leave it to soak in.
4. Soak up excess moisture again, and if the vinegar smell bothers you, flush the now clean area with plain water again.