The Ins, Outs, and Stay Outs of Carpet

You probably have carpet in your home, and if you are reading this then you probably have kids, too. Well, if you haven’t realized it yet, carpet and kids have always had a rocky relationship. But fear no longer! With a few items on hand, you can be prepared for any carpet disaster.

Club Soda – This is the carpet hero! If you have a liquid mishap, such as a juice or coffee spill, the first thing you should do is blot it up completely. And remember to blot. Don’t scrub! If you scrub the stain then all you are doing is rubbing it deeper into the carpet. Blot it with dry towels until you don’t pick up any more of the liquid then pour club soda onto the messy spot. Don’t worry about using too much, just pour the stuff on and let it bubble the stain up and out! Blot with some more clean towels and you’re good to go.

Salt or Baking Soda – This is perfect stuff to dry up ooey-gooey messes, such as food spills, mud, or much, much worse. Scrape up any solids, then generously sprinkle salt or baking soda onto the mess to dry it up even further. Vacuum up as much as you can and then attack it with the club soda again.

Shaving Cream – Keep this stuff close by in case you get some waxy or oily messes on the carpet, such as lipstick (which, by the way, is common when you have a two-year-old cosmetic diva in the house). Apply some shaving cream onto the mess, let it sit for a minute, and then blot it up.

Iron and Grocery Bags – Whether it’s a birthday party or a romantic candlelight dinner for two, wax spills can ruin a perfectly fun evening. All you need to do is put a brown grocery bag on the wax and apply a medium-heat iron. Dab it a little with an iron and keep doing this to fresh spots on the brown paper bag until you don’t pick up any more of the wax. Now dab on some shaving cream, blot it, and it should be gone.

Hydrogen Peroxide – If a stain is especially stubborn, such as red wine or blood, try pouring on hydrogen peroxide. But before you do, make sure that you spot test it on the carpet first so that you don’t lighten the carpet too much.

Nail Polish Remover – If you have nail polish, then you must have some nail polish remover on hand. Get extra-strength remover (100% acetone) for the occasional spills and stains. Again, test it on a tiny spot of carpet first so that you don’t make a huge mess out of a little one.

A Little Carpet Insurance – It’s always good to know that you can get out of a mess if you have to. For easy carpet maintenance, try carpeting with carpet tiles. If you get a particularly nasty stain, you can just pull up that tile and replace it with another one. Flor is a great company that I have used and highly recommend! (Just check out my blog for the latest renovation news).