The Hardest Stains to Remove From a Carpet (And How to Remove Them)

Whether you’re responsible for a spillage or simply the owner of the fragile fabric or threatened to throw in a question, acting fast is the best thing you can do with stains.

Some of the hardest stains to remove from a carpet are coffee, red wine, ink, blood and other bodily fluids. Even trained professionals carrying out carpet cleaning in Enfield, Islington, Kensington, Richmond and elsewhere in London need some serious strategies at their disposal to deal with stains like these which have had time to set!

There are some basic steps you can follow no matter what you’ve spilled:

• Deal with the mess immediately – even if you’re tired!
• Use cold or room temperature water (unless specified in our handy list below)
• Never rub or scrub a stain – blot it carefully
• Don’t use a whole load of different cleaning solutions or you risk drowning your carpet
• And when it comes to specifics…

1) Coffee stains on the carpet

Perhaps the most common stain that the experts come across when rug cleaning in Enfield, Camden, Richmond, Notting Hill and other areas of London are those caused by coffee. It’s the easiest mistake to make – you’re heading to your sofa or your laptop, your trip. Now the coffee isn’t all in your mug any more…

Not only does this result in you having to re-make the coffee (cue maximum eye-rolling), it’s also a major problem for any fabric you happen to spill it on.

To remove coffee stains from carpet:

1. Add a little vinegar to the stain
2. Carefully blot away excess liquid
3. Clean using water and a little washing up liquid
4. Rinse with water
5. Blot dry again

2) Stop red wine from staining carpets or sofas

The classic “hard to remove” stain, red wine has resulted in more stained carpets and more nervousness in people sitting down on pale-colored sofas than most other substances! Many people swear by “putting white on red” but that’s not really the best method. Save your white wine, and check out this tactic instead…

To remove red wine stains from carpet and sofas:

1. Carefully blot away excess liquid using a clean white cloth
2. Mix water and white wine vinegar and use the mix to dab onto the stain
3. Rinse with water
4. Blot dry again
5. Repeat if necessary
6. Ink Stains

Though reliance on laptops and personal computing technology has reduced ink spillage in terms of volume, it’s still a serious issue if you happen to break a pen or use a fountain pen near fabric.

To remove ink stains from rugs:

1. Use a washing up liquid and water mix to dab the stain
2. Do not scrub under any circumstances
3. Rinse with water
4. Carefully blot away excess liquid
5. For stubborn ink stains, try nail polish remover or hairspray as a final step
6. Remove blood stains from carpet

Blood gets spilled on fabric more often than you’d think – it’s not just grisly murders that can see a little splash of claret on your sofa!

To remove blood from carpet:

1. Mix water and washing up liquid and use the mix to dab onto the stain
2. Rinse with water
3. Blot dry again
4. Repeat if necessary
5. For more serious blood stains, consider an ammonia solution
6. Pet and child stains – bodily fluids

Your favourite friend (of the human or animal variety) who walks on all fours sure can create some mess when they set their mind to it. Pet stains on carpet are notorious. They’re closely followed by other bodily fluids such as vomit as being some of the most difficult stains to deal with – rated highly even by surveyed professionals in the field of fabric and upholstery cleaning in Enfield, Hammersmith, Chelsea and all other parts of London.

To remove pet stains and child stains on your fabric:

1. Remove any solid mess
2. Blot up any liquid mess
3. Use water or a water and washing up a liquid mix to clean the stain – remember to dab not scrub
4. Add baking soda or another odor neutralizing agent on the wet patch while it dries
5. Vacuum the baking soda up after around 15 minutes or so

Consider professional assistance

For many stains on this list, the speed of the action you take will be key to how serious a stain you’ll be left with. You should also be aware that certain types of fabric can react negatively to “creative” solutions. Never do anything to treat a stain without the awareness that unless you know what you’re doing, something may go wrong.

Especially for more valuable fabrics and items of furniture, calling in the professionals – with their more powerful than over-the-counter products – may be the only answer if you don’t manage to catch the stain in time.