Removing Coffee Stains From Carpet Tips – Cleaning Manual

Whether it’s because you’re clumsy in the morning, have kids, or pets, or whatever the reason, carpets have a tendency to collect stains. Some stains are easier to remove, others (such as ones with commercial red food coloring, or coffee) are almost impossible to get out. Here are some don’ts (followed by some do’s) for keeping your carpets looking as new as the day they were installed.

First, the things not to do:

Don’t over saturate the carpet with cleaning compounds, and don’t use harsh cleaning compounds. Your carpet has dyes in the fiber, and much the same way that your favorite clothes can fade or change color if you wash them too harshly; the same applies to the carpet pile.

Don’t scrub it. Scrubbing down into the pile of the carpet will only drive the staining agent more deeply into the fabric of the carpet. Instead, moisten and blot it.

Don’t cook it in (by applying heat to it – a steam cleaner is awful for this) or let it sit, which lets it chemically bond to the dye or fiber.

Those are the three most common carpet ruiners we ever see when we go to homes to fix the repairs; other common culprits include trying to bleach it out or use an ammonia-driven cleaning solution.

Here’s what you should do if you find a carpet stain.

1. Wipe up the excess mess, including any dry residue, as quickly as you can. You’re racing against the clock, trying to get the stain free from the fiber before it chemically reacts in a way that can’t be undone. You want to keep the stain from spreading, and pull up as much moisture as you can to make the rest of the process easier.
2. For some stains, if they’re very fresh, irrigate the area with judicious amounts of cold water. Hot water can make the stain set in fast (this is one of the reasons why coffee stains are difficult to get rid of – they hit the floor while hot to begin with).
3. After irrigating, blot up the stain with a dishrag. Make it a clean one and keep it absorbent. You’ll want to wring it out regularly. With luck, you’ll see the stain lightening with each blotting routine. When that stops lightening the stain, it’s time to go to the next step.
4. Mix a mild detergent (Woolite is excellent, as are most hand dishwashing detergents. Most clothing detergents are too harsh, and the kinds of detergents used in automatic dishwashers are awful for carpet). The desired ratio is about half a teaspoon to a cup (8 oz) of warm water. A small sprits of lemon juice can also help with this step.
5. Test your cleaning solution on a small, untrafficked area of the carpet. You want to know before you use it on the stain if it will mess up your carpet.
6. Assuming it works as desired, pour a bit onto the stain and blot it up with a clean, dry, white terrycloth towel. Always work from the outer edge of the stain towards the center when doing this. You can also use a household sponge to deliver the solution. Just remember: Avoid scrubbing or grinding the stain in more deeply.
7. Proper blotting techniques include pressing the town down gently (but firmly) into the stain area after dousing it with the soap solution. You’ll find that each time you’re blotting, you’ll get less stain out of the carpet as your cleaning solution is diluted.
8. After you’re unable to get more stain out of the carpet, it’s time to douse with cold water and blot it again – this time, you’re trying to get the residue from the soap to come up. (Excess soap can actually attract dirt by the same mechanism that it removes dirt from other surfaces).

Some techniques for specific stains include:

Fruit juices – be sure to dilute the stain with warm water before sopping them up. Using an old toothbrush and lightly brushing in some baking soda can greatly assist in removing any kind of acidic stain (like orange juice or tomato juice).

If you happen to have it handy, seltzer water is great for removing stains from dark pile carpets. You want to sprits gently and blot it up as quickly as is possible.

Red dye from food coloring (such as the infamous Cherry Kool Aid or Red Pop stain) will set in as soon as the substance dries. Get to it as quickly as it’s spilled if at all possible. Once it’s set in, start with baking soda, then use the dish soap solution mentioned above and then vinegar; you may not be able to remove a red stain this way – but you can make it a lot less noticeable.

Some stains are oil based - they’re easier to get out; they need irrigation first (oil tends to float on water based compounds). Oil based stains are also possible to remove with alcohol. One handy trick for removing Sharpie Marker from most surfaces (and most magic markers from walls) is to dab a bit of rubbing alcohol onto some cotton and blot them up; the alcohol will cause the bonding agent to break down and allow the pigment to come up in solution. (This is also how you remove permanent marker from dry erase marker boards.)

Regardless of the type of stain involved, you’ll want to get to it quickly and go through these steps diligently. Just remember: Don’t over saturate, don’t use too harsh a chemical agent, and above all else, don’t scrub!

• References: Barefoot Lass’s Manual, Buzzle, GoodHousekeeping

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