Top 3 things NOT to do when cleaning your carpets or upholstery

Why are we like this?

Why are we like this?

How often have you thought "Oh I could probably do that myself, I can't spend that kind of money on it" when it comes to household issues.

It's pretty understandable with everything seemingly becoming more expensive, the idea of saving a few quid along with the empowering feeling of "doing it yourself" is very enticing.

However, having been in the business for over 40 years, we've seen enough ruined sofas and carpets to be able to give at least three solid pieces of advice:

3 Top Tips to Avoid Ruining Your Carpets or Upholstery

1. Don't use Vanish (or any similar under-the-sink product)

2. Don't scrub at a stain

3. Don't introduce lots of water

1. Don't use Vanish on your carpets or upholstery:

A simple search on Reddit will show you that Vanish often makes stains worse!! Our technician Tony calls them "vanish patches". When he goes into a house and sees faded circular marks on the carpets that he's about to clean, he knows instantly that the customer has used Vanish to try and remove stains. He also knows that unfortunately, these marks are not going to remove and whatever marks are left by the original stain will now no longer remove.

Once Vanish has been used on a stain, our chances of removing it are virtually nil. It eliminates any chance that professional carpet cleaning or upholstery cleaning has of removing the stain.

Please, we beg you, don't do it! Leave it under the sink, or better yet, throw it in the bin.

2. Don't Scrub at a Stain

While it's tempting to think that "more is better" when you are trying to remove a stain, it's really not. Elbow grease is great on ovens and hard surfaces, but don't forget, you are working on delicate fibres. Vigorous rubbing and scrubbing can, and most likely will, cause permanent damage.

Which is more cost-effective: paying a professional carpet cleaner to come in and clean the carpet or replacing the carpet? (Or, secret option 3: get annoyed every time you see the offending mark and curse yourself for working on it until 10 years go by and you finally replace the carpet.)

Not only is a professional not going to cause permanent damage, they'll also be in and out quickly, with much less disturbance and with much better results.

3. Don't introduce lots of water

When a professional introduces water to your sofa or carpet fibres when cleaning, 99% of the water is extracted out again. When you add water without an extraction machine, the water stays there and is absorbed and can leave watermarks. And watermarks are one of the most surprisingly difficult stains to remove.

If you've decided that you cannot help yourself and you absolutely must work on the stain, follow these guidelines and you won't cause any more damage:

1. Remove any solids with a blunt knife first (if something like vomit or solid foodstuffs)
2. Use a dry white absorbent towel or kitchen roll to absorb the spill. Blot gently but firmly at the stain starting from the outside of the stain in. That way you don't risk spreading it wider. Top tip, fold the towel neatly into rectangles, that way you have lots of new clean sides if it's a larger spill.
3. Keep blotting until you get no more transfer onto the towel or kitchen roll.
4. Be patient, this can take some time!
5. If no more transfer is coming up and you still see some staining, you can dampen a clean towel with some water (ensure not hot or warm) and continue to blot at the stain with the clean slightly damp towel.
6. You can even leave the towel down on the carpet and put some heavy object on top to encourage more absorption over time.

If you still need help

If you still need to get in touch, contact Aqua-Dry today for expert carpet cleaning and upholstery cleaning in Dublin and give your home the professional care it deserves.

Click here to get in touch or call 01-8400799.