One of the best parts about the holiday season is throwing parties, but the worst part about throwing parties is the inevitable smattering of stains on your carpet and furniture that are left behind. Most stains aren’t too hard to treat well enough until your next professional carpet cleaning, but some are. Here are three of the worst carpet stains that commonly happen during holiday parties and how to get them out.
Wine
Wine is one of the most notorious stains for any type of material at any time of year, but having holiday parties puts your carpet and upholstery more at risk. All it takes is an over emphatic gesture or a knocked over glass to have a dark, foreboding stain. The faster you get this taken care of, the better. Make a spot cleaning solution of either one teaspoon of detergent to one cup of warm water or 1/3 cup white vinegar to 2/3 cup of water. Then use a towel to blot the area, soaking up as much of the wine as possible. Do not rub the stain, but blot carefully from the outer edges of the stain to keep it from spreading. Repeat until the stain is gone and blot with clean water.
Mud
Since the holiday season is also usually a time of wet and inclement weather, your carpet and upholstery are also at risk for getting mud stains. The best thing to do in cases of mud is to let the stain sit and allow the mud to dry completely. This way you will be able to vacuum all of the debris with your regular vacuum cleaner. After you have vacuumed the dirt, make a spot cleaning solution of 1/4 teaspoon of hand washing soap with a quart of water. Blot the stain with a solution soaked towel until the stain is removed. When the carpet has dried, fluff the carpet fibers and spray hydrogen peroxide on the stain and let it dry.
Vomit
Vomit is probably the most unfortunate stain you might get on your carpet or upholstery during a holiday party, and unlike mud, this is something that needs to be taken care of right away (for more reasons than one). Use a spoon or spatula to remove any debris. Do this with caution, since rough treatment could damage the fibers of the couch or carpeting. On upholstery, use a dry cleaning solvent on the stain, blotting carefully with a clean towel. On carpeting, use a detergent and water solution.
If you don’t catch a stain in time or are having trouble getting one out, don’t fret. You might consider setting up an appointment with carpet and upholstery cleaning services for the day after your last party to make give things a good once over. Experts recommend hiring professional carpet cleaning services at least once every 12 to 16 months. Aside from those stains, there are probably already pounds of dirt and a healthy population of dust mites living in your carpeting which professional carpet cleaning will get out too.
