Carpet Cleaning Stain Removal

Cleaning normal soil stains and foot traffic stains from carpets is the easy part of any carpet cleaning job.  Most of these stains will come out without the use of pre-spray chemicals, but there is always that job that drives a passionate carpet cleaner crazy!  I just love to satisfy our customers by completely removing every single stubborn stain that they have in their carpets.  That does not happen on 100% of our jobs.  There are always stains that have been in carpet for months or years that sometimes just will not come out unless they are cut out or dyed back to their original color.  Rust stains are one of the worst stains to remove from carpet especially if they have been allowed to linger for moths or years.  Most carpet cleaners have special spotting chemicals that are used strictly for rust stains.  If rust stains are caught in a few days than there is a good chance at removing them.  If they have been there for years than the chance of removing them is decreased significantly.  It all depends on quality of carpet, age of carpet and whether or not carpet has ever been scotch guarded.  If you suspect you have a rust stain in your carpet and you swear "that it just appeared" than call a professional carpet cleaner right away if you want to significantly increase the chances of removing it.  Don't WAIT!! Time is the enemy when it comes to tough stains.  

Red stains (wine, cool aid, or anything with red dye in it) are extremely difficult to remove also.  Most of these stains have to be removed with a clothes iron, damp towel (make sure the towel is white or the heat from iron will cause the color of towel to be transferred into carpet) and a bottle of "red out" or "red rescue" stain chemical.  You simple spray or blot the red stain remover on stained carpet and place a white damp towel over stain and apply an iron at medium heat and allow the iron to heat up the damp towel and the area under towel.  DON'T OVER HEAT!!! You don't want a big patch of melted carpet fibers.  Wait a minute or two and remove iron and lift up towel to check if color is being transfered into towel.  Some red stains can take 10 minutes or longer to remove. You might even need a few white towels to change as one becomes saturated with the red dye.  Be patient.  If you are not comfortable with doing this yourself than call a professional carpet cleaner to do it for you.  Most carpet cleaners have a minimum charge for any visit to a house ($55-$100) depending on the company you choose.  

To reduce the chances of stains setting into your carpet, we here at Nature's Way recommend having your carpets professionally cleaned and scotch guarded every 6 months.  Caring for your carpet is much like caring for a car; if you don't take care of them and don't do the routine maintenance than they simply won't last.   

Tom Kohlman

Nature's Way Carpet Cleaning & Restoration

248.633.400

www.naturesway1.com   

What should I expect from a carpet cleaning company?

The benefits of having your carpet cleaned are many, but there is a lot of preconceived expectations that customers have.  Many customers think that once their 35 year old, matted down, wore out carpets are cleaned-the carpets should look like gold!  Unfortunately, that is not the case.  Having your carpets cleaned only removes dirt, stains, hair, odor and etc from the carpet.  Having your carpets cleaned does not restore worn out carpet fibers that are weak and lie flat when stepped on.  Ever looked down a hallway or entrance to a bedroom and noticed that the carpet is flattened in these high traffic areas? That is because the carpet fibers are worn out beyond repair.  These fibers have been wore out from years of high traffic, constant wear and worst of all-dirt particles.  You see, dirt (which is tiny grains of sand or rock particles) acts like sandpaper once they get into carpet fibers.  When the carpet is constantly walked on and wore down, these particles grind and wear the carpet fibers down to the point wear they cannot be repaired and to the point where having them cleaned will not help them look like new again.  As i mentioned earlier "  Having your carpets cleaned only removes dirt, stains, hair, odor and etc from the carpet".  I hope this will help potential carpet cleaning customers understand what they should expect from a local carpet cleaning company.

Now most people also think that "we have new carpets so we don't need them cleaned for a long time".  This is the single most common mistake that many people with new carpet make.  They don't get them cleaned and guess what?  Over time, (3 months to 3 years depending on  amount of traffic and dirt exposure) dirt gets into the carpet and wears at the carpet fibers like sandpaper on wood and completely destroys the carpet fibers leaving them looking dull, limp and unsightly.  Weekly vacuuming with a quality vacuum cleaner will help remove some of the dirt but only a professional carpet cleaning company with a truck mounted carpet cleaning unit has the power and vacuum to remove dirt that is down deep and embedded into carpet fibers.  Here at Nature's Way Carpet Cleaning, we tell our customer's to have their carpets cleaned at least twice a year.  Having them cleaned at least twice a year will insure that your carpet will last 3 times longer than it would if they never had them cleaned.  Now if your spending or have spent $4,000-$6,000 on new carpet or have bought a house with new carpet, you can rest assured that having your carpet cleaned will give you 3 times the return on your investment!! It gets even better...  The average cost of having your 4 bedroom home with a living room and family room (6 rooms) professionally cleaned is around $150.  So for $300 a year you can protect the investment you have in your carpet giving you many more years of enjoyment and great looking carpets.

So what can I expect from a professional carpet cleaning company?

If you choose the right company and are willing to pay for a quality job than you can expect them to remove almost 100% of all dirt and stains that are in your carpets.  You can also expect the company to treat you with respect and dignity while they are in your home and to give you a guarantee on the services that they performed.   There are many carpet cleaning cleaners out there, but not all them do a quality job.  By knowing what to expect from a carpet cleaning company, you have taken the first step as a potential customer.  The next step is how to choose the right carpet cleaning company for you.  I will be posting an article on "how to choose a carpet cleaning company" so stay tuned.  As always, good luck and God Bless!

Tom Kohlman
Nature's Way Carpet Cleaning & Restoration, MI