Tips For Dealing With Food And Drink Spills On Carpeting
Carpet cleaning is pretty much synonymous with food and drink spills. After all, they account for majority of the stains and fabric damage that necessitates the cleaning. Whether it is baby food or that glass of wine your guest accidentally spilled, it is important to know how to deal with the issue.
Let us take a look at what you can do as you wait for the carpet cleaning experts to come to your rescue. That way, you do not have to live with eye sores or funky spells from your carpet due to food and drink spills and stains.
Is it that big of a deal?
So why should you be bothered to look into carpet cleaning over some spilled juice or a food stain on your rug? The reason is simple; fail to do anything now and you will end up with a disastrous mess that will be even more difficult to clean up. For some perspective, here is more on all that could possibly go wrong.
- Staining
Stains from food and drink spills can either be super simple to get off or complete nightmares to deal with. Potent pigments in things like wine, coffee, baby food, and most fruits and veggies are the most problematic stains and often require professional carpet cleaning to effectively and permanently get rid of.
- Accumulation of dirt and particles
If you do not act quickly with your carpet cleaning after spilling food or drinks, the affected surface will become a hot spot for particles on your carpet. This happens either when the fabric is left damp or sticky. In these cases, particles like dust, pollen, and many others take advantage and stick onto the spot making it more of an eye sore and definitely harder to clean.
- Odour development
Another reason you should act quick with the carpet cleaning is to avoid getting a stinky carpet. This could happen as a result of the food or drinks themselves going bad on the carpet. More often than not, the spills create perfect environments for germs to take over on your carpeting leaving it smelling funky.
- Mould growth
This happens mainly with liquid spills where spores in the air benefit from the damp and warm environment created on your carpeting. This happens a lot with wall to wall carpeting where semi-permanent setup allows the fungi to thrive in silence. Here, professional carpet cleaning is completely non-negotiable.
How to deal with food spills on carpets
With so much at stake here, it goes without saying that investing in carpet cleaning after food or drink spills is of utmost importance. That is why we have prepared a list of tips to help you deal with the mess including soliciting the services of a professional carpet cleaning crew.
- First thing’s first; mop up
Before you get your carpet cleaning equipment out, make sure to mop up as much of the spilled food or water as you can. Use something like paper towels or a cotton cloth. Just firmly dab on the spot and let the cloth or paper towel soak up the liquid. Just avoid rubbing as this only spreads any staining pigments further on the carpet.
- Dish soap and water rub
DIY carpet cleaning is never the best idea. However, when dealing with simple food stains you could definitely use a home remedy or two to get you out of the fix. One of the best of this is the dish soap and water method.
Just mix the two and use a cloth to rub off any food particles still on the carpet. This will work well enough with most food spills especially if you act fast. You could also add about a table spoon of vinegar in there to help with any odours when carpet cleaning.
- Baking soda
Technically speaking, baking soda will not help with the stain removal aspect of carpet cleaning. However, the highly absorbent and anti-microbial powder will help you deal with the mess by preventing it from getting worse.
With food stains, carpet cleaning is best done as soon as the spill happens. However, this does not always happen as planned. If you notice an old food stain on your rug, you could use hot water to help take it out.
The hot water improves your carpet cleaning results by loosening any food particles stuck on the fabric and making them a lot easier to remove.
Another important carpet cleaning tip in these cases is to keep the rest of your carpet clean. Remember that there are numerous particles just hanging around waiting to make a permanent home of your carpet. Vacuuming is the best way to prevent this and by extension prevent worsening of the stain.
You can truly never go wrong with professional carpet cleaning when dealing with food or drink stains. These crews know exactly what they are doing and how best to deal with the stains whether it is a wine spill or a stain from pigmented foods like beets and turmeric.
Just make sure to do your research properly so you can find the best carpet cleaning service near you.
We already alluded to this earlier but deep DIY carpet cleaning is never a good idea. So much could go wrong from water damage to worsening the stain. Instead, just leave it to the professional carpet cleaning crews who not only know what they are doing but also have all the equipment necessary for the job.
Getting professional carpet cleaning
Carpet cleaning after having food or drinks spill on your favourite rug is super important if you do not want to deal with stains or funky odours. The most important of all the tips that we highlighted is getting a carpet cleaning business on the job.
With their experience, expertise, and equipment, there is no stain too large or too stubborn to deal with. That way, you can have your carpet back in pristine condition in no time.
