Common Carpet Stain Misconceptions

Carpet is common in homes because of its affordability, its ability to work as insulation, and because many people choose to have comfortable, warm, fabric under their feet at home. That being said, it’s also a lot easier to damage than wood, laminate, or marble flooring. Carpet fibers can be trickier to clean than any other fiber we deal with on a daily basis. On top of that, carpet stains are noticeable and they can be embarrassing. At A-One Carpet Cleaning we understand the need to remove carpet stains safely, so we’ve put together a list of common carpet stain misconceptions to help you maintain the cleanest and most well-kept carpet around!

Using Salt Will Remove Stains

That is another common carpet stain misconception! Using salt to soak up and remove stains can actually damage your carpet more! There are a ton of hacks and tips online that recommend using salt to remove stains. After all, salt is abrasive and can be used to get the stains out, right? Unfortunately not. Because salt is abrasive and it can attach to the carpet fibers, causing them to come undone. Salt is just too harsh and too hard to remove from your carpet.

Bigger Stains Need Stronger Chemicals

You might think that bigger is better, but when it comes to carpet stains, sometimes less is more. Removing stains from carpets can require the use of chemicals and carpet cleaning products, but using the wrong chemicals or not diluting the chemicals enough can damage your carpet and cause discoloration.

Use Some Elbow Grease

The funny thing about stains is how counterintuitive stain removal really is. You’ll be tempted to use a lot of chemicals or to scrub really hard. Well, scrubbing harder and using elbow grease does the job with everything else…

Unfortunately, that isn’t the case when it comes to removing stains from carpets. Scrubbing can actually cause the stain to set in while damaging the carpet fibers in the process.

Instead, you should use a clean white rag and get it damp with warm water. With this damp rag simply blot the area from the outer rim of the stain and work your way in towards the center. This will lift the stain while protecting the integrity of the carpet fibers.

Using Dish Soap On Carpet

Dish soap is great for removing grease and grime from plates. When you have a grease stain on a t-shirt, you can even use dish soap to scrub it away! With that logic, it should get this stain out of the carpet for sure! Wrong.

Dish soap is a great cleaning agent when it can be properly rinsed away. The problem is that when you use it on the carpet, you can’t rinse it away without causing serious damage to the carpet and the floor underneath. This is a great way to get mold and mildew though.

Another problem that you’ll experience when you use dish soap to clean carpet is that the residue left behind from the soap will attract more dirt particles and cause soil stains to form in your carpet. In order to avoid all of this altogether, you should stick to purchasing cleaners that are specially made to combat carpet stains.