Has it ever happened to you that something spilled or was stuck on your carpet and you had no clue what to do? When it comes to carpet cleaning vacuuming seems to be the only thing a majority of us know about. I suppose that stems from the fact that our mothers made carpet cleaning look really simple with just the vacuum cleaner on hand. It lulled us into a false sense of security that cleaning carpets was a cinch and that we did not need to ask mom about special tips on it. The following are solutions to some carpet cleaning problems that most of us regularly encounter but probably do not have an effective solution too.

Ashes on the carpet-If you have friends or visitors who smoke you’ll definitely need this piece of advice. Dust the stain with cornstarch and let it sit for about an hour then vacuum the spot. Next, moisten a clean white rag with dry cleaning solution and dab it onto the ash stain. Blot the spot dry with paper towels. If thee stain is still there repeat the sponging of the dry cleaning solution and blotting a couple of times.

Dried Carpet Stains- Mix 1/4 teaspoon of mild dish washing liquid detergent with a cupful of water. Keep this in a spray bottle. Moisten a clean rag with the dish washing solution and blot the stain with it. When the stain starts fading blot the carpet with another clean rag. Repeat this till the stain is gone. Afterwards rinse the area with water using a spray bottle and then blot dry with paper towels.

First and foremost if our pets have already been trained to urinate in designated areas but are having accidents within the house and especially on carpets we need to isolate what is causing this behavior. Pets like humans are susceptible to stress and stressors are often the culprit behind such accidents. Even if we do a fine job carpet cleaning if we do not find the stressor and remove it or work to modify our pet’s behavior then the accidents will just keep recurring. It may be worth your while to observe your pet and ask for advice from your veterinarian.

When your pet does urinate on the carpet just keep calm and follow these steps. Quickly get some paper towels and blot the urine from the carpet. Layer the paper towels on the area and apply some pressure so that the paper will soak up the urine. If you do not have paper towels than a clean rag will do. Perform this process several times till most of the moisture is removed all the while changing the paper towels or the rag once it has become soaked. After that make a solution of 1/2 teaspoon of liquid diswashing soap and two cups water. Place it in a spray bottle and spritz the affected carpet area with it. Make sure not to over spray the area because we do not want to make it even more wet. Next, blot the solution from the carpet with more paper towels or clean rags. Do this a couple of times for a thorough cleaning. Spray the spot with water afterwards to remove the soap solution then blot dry with paper towels. Some individuals will stop cleaning at this point but due to the fact that pet urine is more odorous than other substances an extra process needs to be done to deodorize and further sanitize the area.

Combine 2/3 cup water and 1/3 cup vinegar. Spray this solution on the soiled carpet dab it dry with paper towels. The second time you spray the area with the vinegar mix place several layers of paper towels over it and weigh them down with a heavy object. This will help draw the moisture into the paper towels. Do this a couple of times and then air dry the carpet.