Cleaning Carpet Spills

I have been reading so many posts lately about how to treat spills on carpets. People, immediately ask, “what should I clean it with?”, “what should I spray on it?”. In response to these questions, I have heard a number of home remedies and different ideas for products or “things” that can be added to the spill to remove it.

But…. The thing is……. The most important part of treating and cleaning a spill, is not adding more products to the affected area, but rather removing as much of the spilled product as possible. If it’s a solid spill, such as food or vomit, you need to scrape as much of the soil off of the carpet, and avoid rubbing it into the carpet fibres. A “pan” from a “brush and pan set” will work really well, allowing you to wedge the pan between the soil and the carpet and allowing you remove the majority of the soiling.

If the spill involves dry garden soil or sand or some such thing, you will need to use a vacuum cleaner with either a power head or turbo head to remove as much of the dry soil from the carpet pile as possible.

If it’s a liquid spill, you need to act quickly before the liquid soaks through the carpet pile, backing, underlay etc. Once it has started soaking in, it’s substantially harder to remove. You will need to start blotting the spill to soak as much out of the carpet fibres as possible. The best thing you can blot with is a chamois sponge….. there’s one called Slurpex, there’s one called O’Shea’s Mr Absorbent Sponge, otherwise you could use a regular chamois or cloth/ rag. Always use something clean, that has not been dyed (eg Tea towel), to ensure you do not transfer further soil to the affected area or transfer dye onto the affected area. I recommend having a bowl or bucket of fresh, cold water next to you so you can rinse your sponge as you go. I highly recommend cold water at this stage to avoid setting the stain- especially if you are trying to treat blood. You need to thoroughly repeat this process until you have removed as much of the spill as possible. This is the most important step and done thoroughly will ensure the best results. Remember you want to remove what has been spilled on the carpet, not add to it!!

Once you have removed as much of the spill as possible, you are ready to start carpet cleaning You need to apply a product that is made for treating carpet, I highly recommend O’Shea’s Spot Remover. If you don’t have a carpet spot remover on you, you can use a diluted laundry wool mix, and if you don’t have any of this, a diluted laundry liquid detergent. You need to remember that unless you are planning to steam clean and extract the carpet, anything you use to clean will potentially stay in your carpet, so you really need to avoid adding anything unnecessary as this will probably just sit in your carpet attracting soil like a magnet and will be detrimental to your results. Please remember, carpet is made of fibres, like clothing, and products such as Windex, Dishwashing Liquid etc are not made to use on carpet.

Spray the affected area with your cleaning agent and with a chamois block or other sponge and a bowl/ bucket of cold water start dabbing at the affected area and then rinsing. Do not rub…… you will rub the spill further into the carpet and you will also damage the pile of the carpet. Repeat this until you achieve satisfactory results. Please be advised, you may need to spray more cleaning agent as you work through the process. For best results, it is extremely important you rinse out as much of the cleaning agent as possible.

If you’re looking for business cleaning services or residential cleaning services in Adelaide, O’Shea’s has over 26 years of experience providing quality cleaning and maintenance services. Contact the friendly and knowledgeable team at O’Shea’s today to find out more about how we can help you.

Kind regards,
Kirsty O’Shea
General Manager
O’SHEA’S Organisation