How do you clean old carpet stains?
Question:we moved into this house where there carpet is stained. It's older carpet, regular, maybe a somewhat better quality as appartments usually have. But it's stained and flat and hard to clean.
Do you know of a way to clean it and fluff it up a bit. Is professional carpet cleaning worth the money for an older carpet? Or will I get it clean with a rental steamer?
Thank you
Answers:
It kind of depends on what the stains are.
Try to spot clean them first with some OxiClean. Just mix it according to the directions. It works well on a lot of stains. I use it about once a month to get all the juice drips and whatnot my daughter gets on the cream colored carpet. It might take a couple cleanings to get some of the tougher stains. (Chocolate syrup took three to get it all)
After that I would try renting a rug doctor. If it's older carpet, I would assume you would replace it in the next few years anyway, so it probably wouldn't be worth paying a professional. Unless of course you really like the carpet and want to keep it in for a long time.
What I do, and I learned this from watching "How Clean is Your House?" is to fill a bucket with warm water and use powdered clothing detergent (I use Tide). Take a hard brush and scrub in a circular motion then pat with a towel. The carpet in my condo sounds exactly like yours and it works like a charm for me. This is just for spot cleaning. I def would rent a steamer to fluff up the entire carpet though.
Well if your not in a rush to change the carpet for sometime, then it might be worth having it steam cleaned. I would think if you start spot cleaning patches , here and there, it´s going to look bad. Having it steam cleaned might be the better idea.
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