Removing Soft Drink Stains

Soft drinks are popular with everyone. Actually, there are many uses for soft drinks in cleaning, such as club soda or Coke. But a splatter of soda pop on your shirt or your carpet is still not a pleasant way to enjoy a soft drink. Here are some steps you can take to get the soft drink out of your carpet or shirt.

If your soda has spilled onto the carpet, first remember not to rub at the spill. Rubbing will just make the stain get bigger, not smaller. If you are scrubbing or brushing at the stain, have your movements go from the outside of the stain inwards, so that the stain cannot be spread. Start by gently blotting the stain with a clean, dry, white cloth. Use a white cloth so that color does not come off of the cloth and onto your carpet. Drip a couple of drops of liquid dish detergent onto your cloth as you dab at the stain.

Spray or pour some ammonia onto the stain. (If your carpet isn't white, test the ammonia on an inconspicuous area or a carpet sample first). Blot with a clean white cloth until you think no more soda will come off. As you blot and soda comes off the carpet and onto your cloth, move the cloth around so you are always dabbing at the stain with a clean area of the cloth. Once no more soda will come off, pour or spray vinegar onto the stain. Blot with yet another clean white cloth. Next, blot the stained area of the carpet with liquid detergent again. Spray or gently pour water onto the stain, and blot until the area is dry. Press several dry towels or paper towels onto the previously stained spot, and leave them there until the spot is dry.

You could also try just pouring table salt over a fresh spill. Leave the table salt there for up to a day to absorb the spill, and vacuum up the salt.

To get soft drinks splashes out of clothes, first blot up any excess soda with a clean towel. Run water through the stain to get as much of the soda out as possible. Rub a bit of liquid dish detergent onto the stain and let the garment sit for five to ten minutes. If the article of clothing is machine washable, wash in the machine in the warmest water that will not damage the garment.

You could also try setting the garment on a table or desk with a cloth underneath it, and pouring salt onto the stain. Let it sit for a few hours, the brush the salt off. The salt should have absorbed much of the stain. If there is still soda left on the shirt, soak the shirt in a tub of cool water mixed with liquid dish detergent.

The sooner you start cleaning the soda spill up, the more likely you are to be successful. If you cannot treat a stain immediately, just blot away what you can and soak the item when you get home.