How to Remove Carpet Stains

It is surprisingly easy for carpets to get a stain, and often it can be difficult to remove those stains. While it is always an option to go out and hire a professional cleaning company to clean your carpets, this is a practice that is really too expensive to do regularly. The real answer lies in learning how to remove carpet stains yourself. Being able to remove carpet stains doesn't need to be all that difficult, especially if you follow these simple steps.

1. Identify the stain. Unfortunately not all stains can be cleaned in the same manner. This means that you will need to identify the type of stain, and then use the appropriate methods to remove that type of stain. Around the home you can usually find only a few certain kinds of stains such as food, drink, crayon, dirt, and so on.
2. Vacuum. Once you have identified the type of stain, begin vacuuming the afflicted area. This will help you to remove the vast majority of the staining agent. However, keep in mind that a regular vacuum cleaner will not work if the stain is based off of a liquid agent. For those types of stains you should use a wet/dry vacuum. Continue to vacuum until you have removed as much of the staining agent as possible.
3. Spot clean. Use a cleaning product that is designed for the type of stain you are trying to remove to begin spot cleaning. Typically all you will have to do is follow the directions of the cleaning product, and you will get your stain removed. As you are spot cleaning, remember to work from the center of the stain outwards, and to blot the stain away rather than rubbing or scrubbing the stain away. This will prevent you from accidentally creating a larger stain than you started with.
4. General clean. Now that you have the worst of the stain cleaned, you may have noticed a slight problem. Chances are, the area that had been stained is now cleaner than the rest of the carpet. When you are faced with this situation, you will need do a more general cleaning job. Ideally, the best way that you can do this is by using a rentable carpet cleaner. Simply follow the directions that come with the cleaning machine, and you will notice that your carpet is now noticeably cleaner if not completely cleaned.
5. Prevention is best. The best way to keep your carpet clean is to prevent any stains from ever forming to begin with. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Simply be as careful as you possibly can when on your carpet, do not eat over a carpeted area, do not wear shoes on a carpeted floor, prevent your pets (if at all possible) from creating a mess on your carpeted areas or even walking on them, and son on.