DIY Projects Are Great But Here's How to Clean Your Carpet When Things Go Wrong 19 February 2015

We all love our fair share of DIY project – they are fun, they allow you to involve the entire family in the process, they eventually yield wonderful and full of personality results and, most of the times they are less expensive than buying ready-made items as well.

However, DIY projects can sometimes end up in a huge mess. Glue, tempera paint and tape residue can stick into your carpet and leave it stained for a long time. While calling in professional cleaners may be a great option (especially since cleaning agencies these days can be affordable and they definitely save up time), you should know that these types of carpet stains can be dealt with if you have the “carpet cleaning know-how” with you.

So, what are the best ways to go through carpet cleaning, rug cleaning and upholstery cleaning when DIY projects go wrong? Here are some of the best tips we have picked up along the way:

1)    Glue. Regardless of whether you tried to glue your carpet with a special product or if your kids simply decided to “have fun” on your living room carpet, you should know that the situation is manageable (even if you don’t want to call the cleaning service).  You can either use special adhesive remover (there are a lot of them available in supermarkets and they are not very expensive either) or you can use white vinegar. If you go for the first option, simply dampen a piece of cloth with the solution and blot the glue stain. Make sure to change or switch to a clean part the cloth often because the glue is transferred unto it while you do this.

 If you don’t have adhesive removers around your home and if you don’t want to wait until you buy one, simply dampen the stained area with some water and then use a piece of cloth moistened in white vinegar to go through the same process as that mentioned above.  Before you test any of these options though, make sure you test the solution first on an unnoticeable area of your carpet or rug because some carpet cleaners are not suitable for certain types of carpets.

2)    Tape. Removing tape “goo” from the carpets is similar to removing glue. However, you might want to scrub the solution right into the carpet (but if you want to do that, make sure you wear rubber gloves). Once you are done with this, use a dish washing and water solution to rinse the adhesive remover and then use a clean damp cloth to remove the rinsing solution as well. Allow everything to dry off and vacuum the carpet to help the fibers restore themselves to their natural texture.

3)    Tempera. If you want to remove tempera paint that has already dried off, start by scrubbing the area with a spoon until the stain turns into a powder. Once that is done, blot a clean piece of cloth that was dampened in white vinegar until the stain is gone and then blot a clean, dampened piece of cloth to rinse. Press another clean piece of cloth into the carpet to absorb the extra-water and leave the carpet to air dry. If white vinegar doesn’t work on your carpet (or if you are not allowed to use it), try any other carpet cleaner that is suitable for your type of carpet (sometimes, general stain removers work very well, but if you want to be absolutely safe, you can use a carpet stain remover as long as it doesn’t contain anything that may damage your carpet).