I can not begin to tell my readers how often I go to customers’ homes, led to believe that I am “freshening up” their carpets, only to see 20 paint spots cemented into the carpet. Paint removal is not carpet cleaning. Paint removal is paint removal. It’s time consuming, the chemicals are very abrasive to both the cleaning technician and the homeowner. This is so prevalent when dealing with our contractor accounts. It seems that the “professionals” are the ones that get the most paint on the homeowners’ carpet. They think that steam cleaning will remove the paint quickly and inexpensively. It will not. The best remedy to paint removal is any preventive measure taken to protect your carpet from paint coming into contact with it. It’s painful for both myself and my customer when I advise them to purchase a new carpet because the paint removal service will cost more than a replacement. But any company sending a technician that will spend 4 hours breathing in acetone fumes will expect to be paid a lofty amount.

I may have gone a little off track there but I need the reader to understand the difficulty in paint removal. Water based paints are the easiest to remove. A little soap and water (1 TBs of dish washing detergent mixed with a cup of warm water) should take this out easily. If you have a few spots, here’s how to remove paint from carpet. First try rubbing alcohol. Scrape the paint off with a metal spoon. I’ve heard of people using vodka to remove paint. The alcohol in the vodka is what is doing the trick.

If rubbing alcohol works unsuccessfully move on to the dreaded acetone (nail polish remover). Scrape with a metal spoon. Acetone will work most of the time but I must warn the reader of the dangers of acetone. It’s highly toxic. It will give you severe headaches if you are exposed to it for a long period of time. It will agitate your skin. It can also make you extremely light headed. Please take care in using acetone. This is one instance where I will almost always advise my clients to hire a professional rather than do it themselves. I care about your safety. Please be careful.

Steam Pro Carpet Cleaning New York is happy to answer any questions you may have regarding paint removal services by calling (718) 606-0549.

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I must admit that the mustard stain is by far the most difficult stain to remove. The reason is the time. I can not accelerate the stain removal process like I can red dye stains. Ammonia is a big NO NO when trying to clean mustard from any fabric or surface. It will definitely set that mustard stain in permanently. I advise to attempt to remove the mustard with traditional cleaning methods first (white vinegar and water) so you are removing all but the yellow pigment left behind. From experience, I can almost promise you that cleaning (with any soap or cleaning solution) will be unsuccessful in completely removing the mustard stain. So what now?

In the Kool Aid Stains on Carpet article I explain the use of oxidation treatments in stain removal when dealing with red dye stains. Similarly for mustard, using a small amount of peroxide on the mustard stain, place a small ultraviolet light over the stain (they’re not expensive). The UV light should sit a full 24 hours. Monitor your results. If it’s gone great! If not, rinse with water, blot dry with a white towel and repeat the process again, only this time using either Oxiclean or Clorox 2 (test all bleaches in an inconspicuous area prior to applying to the mustard stain). This should work. If not, it’s there for good. A small repair may be necessary. Call your local carpet cleaner for any guidance or questions.

Do you live in NY? Contact Steam Pro Carpet Cleaning New York for all of your carpet and upholstery cleaning needs. Or call us at (718) 606-0549.

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Although rust may seem impossible to remove at first, it really isn’t all so bad. But first I’d like to ask you a quick question that for some may sound odd? Are you sure it’s rust? As a carpet cleaning professional, I go into many homes under the impression that I am cleaning a rust stain only to find out that it really is a wood shellac bleed from a piece of furniture that use to be there. Most of the readers are confident in their stain identification ability, but be aware that the two stains may look similar.

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Rust stain removal is accomplished by using very acidic ingredients. When I clean rust my rust removal chemical states it’s a 3 pH (very acidic). Using household ingredients, this is how you do it.

• Start with a lemon. Squeeze out a liberal amount of lemon juice onto the rust stain and agitate with a metal spoon. The citrus acid in the lemon will help remove the rust stain. Let it sit for 1 hour, blot with a white towel, rinse, and dry. How much of a transfer did you get? Did you get all of it? No…try this.

• Take some cream of tarter and mix it with a little water to form a paste. A quick note about cream of tarter is that it also can be used to clean brass and copper cookware. Spread on the paste onto the rust stain, agitate using a metal spoon, and again let sit for one hour. Blot, rinse, and dry.

• If all else fails go with vinegar. It smells terrible but I’ll show you how to use it to remove that rust stain on your carpet and how to get rid of the smell afterward. As usual pour or spray the vinegar onto the rust stain, agitate using a metal spoon and let sit for one hour. Blot, rinse and dry. To get rid of the vinegar smell afterward, just throw some baking soda onto it. Baking soda is an alkaline; and vinegar, being acidic, will neutralize along with its odor.

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Remove Ink Stains from Carpet

Like all other stains, you must hurry to make your best attempts to remove the ink stain immediately, before the stain sets into your carpet. Ink stains may be either water based or permanent. Permanent ink stains may be a bit difficult to remove from carpet. Water based ink stains are fairly easy to remove though. Here’s how to completely remove either stain…

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Remove Water Based Ink Stains

If you are faced with a water based ink stain first blot whatever ink residue you can absorb. Do not scrub the carpet. You will only dig the ink stain deeper into the carpet fibers. Next simply mix a teaspoon of dish washing detergent with a cup of water. Lightly douse the ink stain. Using a white terry cloth to lightly blot the ink stain from your carpet. It is important not to use a scrub brush. A scrub brush will only distort the carpet fibers and dig the ink stain deeper into the carpet filaments, making removal close to impossible.

Remove Permanent Ink Stains

Please note that permanent ink stains can be very difficult to remove from your carpet using domestic cleaning products. If you find that the ink stain is permanent and does not respond to water based cleaning methods, you next option is to use rubbing alcohol on your carpet. Be sure to first test the rubbing alcohol on an inconspicuous area prior to using it on your carpet. Add the rubbing alcohol to a white terry cloth and slowly blot the ink stain and check for ink transfer. If you see an ink transfer, continue to blot your carpet until the ink stain is completely gone or there is no more ink transfer.

At the point where there is no ink transfer onto the terry cloth, nail polish remover works wonderfully. First, completely rinse your carpet with water and blot dry. Apply a small amount of nail polish remover onto your terry cloth and, just like the rubbing alcohol, blot the ink stain until there is no more ink transfer.

Bleach - When All Else Fails…

If all else fails, mild bleaching techniques are very successful to remove ink stains from carpet. DO NOT use Clorox bleach on your carpet. Nylon and wool carpet will completely dissolve in sodium hydrochloride (Clorox) and olefin carpet may be stripped of its color. I’m talking about 3% peroxide. We all have it in our bathroom cabinet. Peroxide is an oxidizer. It will not remove the ink stain from your carpet but it will make it unseen to the eye. Pour a conservative amount of peroxide onto the ink stain, place a damp white terry cloth over the carpet and wait a full 24 hours. This last ink stain home remedy should do the trick over 90% of the time.

As a professional new york carpet cleaning technician., I used this method of ink stain removal for the first five years of my career and it works great. If for any reason you are unable to remove the ink stain from your carpet using these methods hire a professional nyc carpet cleaning company to remove it for you. He or she will use slightly more aggressive cleaning techniques to remove the ink stain.