All carpets require a periodic carpet cleaning scheme, be it a residence or an office, bacteria, soil and grit are the major causes of wear and tear and this will reduce the carpet’s life.

For offices and other workplaces, a regular carpet cleaning program will increase the carpet’s life, but without a doubt carpet’s biggest enemies are stains, here are a few tips to remove them without damaging your carpet.

Beer Stains

Not very common in a workspace, but whoever hasn’t spilled beer on a carpet can throw the first can! Mop up the stain with a paper towel and sponge with warm water or soda water.

Wine Stains

You probably have heard this one before, to remove red wine stains simply pour white wine over fresh red wine stains or squirt with soda water. For white wine simply squirt with soda water.

Chewing Gum Stains

No doubt the most feared of all carpet stains, do it wrong and you damaged your carpet for good. So get a blunt knife and scrape up as much as you can, if the gum is still sticky place ice in a plastic bag around the gum to harden it and keep scrapping as much as possible. Apply carpet shampoo to the area and clean, wait until it’s dried them vacuum it off.

Coffee Stains

Very common both in an office or at home, blot with kitchen towel or similar, sponge with soda water, blot dry and repeat until the stain has gone.

Ink Stains

Another great enemy of carpets. Removing ink stains will depend on the type of ink. For ballpoint ink stains dry it up as quickly as possible. Dab with menthylated spirits or use a stain remover.

Fountain pen ink stains need to be diluted with soda water then mop up as much as possible. Make a hot solution of soapflakes and apply on the stain and leave it for 15 minutes then blot. Repeat the process until the stain disappears.

Fat, Oil, Grease or Candle Stains

Lay blotting paper or brown paper over the stain, place a cloth over the paper and apply a medium iron to draw the grease into the paper. You may need to follow this up with a good quality carpet shampoo. If the grease has penetrated into the pile, the stain may reappear weeks later as it seeps upwards, requiring further treatment.

Tar Stains

Another nasty carpet stain that if incorrectly removed can damage the carpet for good. First, scrape the excess tar off, make a solution of equal parts of glycerine and water, apply and leave it for an hour then rinse it with water. Again repeat the process till the stain in completely gone.

There are other types of carpet stains, but to cover them all would turn this post into a book! If you have a better technique to remove the above carpet stains, or would like to share another carpet stain removing tip, please don’t hesitate to share them with us and our readers.

Here are some tips on how how to clean the most common of flooring:

- Ceramic tiling: Don’t use harsh abrasive cleaners that might scratch the tiles. Instead use a damp-mop on the ceramic tiles with an all-purpose cleaner. Then dry the floor with a soft cloth to avoid streaks.

- Vinyl floors: To wash this type of floor, use an all-purpose cleaning solution. Test any cleaner in a corner before using it on the entire floor. 

- Wood floors: The most effective way of cleaning a wooden floor applying a liquid wood-floor cleaner with a dry wax applicator on a small area at a time. Let it soak for a few minutes, and wipe up the excess. When the floor is dry, buff with a floor polisher.

- Carpet Cleaning: The simplest way to keep your carpets clean is to vacuum regularly. But for an effective deep clean it is best to have your carpet steam cleaned. 

Here at Total Clean Services Ltd we provide bespoke floor cleaning treatments for companies in London, if you would like more information please click here.