If there is any one who knows something about cleaning carpets, it is moi!
With four dogs, five children, and more guests who track dirt from our gravel driveway onto our carpet than I care to think about, people think I have lost it when I talk about getting light carpet again.
For many years, we stuck to a strictly “no shoes” in the house policy. I was just crazy enough as a young mother to choose nearly white carpet for our great room, and for many years, it stayed very clean.
How you may ask? Not by googling “How to clean spots on carpets.”
You will get your carpet stain out with my best ever magic carpet cleaning trick that was passed down to me from my mother and her mother before that, and well, you get the idea. (Actually, if truth be told, it was from a cleaning lady, but the heritage sounding tip sounded better.) 😉
Thirty years ago, a wise woman told my mom something that sounded too good to be true.
For ANY kind of stain, DO not run for some expensive cleaner, but head straight to your water faucet.
All you need to get nearly any small stain out is water and a towel. I never thought to share this on my blog until an acquaintance of mine came up last week and thanked me profusely. (Clearly I share random tips with practical strangers in other places besides the grocery store.) She had tried three kinds of cleaners to get a nasty spot on her carpet out but none of those had worked. She mentioned her next option was to hire a professional cleaner. I told her that before she did, she needed to try the “magic water” trick.
It’s so easy, I know you won’t believe me. Most people don’t until they try it.
Head to your stain. Remove any extra particles, yes, I don’t mean to be gross, but we’ve used it on throw up, dog stuff and all the “eww” circumstances. Once you’ve removed the particles, pour a cup of water on the spot. Yes, soak it. Then take your fingers and scrub the water into the carpet, like shown in the picture above. (Be tough, people, you can do it.)
Then once you have done that, use your towel to absorb the water. Press and press until the water is soaked up. If it’s a larger stain, you will need to repeat this process and then use hot water, but if it’s small, like the above picture, that stain will come up immediately, (and it was a fairly pronounced stain that had set).
I know, SO EASY, right? It works, on nearly everything.
I’ve been using that tip since I was a child, and it’s almost never failed me, but you have to try that first. If you’ve tried other options first, this may not work.
Now, this magic carpet cleaning tip only works for spot cleaning. No one has time to spend all day pouring cups of water on our entire carpet. Plus, after having the same carpet for 15 years, I can guarantee I need to turn to more advanced techniques to keep it fresh and sanitary.
GO now, GIVE IT A TRY!!
(I am updating this post because THIS JUST HAPPENED on 2/10/15!!)
I will not include the texts that transpired between my teen son and me, but needless to say, his friend spilled this red soda during their movie night and they LEFT IT and didn’t tell me. (They “tried” to clean it. Don’t get me started.) This sat for days because it was hidden under the sofa corner and I doubted my magic trick could work its wonders. (Say it isn’t so.)
IT WORKED PEOPLE!! The key is too use enough water, but don’t skimp on the towels. Get that excess water up.
I will never doubt again. Please pin this, share this on FB and tell your friends. It’s magic I tell you. 😉
Curious about the throw rug in the photo… what’s it hiding??
Also similar to your water magic, if you have a stain (like vomit) that you don’t want to deal with in the middle of the night (or as you are going out the door), dampen a towel (as wet as you can without having it dripping) and lay it over the spot, it will keep your stain from setting and you can deal with it more easily in the morning.
@Kelly, Actually , it is not hiding anything. That is our dog rug. She sleeps there. Never thought someone would think that so I didn’t even think to move it. I probably should have. 🙂
@Jen,
mmmm.. kelly has the same profile pic as Jen!
Thanks Jen for the tip. very needed for sleepless mom spilling coffee and dealing with tons of twin’s spitups.
@Jen,
Actually, in line with your tip, I wonder if you can use ONLY water in your bissell and still do an equally great job?!
You probably could EXCEPT, for my whole carpet, I really need the deodorizing aspect from a carpet shampoo. Teen boys, pets, etc – I love a more fresh smell. 🙂
And yes, I tried to change the photo for that. She submitted the comment via email, so it came through my pic. 🙂
After reading your magic carpet cleaning tip, I immediately tried it on several spots on an area rug under my kitchen table. It worked! Thanks for a great tip.
YAY!! I love that. It’s hard to believe that something so easy works wonders, isn’t it?
When we built our new house, the man who sold us the carpet told us this same tip! I have tried this many times myself and you are right — IT DOES WORK!
We had carpet in our kitchen growing up (a flat carpet, like an office-type) and every few months my dad set us down with a pitcher of warm water and a towel and we had to spot clean the entire kitchen. It works wonderfully! (though, when you’re a small child, it isn’t so wonderful. ha! actually, now that i think of it, it’s great for a child to do! 🙂
now that i am married with 5 littles, and a coffee-drinking husband, we get too many coffee spills, and I just have not found water (or anything else, for that matter) to get coffee stains out.
I would love to hear of a “magic” coffee stain remover!!
Not a fan of this.. Poring water over the spot just causes you to pull the stuff into the carpet pad and the stain will keep coming back. Only using a towel won’t dry the pad, which can cause mold and a smell.
The best? Baking soda and vinegar!
@Heather d, Not to put words in Jen’s mouth, but I’m assuming she means this for rugs where you can get under it. I def wouldn’t drench carpet I couldn’t get to underneath, bc you’re right, mold and mildew! But otherwise this is an interesting tip! I have an easy homemade cleaner that I use for both carpets and rugs and it works better and easier than Resolve, but this is an easy and frugal option! ☺️
Actually, I’ve used this for 30 years with my regular carpet and so did my mom. You’d think that there would be mold and mildew, but it’s no different than using a carpet cleaner which puts a lot of water in, but the key is to get the water up. You are right, I wouldn’t drench it for a regular carpet For my upstairs carpet, I still do pour it right on the spot, like I show in the first picture, but then use a lot of towels until it’s barely damp to touch. Homemade cleaner is great too.
Yay it worked on the cat barf! Now if I could only get them to stop throwing up in the first place!
HA!! Oh Karen – that comment made me laugh. I have nothing for you in terms of the throwing up but so glad it worked. 🙂
My sister in law shared this tip with me some 30odd years ago.. I agree. it works great.. but I’ve not been able to use it successfully in heavy tread areas… they just continue to look heavily tread upon. 🙁
THANKS SO MUCH THIS WORKED GREAT I THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE THEM TILL I GOT NEW CARPERT THANK U SO MUCH!!!!
Great post Jen! there is no carpet that will never get stains.
You are “spot on” with this great tip…
I would only add — put the water in a spray bottle and spray lightly then tamp with the towel and repeat. If you don’t soak the carpet you can use this method on fitted carpets as well as rugs.
For Kim H. — if you have a steam mop with a microfibre cover — it works really well to restore trodden down carpet pile !
For cleaning stains on my carpet I often use a mix of water and vinegar, cover with a towel and place my iron on medium low all over this. The iron literally steams the stains out of the carpet. You should try! Greets, Gabb
lol, it’s so simple but to effective! cool tip, tnx)
I was looking for some useful carpet cleaning tips and this one seems the most useful and simple to apply. We Try to complicate things so much when there are homemade remedies that can do a great job.
Thank you Jen