6 carpet stains you have to deal with when living with children

Living with young ones can undoubtedly prove challenging over time. There are going to be some moments when they contribute to a mess. Often the victim ends up being your carpet. It is important to keep a cool head and act quickly to control the damage. Remember it is like all children to sometimes cause a mess, which then, in turn, calls for some carpet cleaning action.

You can learn what the most common carpet stains of living with children are and how to treat them:

• Chocolate – children’s most favourite treat chocolate is often the culprit of some nasty stains on the carpet. You cannot hide those, so your only option is to scoop and blot the remains where they ended up. By removing as much chocolate as possible, you are limiting the stain spread. Make sure you are not leaving dry particles behind because they will melt and leave more of a mess. Next, mix a quarter tsp. mild dish soap with 1 cup warm water and apply it to a clean cloth. Gently dab the cloth onto the carpet, starting from outside the stain and working towards the middle. Let it sit for some time and then blot dry.

• Coloured drinks – while red and blue tongues from drinks may seem endearing, it is an entirely different story when those colours end up on the carpet. Should a mess occur, blot up the spill with a dry towel. Don’t scrub the moist area, as that will only spread the stain. Then, mix water, white vinegar and soap in a spray bottle and apply it on the spot. Let it soak for 5 minutes and then blot again.

• Crayons – sometimes young one feel exceptionally creative with the crayons. However, you will probably not be thrilled about it when it is on the carpet. Getting rid of crayon stains is possible with baking soda. Just take a sponge, wet it and apply baking soda on it to wipe out the marks. Alternatively, you can run over the stain with a warm iron and a folded tower to transfer them from the carpet.

• Eggs – little children may throw an egg or two at the wall or each other. When one of those raw eggs ends up on your carpet, you need lots of salt. As the salt reacts with the egg, it will become firm and easy to scrape off.

• Chewing gum – when gum gets stuck in the carpet fibres, you needn’t try to pull it out immediately. Instead, you need ice cubes to make it hard. Once that is done, you can carefully pull it off, as it no longer sticks to the fabric.

• Blood – dealing with blood stains on the carpet is easy when you know not to use hot water. Cold water mixed with dishwashing liquid is all it takes to remove the stain.

As you can see, there are quite a few issues that may come from living with children. You need to stay on top of these carpet cleaning challenges, and the tips above are meant to help you do just that.

© PCCL Ltd