Living Room Rugs

A DIY Guide to Removing Stains From Living Room Rugs

Following this guide of tips will help you when it comes to adequately dealing with spills on living room rugs and all throughout your home.

living rooms need to be protected from stains!

It’s always a rather stressful moment when red wine spills on a rug or carpet, because it truly is one of the worst of all possible stains. It’s always really crucial to promptly attend to any spills on your living room rugs in order to avoid a messy spot, and this is mainly because it’ll be difficult to fully remove the stain after it has dried or dirt has entered those specific fibers.

A good rule of thumb is that the sooner you can attend to the spill, the less likely it’ll turn into an emergency situation, or require extensive repairs/replacement. The following are our first three tips when it comes to our DIY guide to removing stains:

  • Be prepared for spills before they occur: This means testing out certain cleaning solutions and products on hidden portions of your rug so you can know it will come in handy when you need it most, and know that it won’t harm your rug!
  • Always sponge or blot, never rub a stain: Scrubbing or rubbing a serious stain will only make it go further into the rug, which can even ruin the overall integrity of your rug!
  • NEVER utilize bleach: Bleach will only damage your rug while trying to remove stains.

Step-By-Step DIY Guide to Cleaning Red Wine Spills From Your Living Room Rugs

The following are what you’re going to need to keep handy just in case an unfortunate wine spill occurs within your home:

  • Several clean cloths and sponges
  • White vinegar and hand washing detergent
  • Absorbent materials (clean cloth, paper towel)

Step #1: Absorb

The first thing you should do when wine spills is to lightly cover up the stain with a paper towel, cat litter, clean cloth, or anything that will properly absorb the liquid. Once the stain’s excess has been absorbed, you should remove whatever you used and do it quickly as you can’t let the stain dry!

Step #2: Splotch/Blot, Don’t Scrub!

Take a sponge or clean cloth and blot the liquid spill as quickly and as efficiently as you can!

Step #3: Choosing Your Cleaning Solution

Although it may be possible to remove a stain after step 2, the odds are that you’re going to need an adequate cleaning solution. The intensity of your chemical cleaning solution will predominately depend upon the overall severity of the stain, but if it’s not too bad you may just need water.

Step #4: Utilizing Your Cleaning Solution

Use your cloth or clean sponge to apply your cleaning solution, and if you feel as though it’s necessary to directly apply the solution to the carpet just make sure you’re doing so very lightly. The reason for this is because you won’t want to damage your rug or padding through a soaking!

You’ll want to then blot the cleaning solution starting from the outside edge of the stain to the inner core of the stain, which will help in terms of spread prevention. You’ll then want to blot the cleaning solution with another clean cloth or sponge in order to lift the stain off your rugs.

Step #5: Rinse

The next step is to spritz the entire stain area with water. Once you’ve adequately spritzed, you’ll then blot again with yet another clean cloth or sponge.

The next step will be to cover up the stain with a paper towel that’s weighed down. Some good weights for this would be a group of spread out coins, or even a light book. It’s just important to not squish your rug too much by applying too much pressure, but a small amount of pressure is necessary in order to fully absorb the rest of the stain over a good amount of time.

Step #6: Be Patient!

It’s possible that you may need to repeat this entire process if the stain doesn’t come out the first time around. A second treatment isn’t anything to be afraid of, but if you’re still having trouble after two rounds of DIY cleaning then you’ll definitely need to call in the pros to get the job done once and for all!

Reach Out to the Rug Source Experts For More Tips and Information!

All of us at Rug Source know how important your interior design investments are to your home’s overall aesthetics and ambience, and we’ll be there with you ever step of the way when it comes to cleaning and repair tips.

If you have any further questions or concerns regarding removing stains, feel free to contact us online or call us at 980-422-4080 or 704-763-0979 today to get in touch with one of our team’s experts!