Christmas is coming up quickly and so is the messiest season of the year. With all the food and drinks being served, it’s inevitable that you’ll end up with spills on your rugs, resulting in spots and stains. Today we are going to look at the big 3 holiday rug stains, why DIY solutions make them worse, and why you need a professional to ensure your rug makes it to the next family Christmas!
Rug Stains 1: Red Wine
Everyone is in high spirits around Christmas and between hugs, rough housing, and making toasts, wine spills seem to be part of every Christmas and holiday get together. Unfortunately, red wine can leave a permanent stain on textiles. This is due to the naturally occurring colour as well as added dyes in the wine. White wine spills are just as common as red wine spills. However that don’t become as noticeable until they become sticky and dark as they start attracting dust and dirt.
Stain 2: Gravy and Condiments
Not matter how well you plan, gravy will find its way onto the carpet. Gravy boats get messy and not everyone wipes off the side after using it. Which means, eventually, gravy will drip on your expensive, dining room carpet.
Even if you’re not cooking the so-called traditional Christmas feast, other condiments can end up on your rugs. From aioli to creamy cocktail sauce, from mustard to tomato sauce, your rug is going to end up with some kind of condiment or gravy stain. Even whipped cream can find it’s way to creating a serious stain on your rug!
Rug Stains Three: Coffee
After dinner coffee and Boxing Day catch ups are the prime moment for coffee spills. Coffee stains are one of the most common stains, outside of the Christmas season, that we see come into the laundry. Red wine, as well, is an incredibly common stain all year round. Coffee is an incredibly stubborn stain to remove and not one we recommend going about on your own.
What About DIY Solutions?
There is a myriad array of DIY options online for rug cleaning and spills. And they definitely play on the stress that comes around the holidays. Warm water and dishwashing liquid is one option suggested by DIY websites. Unfortunately, it is impossible to know how the chemicals in dishwashing liquid will react to the chemicals used to enhance the colours of red wine, tomato sauce, mustard, etc. This can cause irreparable damage to the colours of your rug, potentially causing it to run.
Blunt Edge Tools
Other DIY sites suggest leaving the stain to dry and then using a dull-edged tool, like a blunt knife, to break the residue of the stain up and then vacuum the mess up. This is such a dangerous idea as you can, and will, cause serious damage to your rug fibres. As you use the blunt tool to break the residue up, it is going to tear your rug fibres apart as you break the stain apart. This creates a weak point in your rug and can cause shedding, as well ugly pilling.
If the top of your rug is loops of fibres, then you can potentially cut though enough of these fibres to cause serious damage to the rest of the rug. Not to mention leaving the stain to dry like that can cause the stain to set in and be difficult to remove. It can also cause severe dye bleeding.
Acids and Ammonia
One of the worst DIY techniques you can follow involve using either acid or ammonia. In the case of “acid”, DIYers will often tell you to mix white vinegar with water to make and acidic solution. This is meant to make the stain less visible, however rugs, especially handmade traditional rugs, are often made from unstable vegetable dyes. So applying the acid mix without even doing a colour test, could lead to the colours in your rug bleeding. This cannot be fixed.
Ammonia is more commonly utilised for red wine and coffee spills. Most DIYers will recommend you mix household ammonia with warm water. Again, this is so dangerous, as the delicate, unstable dyes can bleed, causing an even bigger mess than before, and one that cannot be repaired. When it comes to online solutions, we recommend you avoid them! Instead, get your rug to a professional rug cleaner like Woods Rug Laundry.
Why is a Professional Rug Cleaning Service So Important?
Your rugs are an investment, so don’t take them for granted. While it is tempting to clean rugs at home yourselves, you can do far more damage than good. Professional cleaners have facilities and equipment to effectively wash, clean and properly dry your rugs to ensure no moisture remains. When washing rugs at home, you do not have a way to properly ensure all water is appropriately removed from the rug. When washing rugs at home, you won’t be able to remove all the water which can cause severe issues with dry rot. Once a rug has dry rot, it is impossible to clean or repair.
Woods Rug Laundry are experienced professionals who use an environmentally safe, patented washing fluid that is used to gently clean your rug. We spot test all rugs to ensure we can safely wash them. We can also clean pet rug stains, to a degree. Our technicians can repair rugs and bring your beloved rug back to near perfect condition.
So if the silly season has wreaked havoc on your rug, bring it in to Woods Rug Laundry, for a little tender love and care!