How to Remove Drink Spills on Carpet

We’ve all spilled our drinks on the carpet a time or two, and getting them up before is top priority before you’re left with an ugly carpet stain. Drinks such as Cool aid, Gatorade or certain juices contain synthetic dyes for appearance. The problem with synthetic dyes is that they’re small enough to seep into the dye locations on each carpet fiber. Now not all carpet fibers are created equal, so some you’re ok to spill all you want, others it’s not that easy.

Most carpets today are made of ether nylon, polyester or polypropylene. The good news about polyester and polypropylene is that they’re made of oil, so synthetic dyes wont adhere to these fibers. The bad news is that oil can stain these two, but that nothing a good solvent wont remove. Now for nylon. Nylon is the most popular carpet fiber because it wears so well. In fact, nylon is known to last beyond 15 years.

Nylon feels soft as opposed to polyesters plasticky feel. The problem with nylon is found in the tiny holes along the fibers where the manufacturers inject the carpet color dye. Both polyester and polypropylene have their color added when they’re still in liquid form, which means their color goes all the way through their fibers. Nylon on the other hand has to have the carpet color infused through these dye spots.

What Causes Carpet to Stain

When a food or drink that contains synthetic dyes spill onto nylon carpet, the dye finds its way into the carpet fiber just as the manufacturer did when your carpet was made. This is why certain stains just wont come out – typically red and orange. There are some ways to remedy these types of stains through either preventative stain guards or stain removers.

EverClean Nashville recommends having your carpet protected by a stain guard that includes acid dye blockers. The acid dye blocker works by blocking the dye spot on each fiber so synthetic dyes cannot penetrate the fiber. Note that stain guards are only good for about a year in normal traffic areas as the thin film eventually wears away. It’s recommended that you have your carpet stain guarded at least once every year.

How to Treat a Spill on Carpet

Quickly apply a towel to the spill and set something heavy on the towel to wick the spill into the towel instead of your carpet. Change the towel frequently until it stops absorbing the spill. Make sure to not scrub the carpet as the fibers can easily become distorted causing permanent damage.

Cleaning a Carpet Spills

If you wish to call EverClean Nashville for expert stain removal, you’ll want to keep the spill moist until we arrive. The moisture won’t allow the stain to set-in. If you choose to clean it yourself, do not apply too much detergent. Applying too much detergent will create a future soap stain because you will not be able to get all that soap back out of your carpet, and neither will we. The soap will attract soils causing a dark stain you’ll need to clean frequently.

Apply a mild detergent and brush and absorb the detergent back out of the carpet once you feel it appears clean. Then repeat using warm water only to rinse the mild detergent residue from the carpet. Nashville EverClean Nashville hopes this article was helpful. If you have further questions or need assistance in carpet stain removal, please give us a call.