One Good Thing by Jillee

Home Hacks, Cleaning Tips, & DIY

Header Right

  • Homekeeping
    • All Homekeeping
    • Cleaning
    • Laundry
    • Crafts & DIY Projects
    • Gardening & Outdoors
    • Organization
  • Natural Remedies
    • Essential Oils
  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Main Dishes
    • Gluten-Free
    • Breakfast
    • Baking
    • Appetizers
    • Desserts
    • Snacks
    • Side Dishes
    • Instant Pot
  • Bright Ideas
    • All Bright Ideas
    • Advice
    • Saving Money
    • Green Living
  • Beauty
    • Hair & Makeup
    • Skincare
  • Shop
  • Get OGT Plus
  • Log in

sticky-header-right

Home · Homekeeping · Here’s How To Remove The Most Dreaded Holiday Carpet Stains

14

Here’s How To Remove The Most Dreaded Holiday Carpet Stains

Time-Saving Tip: If you bookmark this post now, you won't have to track it down tomorrow when you're dealing with post-Thanksgiving dinner spills!

Jill Nystul  ·  November 20, 2018

carpet cleaning tips

This post is sponsored by Stanley Steemer. As always, all opinions and ideas are entirely my own.

More Ideas You'll Love
Pet Stain Remedy

This Is The Best Way To Remove A Pet Stain From Carpet

I can't help you keep pet stains from happening, but this brilliant tip will certainly help you clean them up! Continue Reading

Carpet stains caused by accidental spills are as much a Thanksgiving tradition as the dinner itself! But there’s no use in crying over spilled milk—or any other kind of spill, for that matter! Because today I’m sharing some of my most useful tips for removing holiday-related stains from your carpet!

Today I’m teaming up with Stanley Steemer to give you all the tools you might need in the fight against holiday carpet stains. They’re the carpet experts, and when it comes to stains, they’ve seen and removed it all! If somehow none of the stain removal techniques below can get the job done, I would definitely recommend giving Stanley Steemer a call! There’s no shame in admitting you could use some professional help! :-)

MY LATEST VIDEOS

Let’s start by going over some general tips for tackling carpet stains. Following that, we’ll talk about how to handle specific kinds of stains (especially the ones that frequently occur around the holidays). By the end of this post, you’ll be able to head into the holidays with confidence that you can handle any of the spills and stains to come!

8 Important Tips For Removing Carpet Stains

carpet cleaning tips

1. Act Fast! The sooner you treat the stain, the better chance you have of being able to remove it completely.

carpet cleaning tips

2. Clean Up. Whether the spill was solid or liquid, it’s important to remove any excess material right away. For solids, use a butter knife to scrape up any remaining gunk. For liquids, sop up the excess liquid with a cloth or paper towel.

carpet cleaning tips

3. Try Water. Before grabbing a cleaning product, always try using water first. Simply blot the stain with a clean, damp cloth. You’ll be surprised at how much you can remove with water alone! Club soda is also great for blotting stain (just like grandma used to do!)

4. Don’t Scrub. When it comes to removing stains, always blot them. Don’t scrub at it, because you can easily spread the stain around instead of lifting it out.

5. Don’t Over-Wet. Be careful with the amount of liquid you use when removing a stain. Over-wetting your carpet can damage the carpet backing.

carpet cleaning tips

More Ideas You'll Love
Stanley Steemer

5 Easy Things That Will Make Your Holiday Guests Feel At Home

Hosting guests during the holidays doesn't have to be stressful! These 5 tips will help you get your guest room holiday-ready, and ensure that your guests feel right at home! Continue Reading

6. Absorb Grease. To help remove a greasy stain, sprinkle it with an absorbent powder like baking soda or chalk. This will draw out the bulk of the grease and make the remaining stain easier to remove.

carpet cleaning tips

7. Follow Instructions. Be sure to follow any instructions included on the label when cleaning garments, linens, and rugs.

carpet cleaning tips

8. Test First. Before using a cleaning solution, be sure to test your colorfastness. Start by applying several drops of the cleaning solution to an inconspicuous area of the material. Then hold a damp, white cloth against the area for about one minute. Check the cloth for color transfer, change, or damage. If there isn’t any, proceed to cleaning.

How To Remove The Most Dreaded Holiday Stains

carpet cleaning tips

Candle Wax

Flickering candlelight can create a festive and cosy ambiance during any holiday dinner! Unfortunately, anything on your dinner table is a spill risk, including that candle full of melted wax! But as intimidating as a candle wax stain can appear, it’s not impossible to remove. All you need is your clothes iron and a few newspapers!

Read a detailed explanation of how to remove candle wax from carpet at the link below. (Check out the pictures to see how well it works!)

Related: How To Get Candle Wax Out Of Carpet

carpet cleaning tips

Butter, Gravy, & Other Greasy Stains

Greasy and oily stains can be particularly tricky to remove. The key is to be able to cut through the oil so it can be absorbed away from the material. One of the best homemade approaches I’ve tried was using a combination of rubbing alcohol and table salt. The alcohol cuts through the grease while the salt draws it out.

This approach probably won’t remove the stain completely, but it will get most of the oil out! Then you can use your preferred cleaner to remove the rest of the stain. Get the full details on how to get rid of greasy stains by reading the post below!

More Ideas You'll Love
Keeping Your Bedroom Carpet Clean

This Is The One Thing In Your Bedroom You’re Not Cleaning Enough

Ignorance is NOT bliss when it comes to this grimy item in your bedroom! Continue Reading

Related: Homemade Carpet Degreaser

carpet cleaning tips

Wine, Cranberry Sauce, Punch, Chocolate, & Other Colorful Stains

There are so many colorful foods and drinks on a holiday dinner table, and they can all leave behind highly visible stains on your carpet! But I’ve successfully removed even the most colorful stains using my iron-and-ammonia stain removal method!

All you need for this method is your clothes iron, some ammonia, and a stack of towels you don’t mind staining. (It’s better to buy a few new hand towels than to live with a permanent carpet stain, right?) ;-) Follow the link below to read the full post about this method, including step-by-step instructions and before-and-after photos!

Related: This Is The Best Way To Remove Tough Carpet Stains

carpet cleaning tips

Vomit

This particular stain could likely be the work of a pet, but not always. (About 20 years ago, one particularly memorable Thanksgiving culminated in a child vomiting on the dining room floor after overeating at dinner. Whether or not it was one of my children is neither here nor there!) ;-)

But regardless of who’s responsible for the vomit, someone needs to clean it up to avoid a really unfortunate carpet stain! I suggest trying a combination of vinegar and baking soda. The bubbly reaction they create is very effective at breaking up and lifting organic stains. Get the full instructions on how to use the vinegar and baking soda method by reading the post below!

Related: The Best Way To Remove Pet Stains From Carpet

carpet cleaning tips

Can’t Remove A Stain? Here’s What To Do

Sometimes, despite your very best efforts, a carpet stain just won’t budge. But there’s no shame in admitting that it’s time to call in the stain removal experts at Stanley Steemer! Their helpful cleaning professionals will make short work of those holiday dinner stains, and then some!

carpet cleaning tips

The best thing about bringing in Stanley Steemer to clean your carpets is how easy they make it. You don’t even have to more your bulky furniture—they’ll do it for you! And once your carpets are clean, they’ll put everything back too. Your carpets will look brand new, and they’ll dry out quickly. You might even be a little bit grateful for that stain that made you call Stanley Steemer in the first place! :-)

And for a super simple holiday gift, give someone you love the gift of clean carpets! You can buy a Stanley Steemer gift card here!

Have you ever dealt with a really tricky holiday-related carpet stain?

Read This Next
  • How To Make A Natural Carpet Cleaning Solution
  • This Is The Best Way To Remove Tough Carpet Stains
  • How To Make A Cheap & Natural Deodorizing Carpet Powder

Hi, I’m Jillee!

I believe we should all love the place we call home and the life we live there. Since 2011, I've been dedicated to making One Good Thing by Jillee a reliable and trustworthy resource for modern homemakers navigating the everyday challenges of running a household. Join me as I share homemaking and lifestyle solutions that make life easier so you can enjoy it more!

Every day I share creative homemaking and lifestyle solutions that make your life easier and more enjoyable!

Read More
Categories
Cleaning Homekeeping

More Ideas From Homekeeping

coop cleaning system

Cooperative Cleaning System

Homemade Laundry Detergent

This Is Simply The Best Homemade Laundry Detergent Ever

Ways You're Ruining Your Bed Sheets

The 7 Most Likely Things That Will Ruin Your Bed Sheets

Get Rid Of Oily Stains

This Is The Best Way To Get Rid Of Oily Stains

Things You Can Clean In One Minute

13 Little Ways To Have A Cleaner Home In Just One Minute

Remedies for Bumps and Bruises

Natural Remedies For Summertime Bumps & Bruises

DIY Exfoliating Loofah Soap

DIY Exfoliating Loofah Soap

Vacuum Attachment Hack

This Is The Most Brilliant Vacuum Hack You’ll See All Year

Candied Ginger

How To Make Sweet and Spicy Candied Ginger

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

The One Recipe You Need To Keep Your Toilet Clean

Using Fresh Ginger In A Recipe for Health and Happiness!

Lovely DIY Letter Bookends

Cure For Cold Feet

A Warming Foot Mask & Other Natural Cures For Cold Hands & Feet

cleaning mistakes

These 7 Cleaning Mistakes Are Doing More Harm Than Good

Under The Kitchen Sink Organization

5 Easy Ways To Organize The Space Under Your Kitchen Sink

Shiny Sink

This One Thing In Your Pantry Is The Secret To A Shiny Sink

pinterest cleaning hacks

11 Of The Most Popular Cleaning Hacks According To Pinterest

felted soap

Make Your Own Felted Soap (Or Self-Soaping Scrubbie!)

newest oldest most voted
emma
emma

These are great tips! I also love that you mentioned calling a professional. There are some stains that DIY methods just can’t remove, and I’m glad to see that acknowledged! I always try to get a stain out myself first, but if I can’t I call my local cleaners for sure! No shame!

Vote Up0Vote Down 
10 months ago
trackback
Here’s How To Remove The Most Dreaded Holiday Carpet Stains - healthylivingcity

[…] Source: https://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com […]

Vote Up0Vote Down 
10 months ago
Edward Morrison
Edward Morrison

Cleaning slime out of the carpet isn’t that hard. We can use vinegar and water, and vinegar basically melts the slime away and water washes it away,” said Johnson.”If your kid loves slime like my kid loves slime, then I’m sure you’ve ran into all type of issues when trying to clean it up: https://getcleaningdone.com/how-to-get-slime-out-of-carpet/

Vote Up0Vote Down 
10 months ago
trackback
7 Things You Clean Too Often, And Why It's A Mistake · Jillee

[…] Related: Here’s How To Remove The Most Dreaded Carpet Stains […]

Vote Up0Vote Down 
10 months ago
Emma
Emma

This is such a thorough guide! Thank you for sharing all of your tips! We always seem to have carpet stains of some sort at our house with kids running around. We’re good friends with our and they do a great job, but now I feel like I can save a little money and tackle the stains myself, so thanks for sharing your expertise!

Vote Up0Vote Down 
1 year ago
Maggie
Maggie

What is best for a coffee stain on staircarpet?

Vote Up0Vote Down 
1 year ago
by Jillee
by Jillee

Hi Maggie! Here’s a treatment that should work wonders on a coffee stain: https://jillee.co/2DU6OHu Good luck!

Vote Up0Vote Down 
1 year ago
Gail
Gail

I would like to wish you Jillee, and all your readers a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving. May God richly bless each of you. On another note be SURE that you test a hidden spot on your carpet if you use Resolve spray. Many years back I had a stain and used Resolve, it took the color out, I cried… Just looked like a bleached place as long as I had it, and no way to cover it up. I learned the hard way, to test first. I’m not knocking the product, I know plenty of other people that use… Read more »

Vote Up0Vote Down 
1 year ago
Shirley Jennett
Shirley Jennett

Any solutions for spots of dark hair dye on vinyl flooring?

Vote Up0Vote Down 
1 year ago
by Jillee
by Jillee

Start with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Simply get it a little wet, and scrub the stain. You can also try blotting the area with rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover or hairspray. Good luck! :-)

Vote Up0Vote Down 
1 year ago
Christym
Christym

Great ideas. I always kept Club soda and Spot Shot carpet spray in the house when I had my kitty., Both are great for getting hairball stains out of the carpet. Baby wipes are also great too. Wine away you can get from bed , bath and beyond is also great for cranberry or dark grape juice stains. It’s about $ 10.00 it works.

Vote Up0Vote Down 
1 year ago
Mary Lynne Sullivan
Mary Lynne Sullivan

First, Happy thanksgiving! I love all your tips and diy tutorials. I have incorporated many of them in my daily routine, be it cleaning or personal beauty products. Do you have any solutions for spot cleaning a wool rug? Thanks

Vote Up0Vote Down 
1 year ago
Christym
Christym

Try spot shot or resolve carpet cleaner spray.

Vote Up0Vote Down 
1 year ago
by Jillee
by Jillee

Thanks Mary! I actually don’t have any wool rugs, but I found some good information about cleaning them here: https://jillee.co/2QWME76

Vote Up0Vote Down 
1 year ago

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I’m Jillee!

Every day I share creative homemaking and lifestyle solutions that make your life easier and more enjoyable!

Read More
  • Contact
  • About
  • Work With Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy

copyright © 2019 One Good Thing by Jillee · All rights reserved