by Cray Sellars

Created on: July 18, 2008   Last Updated: July 22, 2008

My advice to anyone is not to let the stain set into the carpet. I think that mud stains are relatively easy to get out of carpet. Especially if the carpet is berber. It may be harder to get out of plush carpet. Stains are also easier to get out of area rugs because of the flatness of the material.

When you get a stain like juice,soda or pasta sauce it is best to treat it as fast as possible. I would suggest using a spot remover first. I would let the spot remover soak into the stain for at least ten minutes. I would suggest using a high-powered carpet shampooer. I would go ahead and clean the whole room. I wouldn't waste shampoo on one little spot. If the spot was still there, I would shampoo over it again. I suggest using bissell shampoo and carpet cleaners. In my opinion, they work the best and are inexpensive.

I personally wouldn't suggest using a steam carpet cleaner unless the carpet was just dirty. Maybe if I had some pet urine on my carpet. In my opinion, steam carpet cleaners are less effective than carpet shampooers. They seem to only clean the surfaces of carpets.

Some people use mops to clean their carpets, I wouldn't suggest this either. Mops weren't invented for this purpose. Febreeze and renuzit are excellent products for refreshing carpets between carpet cleanings. Both products are very inexpensive and can be purchased in any major grocery store.

I suggest using a carpet sweeper in between carpet cleanings. They can be very handy when cleaning up dirt and small pieces of paper. I would suggest cleaning your carpet at least once a year. I would clean it more if possible. I would at least use a carpet deodorizer. It would help to cut down on allergies.

If you don't want to clean the carpets yourself, I would suggest using a carpet cleaning service like Stanley Steamer. They have reasonable rates and they do an excellent job. Cleaning carpet is a tedious task and everyone is not suited to clean carpets.

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