Steam Smart Pro Carpet Duct & Tile Cleaning

How to Deal with Reappearing Carpet Stains

Eric Bullard • 20 February 2022

Imagine you’ve just sat down to watch your favorite TV show with a tall glass of your favorite beverage when suddenly you knock over the glass and liquid spills across your carpet. Easy to fix, right? Just clean the stain with warm water, and get back to business. However, without proper treatment, that stain will return the very next day.

Carpet stains are more durable than many people realize. Even if you scrub the stain off the surface of the carpet with a powerful cleaning solution, there’s a good chance that it will just come right back a day later and require further attention.

Reappearing carpet stains are frustrating but not uncommon if you don’t know how to clean them. Steam Smart Pro, your go-to professionals for all carpet cleaning services in Foothills, will get even the toughest stains out of your carpet in a flash. However, there are at-home remedies to removing these seemingly invincible stains that might save you the time of scheduling an appointment and tending to these reappearing imperfections daily.

What’s Causing My Reappearing Carpet Stains in The First Place?

There are two primary causes of reappearing carpet stains, soiling and wicking.

Soiling is often the result of racing through the stain cleaning process too quickly and leaving behind dirty water or cleaning products. Since you need both those substances to remove stains in the first place, you might not think much about letting them settle into your carpet fibers. However, leaving that residue in place attracts dirt that forms in the position of the original stain.

The other common culprit of reappearing carpet stains is wicking. Wicking happens when your floor is still wet after cleaning, either because you didn’t dry the warm water you used to remove the stain or because the original stain soaked deep enough to reach the carpet padding. That excess moisture then reabsorbs into the carpet fibers, leaving a new stain where the old one was.

It is essential to know the difference between soiling and wicking stains before you attempt to clean, as each will require different removal methods.

Tools You’ll Need to Remove Stains

While how get rid of your reappearing carpet stains depends on whether they’re from wicking or soiling, the materials you’ll need to remove them are largely the same.

If you have these everyday household items, you can remove most stains from your carpet:

Paper towels or a clean, neutral-colored hand towel
Store-bought carpet cleaner
Moisture-resistant heavy objects
Warm water
A powerful household fan

How to Treat Soiling Stains

For soiling stains, your primary cleaning goal is to wash away whatever excess residue you left to build up overnight. Luckily, the most effective way to remove that residue is as simple as applying warm water to the stained area. The amount of water you use will depend on the size of the stain, but to avoid the risk of water damage or wicking, try to apply no more than one-quarter cup.

If warm water treatment doesn’t work, dry off the area with your paper towels or neutral-colored cloth and begin a new cleaning process.

Start by applying your carpet cleaning solution to the stained floor and gently wipe it away with your towels. Next, reapply warm water to the area, cover the water with your towels, and stack your heavy objects atop the towel. Finally, leave a fan blowing air over the damp carpet until it is dry and the stain is gone.

How to Treat Wicking Stains

The most significant difference between treating soiling and wicking stains is time.

Since wicking stains come from an overload of embedded moisture, you will need to follow the above steps but leave the towels in place overnight. Treat wicking stains the same way you would a soiling stain that wouldn’t wash away with just warm water, but leave your towels and stack of heavy objects in place until the following morning.

How to Treat Deep Stains

Sometimes, wicking and soiling stains keep returning even after you’ve attempted the proper cleaning methods multiple times. If that is the case, you might have a significant issue that needs a more labor-intensive cleaning process than a few applications of warm water and cleaning products.

Unfortunately, the best methods for removing deep stains often begin with removing your carpet to reveal the pad and sub-floor. If the stain has soaked that far down, it will continually reappear on the surface of your carpet until you wash away the source.

Treat stained pads and sub-floors as you would a stain on your carpet’s surface. Apply your cleaning solution and remove it after the stain loses color, soak the stain with warm water, cover the moisture with towels weighed down by heavy objects, and allow a fan to blow around the area until dry.

Once the flooring has dried and the stain is gone, you can reinstall your carpet and carry on without the stress of reappearing carpet stains.

What to Do if You Can’t Get the Stains Out

If the stain persists, you might only have two removal options; either tearing your carpet out and installing new flooring or turning to a professional carpet cleaner for help.

A carpet cleaning team will help you avoid the high costs and time-waste of purchasing and installing a new floor because of reappearing carpet stains. And there is no better team in Arizona for removing pesky stains than Steam Smart Pro.

For years, our team has helped clients wash the tough stains out of their carpets to restore a healthy shine to their flooring. Our professionally-trained cleaners have all the right tools and expertise needed to make your carpets and entire home look cleaner than ever before.

The cleaners at Steam Smart Pro are your local experts in Arizona for removing common carpet stains. Call our team today at (520) 397-3770 to schedule an appointment for professional carpet cleaning or learn more about how you can address reappearing carpet stains from home.

Author Bio:

Eric Bullard

The owner of Steam Smart Pro in Tucson, AZ, brings over 20 years of invaluable experience in the field of carpet, tile, and air duct cleaning. With a strong dedication to quality and a deep understanding of effective cleaning techniques, Eric consistently delivers outstanding results to his satisfied residential and commercial clients.

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