Carpet Cleaning Myths

Over the years we have seen pretty much everything spilled on carpet. And pretty much everything that could be suggested to remove these stains. Incorrect advice, carpet cleaning myths or spot removal myths can cause many problems. At best the bad advice won’t help at all. At worst, it could well cause more problems. Over the years I’m sure I have seen and heard it all. From not vacuuming wool carpet because of excess fiber to using white wine to remove red wine, these remedies will often cause more problems than they solve and set the stains in carpet.

White wine to remove Red wine

Recently I heard one of the ‘new’ carpet cleaning myths for me. Using White Wine to remove Red Wine. Firstly, this doesn’t work. White Wine can be difficult to remove at the best of times. But washing the Red Wine into the carpet also makes it harder to remove the Red Wine. Consequently you now have two stains to remove instead of one. Further thoughts on Red Wine Stain removal are here. And of course our stain removal page for both red and white wine.

Vacuuming wool carpet

Another of these old wives tales has to do with Wool Carpet and excess fibers. The suggestion was to not vacuum wool carpets too much over the first year because you would vacuum the excess fiber that remained from the cutting process. This would mean you were getting more fiber in your carpet. However all this achieved was an unsightly mess of carpet pilling. Regular vacuuming is important, especially where excess fiber may be in evidence.

Cleaners not designed for carpet

For the most part, only use products designed for carpet. Products not designed for carpet can cause problems such as colour loss or fiber damage. Many hard floor cleaners and bench top cleaners will take colour out of carpet. They may remove that stain but leave a bleach stain in its place.

Carpet Cleaning myths, an Iron on Wax

Another of the more common carpet cleaning myths is using a hot Iron on wax.

I have seen many people make a horrible mistake with trying to remove wax from their carpet. The common fix for this was an iron and some brown paper. The problem with this is that some carpet fibers such as Polypropylene have a very very low melting temperature of 160 °C. Nylon carpet fibers are not much better at 220 °C . So this is the big problem with using an iron on your carpet. From the wiki.

Ironing is the use of a heated tool (an iron) to remove wrinkles from fabric. The heating is commonly done to a temperature of 180–220 °Celsius, depending on the fabric. Ironing works by loosening the bonds between the long-chain polymer molecules in the fibers of the material.

The carpet fiber may well melt very quickly. Polypropylene melts incredibly easy. I have seen numerous iron scorch marks where the iron has simply been knocked off the ironing board melting the fiber immediately. So my suggestion is to not use an iron on your carpet under any circumstance. Due to the low melting temperature there is often no second chance.

Contact us

In conclusion, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. There are many carpet cleaning myths out there. If in any doubt, contact us. We are only to happy to offer advice as needed.