Spilling of coffee happens at the most inconvenient time – when all you want to do is curl up, sipping coffee and read a book or at the end of long dinner party.
The basic method of stain removal is use a cloth to dab the stain and blot the stain into a clean cloth or paper towel – as quickly as possible. The idea is remove the liquid stain from clotting or spreading to more area of the carpet. But if the stains like coffee stains sit for a longer time on the carpet, it will take good amount of time and energy to clean it off. It might even take 3-4 attempts to clean the entire stain off the carpet. So before starting the cleaning process, make sure to have all the cleaning agents and equipments handy.
Be prepared for spending a lot of time and energy cleaning the carpet. It is not an easy task to be clean if the carpet has been stained since a long time. And if the fibers of the carpet are longer, it would be more difficult to remove the stain. For longer fibered ones blot the wet stain completely and limit the usage of liquid stain remover on the carpet as it is difficult to dry it.
Test the cleaning solution or the stain remover on the hidden spot of the carpet to make sure it does not damage the color of the carpet. For example – if ammonia is used to clean woolen, wool blend or natural fibers, it tends to discolor the carpet.
Use clean white cloth or towel to blot the coffee as much as possible. Keep dabbing the cloth on the stained areas from outside of the stain area to middle to remove all the wet stains. Scrubbing the carpet will damage the fiber.
Pour small amount of cold water on the coffee stain. And then use another clean cloth to blot up the liquid again. Repeat this step several times till you feel the stain has been diluted.
Apply stain remover on the carpet. Be careful not to apply too much of stain remover as the residue on the carpet will attract more dirt in long run. Let the stain remover sit for some time and dry.
Using vacuum cleaner clean the off the stain residue and freshen up the carpet.
Sometimes the stain reappears. This happens when the original stain soaked in more deeply than it seemed or when enough liquid was blotted out of the carpet during stain removal process. Repeat the stain removal steps again by laying towel on the wet area and placing a heavy weight on the top to force up as much liquid as possible.
Cleaning the carpet at home to remove coffee stains may be sufficient but for particularly stubborn stain we might have to take help from professional carpet cleaners. The professional cleaners will be aware of the carpet material type and the relevant chemicals and tools to use to clean the carpet more effectively.