Carpet and fabric cleaning and stain removal tips

Author: Wendy Waid
Published on: Apr 23, 2000

You?re finally settled into your new apartment, complete with furniture, appliances, and brand new rugs. Occasionally you have your friends over to check the new place out. And you just bought a washer and dryer set. Now you?re ready for the fun part?cleaning. You begin to notice your friends are spilling drinks on your carpet, dragging in mud, and your clothes aren?t as bright as they used to be. Now you need some tips on taking care of your carpets, fabrics, and laundry.

Tide offers one of the best laundry sites on the web, complete with beginner tips, at http://www.clothesline.com/tipsTimeSavers . The site includes instructions for laundry beginners to more advanced stain removal techniques. Learn to sort your laundry by color, making sure to zip all the zippers and empty all the pockets. Get guidelines on pretreating, presoaking, and prewashing stubborn stains. Pretreating is used for small spots and all you need to do is rub the spot with soap. Presoak is used for deep-set stains and blood. Soak the item in a bucket of laundry suds for up to thirty minutes. Use cold water for bleach-sensistive stains and drink mixes. And prewashing is used for heavily soiled garments. Beginners need to know the differences in water temperatures. Hot water is primarily good for whites and very dirty clothes. Cold water can be used for dark colors and colors that run. Warm water can be used for everything else. You can always use cold water for rinsing (which will also save on your energy bill)

House Work, http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/2328/... , provides a site of household tips to save you time and money, including laundry tricks. For instance, turn all your jeans and shirts inside out before washing to prevent fading. Treat perspiration stains and odors with a spray bottle full of vinegar

Laundry Helps Page, http://heblehaven.simplenet.com/laun.htm , offers several suggestions on saving money on laundry too. Add one cup of ammonia with detergent to remove body oils when laundering clothes, sheets and towels. Do not mix ammonia with chlorine bleach. Add salt to get ride of excess suds in the washer. To brighten whites, soak in one gallon warm water with one cup white vinegar, then rinse. When possible, sun dry your sheets and clothes. Be aware that some apartment complexes don?t allow this.

The Soap and Detergent Association offers two invaluable sites that you definitely should visit. Your Guide to Fabric Care Symbols ( http://www.sdahq.org/laundry/fabricsymbo... ) provides a wonderful chart on reading clothing tag fabric care symbols. Print this chart off and hang near your washer for reference. And Fabric Care Language Made Easy ( http://www.sdahq.org/laundry/fabricsymbo... ) is another chart that you will want to print, which goes along with the fabric care symbols. With these two charts, caring for your clothes will be a snap.

Now that you have the basics of laundry care down, you will want to learn how to remove difficult stains from your clothes, carpets, and upholstery. The Stain Removal Guide ( http://www.chemistry.co.nz/stain_frame.h... ) provides plenty of tips on removing all sorts of stains from your fabrics, ranging from ballpoint pen ink to alcohol stains. Remove pen marks by simply blotting the stain with distilled white vinegar. Clean shirt collars by rubbing with shampoo.

Learn how to remove greasy and non-greasy stains from the simple step-by-step cleaning guide at http://www.sanitarymaintenance.com/clean... . Greasy stains should be pretreated with liquid laundry detergent and gently rubbed clean. You can remove grease stains on nonwashable fabrics.with either a dry cleaning formula or an absorbent, such as cornstarch. Dust the area with the absorbent and brush or shake it off when it dries the stain. Remove non-greasy stains, such as coffee or fruit juice, by sponging the stain with cold water (or you may need to soak the fabric in cold water for a few hours). Rub the stain with liquid detergent and rinse with cold water.

Tide provides a fun and easy stain database at its Stain Detective site, http://www.clothesline.com/stainDet . You simply select the type of stain, type of fabric, and the color of the fabric for a customized step-by-step process on cleaning the stain. A great site to bookmark for future stains!

Cleaning carpets is a little trickier than cleaning fabrics, since carpet is thick and it is easy for stains to soak deep into the padding. Always attend to the stain immediately before it has a chance to soak or set. Mary Ellen offers lots of good tips on carpet care and cleaning at http://www.hgtv.com/shows/TIP/tip-337.ht... . Have your carpets deep cleaned every 18 months and vacuum frequently. Clean fruit, fruit juice, jam, jelly or soda stains from carpet by mixing ¼ teaspoon of liquid dishwashing detergent in one cup warm water. Blot the stained area and rinse with warm water. If the stain remains, try rinsing with two tablespoons ammonia in a cup of water and continue by blotting with a solution of one cup white vinegar to one cup water.

Remove hardened wax from your carpets by covering the spot with a paper towel and ironing the wax onto the paper towel. Lifts right off. Sprinkle your rugs with baking soda before vacuuming to remove odors.

DoItYourself.com has a complete stain removing index for fabrics and carpets at http://www.doityourself.com/clean/stainr... . Remove latex paint from your fabrics by mixing one teaspoon of a mild pH balanced detergent and a cup of lukewarm water. Blot the stain, then sponge with clean water. Remove rust stains with a mild application of lemon juice or white vinegar on a sponge. Want to clean your carpet or rug? First sweep the rug to make the nap stand up and loosen the dirt. Vacuum the dirt up. Use one cup of Borax and two cups of cornmeal to get rid of odors. To prevent dents, move the furniture from time to time or use casters under the furniture legs. Remove dents with a grooming tool or brush.

Want to clean your bathroom rugs? Throw into the wash with like colors and tumble dry. If the rug has a non-slip backing on it, wash alone in warm water then air fluff to dry. Use small rugs or mats at all entrances to catch dirt and grime. Vacuum floors and upholstery often to remove dirt and give fabrics a fresher look. Find more living room cleaning tips at http://sdahq.org/house/dirt/living_room_... . When cleaning upholstery or carpets, be sure to use the formulated cleaners designed for those areas, otherwise you may discolor and ruin your fabrics. Freshen curtains in the dryer with fabric softener and a damp towel. See Mrs. Spencer?s Housekeepers House Cleaning Tips ( http://www.mrsspencers.com/hometips.htm ) for more.