Dirt, grease, wine, pasta sauce, chewing gum, coffee, and urine—your carpet has seen it all.

When faced with a stain, it’s easy to jump onto cleaning and lookup on the Internet for DIY ways to keep it from causing permanent damage to your carpet.

However, which of these tips can you trust and which ones should you ignore? Before busting out the sponge and scrubbing with all your might, do yourself a favour and take a few minutes to discover the following DIY carpet cleaning fails and why they don’t work.

6 Carpet Cleaning Tips that Don’t Work

1. Removing Gum with Peanut Butter: Peanut butter is for sandwiches and not on chewing gums stuck on your carpet. This hack will not only waste food but will also worsen up the mess that you have to clean. Using coconut oil instead of peanut butter is suggested to work better for this job.

2. Mixing Baking Soda and Vinegar: These cleaning ingredients are great on their own. But, when mixed, all that you’re left with is a neutralised and ineffective foamy saltwater paste. It’s contrary to the general idea that the foaming of the mixture will help remove the dirt in your carpet.

3. Using Hairspray to Remove Ink: This hack worked back at the time when hairspray had 100% alcohol content. But, times have changed and today’s hairsprays have less alcohol than ever so, you’re better off using the isopropyl alcohol instead.

4. Mixing Vinegar and Dish Soap to Remove Pet Urine: As mentioned above, vinegar is a natural DIY cleaning staple, but it’s not strong enough to remove carpet odours and discolouration caused by pet urine. The same goes for dish soap and combining the two will only do so little in making your carpet look spotless.

5. Using White Wine to Clean Red Wine Stains: Don’t waste another good glass of wine to try and clean the spilt red wine on your carpet. This hack just doesn’t work in all aspect and truth be told, you might be better off spraying a little hydrogen peroxide or club soda on the stain.

6. The More Product You Use the Better You Clean: Many people think that using more must work better on everything. But, it just isn’t the case with cleaning products. The truth is that using fewer products speeds up drying time and at the same time, prevent potential damage caused by over-wetting or residue buildup.

While there are DIY tips that professional carpet cleaners in Singapore and other cleaning experts don’t advise, there are also a few universally-accepted rules that apply for carpet cleaning:

General Rules in Carpet Cleaning and Stain Removal

• Clean the Stain Immediately – The most crucial step in carpet cleaning is to get to the stain even before it has a chance to set. Don’t let stains sit around otherwise, they may leave permanent damage to your carpet.

• Blot Don’t Scrub – Before cleaning, remove whatever stain, dirt, or gunk you can by scraping it off or wiping the stain with a sponge. Afterwards, use a dabbing motion to clean the stain, without spreading it further.

• Dry It Well – Blot dry the surface after cleaning and if possible, use a hairdryer to speed up drying. Otherwise, the carpet could potentially remain damp and grow mould.

• Don’t Always Believe the Internet – The Internet is praised for having the answer to almost every question everyone can ask. But, should you trust all the answers you find online? Some information should almost always be trusted with professionals like carpet and rug cleaning service.

It’s easy to find information when everything’s at your disposal online. However, it’s easier to go wrong by following DIY carpet cleaning tips without professional guidance.

Therefore, the next time you think about going the DIY route, remember that you don’t have to do so when you can always call a professional like Clean Care to address the problem.

As professional carpet cleaners, we are trained in all of the most effective methods for removing even the most stubborn stains on your carpet. Give us a call today!

Are there any other DIY carpet cleaning tips you think we missed? Let us know by leaving a comment.