Cleaning Tips from Mackay Carpet Care
The most important rule to remember when removing spots and spills from your carpet is to act immediately. If you clean the spill while it is still fresh, you have a good chance of removing it completely. Don’t rub or scrub the spot because that will damage your carpet. Follow these steps instead.
- Pick up any solids around the spot and blot as much liquid as possible with a clean cloth or paper towel.
- Clean the spot by applying the appropriate treatment from our table below. The numbers in the table correspond to cleaning agents in the sidebar on the right-hand side of the page.
- After cleaning, rinse the spot with water and blot dry with a clean cloth or paper towel.
Spot Treatments
| Type of Spot | Cleaning Agents to be Used | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | |
| Alcoholic beverages | 1 | 2 | |
| Bleach | 1 | 3 | |
| Blood | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Butter | 5 | 2 | |
| Chewing gum | 6 | 5 | |
| Chocolate | 5 | 2 | |
| Coffee | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Cooking oil | 5 | 2 | |
| Cream | 2 | 5 | |
| Egg | 2 | 4 | |
| Faeces | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Floor wax | 5 | 2 | |
| Fruit juice | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Furniture polish | 5 | 2 | |
| Gravy and sauces | 9 | 2 | 4 |
| Ink (fountain pen) | 1 | 2 | |
| Ink (ball point pen) | 5 | 10 | 2 |
| Ink (felt tip pen) | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| Lipstick | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| Milk | 9 | 2 | 5 |
| Mustard | 2 | 7 | |
| Nail polish | 11 | ||
| Oil and grease | 5 | 2 | |
| Paint (latex) | 1 | 2 | |
| Paint (oil) | 12 | 5 | 3 |
| Rust | 7 | 13 | |
| Salad dressing | 2 | 5 | |
| Shoe polish | 5 | 2 | |
| Soft drink | 1 | 2 | |
| Soot | 14 | 5 | 2 |
| Tar | 5 | 10 | 5 |
| Tea | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Tomato sauce | 9 | 2 | 4 |
| Urine (fresh) | 1 | 4 | |
| Urine (old) | 2 | 7 | 4 |
| Vomit | 15 | 2 | 4 |
| Wine | 1 | 2 | 7 |
Cleaning Agents
The cleaning agents in the list below correspond to the numbers in the table on the left-hand side of the page.
- Cold water
- Detergent solution (1 teaspoon of clear dishwashing liquid mixed with 1 teaspoon of white vinegar and 500 ml of warm water) *
- Laundry detergent solution (1 teaspoon of non-biological laundry detergent mixed with 250 ml of warm water)
- Ammonia solution (1 tablespoon of clear household ammonia mixed with 100 ml of water)** †
- Solvent (a dry-cleaning solvent or solvent substitute to be used on dry carpet only)
- Chill with ice cubes in a plastic bag or an aerosol freezing agent, and then pick or scrape off the gum
- Vinegar solution (100 ml of white vinegar mixed with 200 ml of water)
- Clear household disinfectant
- Warm water
- Surgical alcohol (isopropyl alcohol), methylated spirits or mineral turpentine
- Clear nail polish remover without lanolin
- Mineral turpentine
- Rust remover (professional use only)
- Vacuum
- Baking soda (scoop up and vacuum)
Notes
* Detergent solution must be well rinsed with clean water.
** When a stain has been removed with ammonia solution the carpet must then be neutralised with vinegar solution. Apply, blot and rinse.
† Do not use ammonia solution on wool carpets or treated nylon carpets. Use Detergent solution as a substitute.
