We are sure any parents reading this, or those who occasionally have children visit their home, have had to deal with messes or stains caused by those beloved children and may even have had to call in professional carpet and couch cleaners to deal with the issue. Let us be honest and admit that children, even the adorable ones, can be messy, and the problem is messes and carpets are not compatible.
You may carry out regular carpet cleaning as a rule, but when children are around, the need and the frequency of that carpet cleaning may increase significantly. In a home with children, it may simply be part of your routine; however, if you only have children visiting when that visit is over, you might be faced with a genuine need to have carpets cleaned due to the mess that has been created during the hours the children were there.
Thankfully, most carpet cleaning issues that children have created can be resolved. You may hire a local carpet cleaner who can remove any stains created and give your carpets an overall clean to bring them close to as new condition as possible.
However, there are other ways in which you can reduce the stains and damage created by children. Most of them are contained in the many tips professional carpet cleaners give their customers, and below, you will find the best of those tips relating to messes and stains most commonly caused by children.
Glue: Not many substances cause more angst than glue when found in a carpet after children use it for arts and crafts or model making. The key is to get to it before it dries, so constant monitoring is advised, whereby you dab any spilled glue with a paper towel. It is time to call in a professional carpet cleaner if it is dried.
Blood: Kids have accidents, and if they, unfortunately, cut themselves due to a fall or a cut, then you might find some blood has stained your carpet. If so, pour some soda water onto the affected area and dab gently using a dry cloth to soak up the blood before it dries in.
Mud: Removing shoes or boots before entering should be the rule, but kids who are kids will often forget. If they do bring soil in and onto your carpets, unlike other substances, the best option is to let it dry. Then, it should just be a case of vacuuming. Some water and mild soap should remove any remaining mud stains.
Fruit Juice: Spilled fruit juice is one of the quintessential carpet stains caused by children. To remedy this, pour some soda water on it and then blot the area with a microfibre cloth. You may have to repeat this several times to obliterate the fruit juice from your carpet.
Chewing Gum: Love or hate it. Chewing gum is sticky; if it gets into your carpet after children have been chewing it, you have a sticky mess. This is where ice becomes a pseudo-carpet cleaner because you can use it to freeze the offending piece of gum and often obliterate it.
Food: This can be anything from chocolate to cake crumbs. For a dry mess, you can usually remove it by vacuuming the area. However, wet stains caused by ketchup and ice cream must be dabbed carefully to remove as much of it as possible. Then, use water, mild dish soap, or soda water to soak the stain and wipe it away from the carpet’s fibres.
A Final Note: If you encounter a stain made by children that you cannot remove, do not keep rubbing it, as it will cause more damage to your carpet. Instead, call your local carpet cleaning company, which can advise you on what to do or visit to remove the stain properly and safely.