Tips for Removing a Coffee Stain from Carpet

If you are the sort of person who cannot do a thing before drinking a cup of coffee in the morning, you are certainly not alone. But if you are a coffee drinker who also has a white or light-coloured carpet, this can spell disaster. The moment that black coffee is spilled on carpet feels like a complete disaster that only a professional carpet cleaning service can remedy, but this is not necessarily the case. Here are a few tips to take those stains out once and for all.

Act quickly. This is really a tip for all carpet stain removal, not just coffee. When a stain occurs on carpet, the longer the stain sits there, the more chance you are giving the chemicals that cause stains to adhere to the carpet fibres, so be sure to act quickly.

Blot, don't rub. For many people, when they first see a stain, their instinct is to rub the stain with a cloth until the worst is removed. Unfortunately, this rubbing action can actually spread the stain to a greater surface area and push the stain deeper into the carpet fibres. Instead, grab a piece of paper towel and gently blot the excess liquid before moving on to actual stain removal.

White vinegar and baking soda. When dealing with carpets that have natural fibres, you'll probably want to stick to natural cleaning options. Also, if you don't have a stocked cleaning cupboard, you will still probably have some baking soda and white vinegar tucked away somewhere. Dilute these in cold water and spray the mixture on the stain. Again, this should be blotted rather than wiped off once it has sat on the stain for a few minutes.

Ammonia. Another product that can work well to lift coffee stains is ammonia. The ammonia should be diluted to around one part ammonia to fifteen parts water. It is possible to have success by applying this diluted mixture, applying a towel over the stain and then ironing over it. The stain will then transfer from the carpet and onto the towel. Just be sure to never use ammonia on a natural wool carpet as it can destroy the fibres.

This should do the trick, but if you can still see some slight staining, you might want to hire the services of a professional carpet cleaning company to help you with carpet stain removal once and for all.