How To Clean Beverage Stains

One of the most frequent and troubling aspects of house cleaning is knowing how to remove beverage stains correctly, and sadly there is far too much misinformation in this area that has resulted in ruined carpet, upholstery and clothing. There is a reason why professional cleaning companies do a far better job than any homeowner could ever hope to do on their own, and it's not just because they own the big truck mounted steam cleaner. The results they acoomplish are because they have mastered the processes and cleaning agents to tackle any stain, but a good bit of this knowledge can be yours to use for yourself at home.

The basics to remove beverage stains are that the stain needs attention as soon as possible after occurring, whatever you put into the stain as a cleaning agent must be removed in it's entirety, water is not the harmless element you always thought is was, and there are a cornucopia of cleaning agents to be had that you are not aware of.

Let's start at the beginning. When a beverage stain happens and you delay tending to it the stain can be absorbed deeply into fibers, and odds are they will never come completely clean. At the time the stain is addressed whatever cleaning agent is utilized can intereact with the properties of the stain itself and create a new chemical creation with amazing bonding qualities (again, your fibers are toast).

Not every type of fiber can be cleaned with water. Yes, you read right. When you call a professional carpet and upholstery company to clean your items they read product labels or perform a "burn test" to digtinguish if your item is a natural or man-made fiber, or a combination of both. When you place an abundance of water on a natural fiber in fine upholstery fabric for example it will turn brown and it will dry brown and it will be brown for eternity. Professionally cleaned natural fiber fabrics are cleaned with mineral spirits and cleaning agents using optical brighteners and enzymes designed to release dirt. Furthermore, mineral spirits are extremely volatile and careful ventilation processes need to be followed to assure a fire and explosion in the home do not occur.

So what is the right move when you get a beverage stain? Blot the area with a clean dry cloth to get as much liquid out as possible, and then determine if the fabric is a man-made material. If it is the best all around measure that can be taken is to dampen a cloth with a mixture of room temperature water and a gentle detergent and then go about blotting the area with the damp cloth and patting it dry with the other cloth. If in doubt call a professional, which is much less expensive in the long run than purchasing a new sofa.