Uh oh. Whether it was you, your pet, or a friend or family member who got sick, you have just discovered an unsightly mess on your carpet. Vomit. Not only does it look gross and smell gross, but it is probably the last thing you want to clean up. Where do you start? And what do you need to make sure there are no leftover stain markings? Here’s a quick step-by-step procedure on how to clean up vomit on carpet.

How to Clean Up Vomit on Carpet

1. Acquire the necessary tools: grab some gloves, a dustpan or trash can, a large spoon or brush, paper towels or old wash rags, a bucket filled with warm water, an enzyme-based rug or carpet cleaner, a vacuum cleaner, and some baking soda.

2. Take the dustpan or trashcan and the large spoon or brush, and scrape off as much of the mess from the carpet as possible. The spoon/brush is super handy in this situation to help prevent you from having to touch the gross stuff yourself.

3. Once all the big particles are cleaned up, use the paper towels/rags to soak up as much of the moisture as you can by blotting over the stain. You can repeat several times using warm water as well to “rinse” off the area.

4. Now, sprinkle baking soda over the stain. This will help to soak up any remaining liquid residue as well. Let it set in for about 10-15 minutes for full effect.

5. Vacuum up the baking soda, and apply the enzyme-based cleaner to the area. You can find one in your local store’s pet or cleaning aisle. If you don’t have one, you can substitute with a warm water-dish soap-vinegar mixture. This will help break up the stain, as well as tackle the remaining odors. Let it sit for a few minutes, and blot with towels/rags.

6. Repeat this as necessary to fully eliminate the stain and any lingering odors.

Additional Help

If this job is too big for you to handle or if you are just too skeeved out by the mess to even go near it, you can try locating a carpet cleaning service to help you out. Try using TalkLocal to find a company near you. Our free service will connect you with top-quality, reputable professionals in your neighborhood, within minutes. Simply enter in your problem, location and availability and TalkLocal will contact several carpet cleaning companies, who will then call YOU directly, ready to help.

It isn’t always red juice, paint, or a little gift from your pet that causes nightmarish stains on your carpet. No matter how hard you try to keep your home clean, there is almost always inevitably a little bit of dirt dragged in from outside. If you’ve ever wondered how to remove dirt from carpet, you’re certainly not alone.

You will need:

• Multiple clean, old cloths or wash rags

• A bucket

• Warm  water

• Dish soap

• Undiluted white vinegar

Once you have gathered the necessary supplies, try these steps. This is a proven method of how to remove dirt from carpet without damaging it:

• Get a dull knife or a cleaning brush. Use that to brush the dirt loose from the fibers in the carpet. Be gentle! You don’t want to pull threads loose from the carpet.

• Use a vacuum cleaner to pick up the loose dirt. Keep running it back and forth until it doesn’t pick anything more up.

• Fill up a bucket with about a half gallon of warm water. Put about two tablespoons (three good squeezes) of dish detergent into the bucket and mix it into a sudsy blend.

• Use a dry wash rag to soak up the soapy water and wring it out onto the stain. Make sure the entire stain is soaking in soapy water.

• Grab a dry cloth or wash rag and dab at the stain. This will pick up a lot of dirt, so make sure you continuously turn the rag so you’re using a clean piece of cloth to dab. You will probably need multiple rags for this; the exact number depends on the size of the stain.

• If the stain is not completely gone, cover it with undiluted white vinegar by soaking a clean cloth in the solution and wiping it on the stain. Be sure you soak the entire area to the point of saturation.

• Dab at the area again with old rags.

• Once the stain is gone, rinse the carpet off by soaking a new cloth in clean water and dabbing at the stain until it is soaked. Then use dry cloths to dab until the area is dry.

Got A Stubborn Stain?

If the stain is simply too stubborn, you could always hire a professional carpet cleaner. TalkLocal is a perfect tool to connect you with professional cleaners in your area.

How annoying is it getting a shock in the middle of the night when trying to open the bathroom door because you built up an electric charge from your carpet? Fortunately, there are some carpet static removal methods that may help.

1. Fabric Softener

It’s not just for your clothes, anymore. Try mixing 1/4 of a cup of fabric softener with five cups of water in a spray bottle. You may need to mix in a larger container and pour part of the solution into your spray bottle.

Test an inconspicuous area of your carpet (the back of the closet is always nice) by spraying a light mist. Do not saturate the carpet. Wait until it is dry and ensure that the carpet has maintained its color and integrity. You will see that your carpet will remain unharmed and you won’t have to frantically search for a carpet cleaning professional.

Lightly mist the rest of your carpet in the same fashion. You can also use this solution on your cloth furniture. If spray gets on wooden furniture simply wipe away with a dry, soft clothe.

2. Dryer Sheet

This is the same concept as fabric softener, but in a different form. Simply rub the dryer sheet on the carpet and upholstery. Don’t forget you can use the back side of the sheet for carpet static removal as well. These are also great for static-prone hair — just try to find one that smells nice.

3. Baking Soda

Not only will this remove static, but it can help with odors as well. As baking soda can sometimes clump, pour it into a flour sifter and sift it onto the carpet. Use a vacuum to lift the baking soda and static away. This method can also be used on furniture with a vacuum attachment.

Further Assistance

If you are worried about ruining your carpet while trying your own carpet static removal methods, or if your static problem is too great to solve alone, consider consulting with a carpet cleaning professional. It might seem overwhelming finding the right one, but TalkLocal is great at connecting customers with the right, local professional — for free!

Cleaning your carpet by yourself is not only tedious and time consuming, but it may not even be very effective. Nothing would be worse than buying an expensive wet vacuum that does not even work effectively. Here are some useful tips and factors to be aware of when picking a professional carpet cleaner.

• Never pick just one company to call and use: Make sure you call multiple companies so that you can compare prices and services. Ask the same questions to different companies so that you can compare what each one has to offer.

• Ask your family and friends: Also remember that the most reliable way to find a carpet cleaner is from friends, family, neighbors etc; anyone who can tell you from experience that a company provides satisfactory services.

Questions to Ask Carpet Cleaning Professionals:

• “How much do you charge?” You can ask for the cost per square foot and then use your room dimensions to estimate how much this will cost you. You may just have to ask how much they charge for rooms of a general size.

• “What type of cleaning method do you use?” Steam cleaning is the best method, but ask if they use a truck unit because a portable cleaner is not as effective. Make sure their machine can heat up water to ensure the removal of greasy stains.

• “Am I insured?” Be sure to ask if their company is insured in case they ruin your carpet or any furniture in your home.

While hiring a professional is expensive, remember that your carpet was too. It requires a lot of maintenance, and if you want to be sure that it lives up to its potential and brightens up your room, give it the attention and treatment that it needs.

Additional Help

If you want to find a carpet cleaner who is available when you need one, use TalkLocal, today! We’ll connect you with up to three professional carpet cleaners in your area in just minutes.

Hardwood floors are beautiful additions to your home.  They can add both warmth and elegance to the appearance of any room. Unlike carpeting, hardwood floors do not trap dust, mold, or dust-mites, and so are the flooring of choice for those with allergies. However, caring for hardwood floors is a lot different than caring for a room with carpeting.  Hardwood floors can be dented or scratched, they can lift due to moisture accumulation, and their finish can be dulled by harsh detergent. You need to be careful and take certain precautions to keep your hardwood floors beautiful for years to come.  Here are some tips on how to care for wood floors.

Things NOT to do

• DO NOT use regular household dusting/cleaning products without making sure they are designed for hardwood floors. The labels on these products should indicate the types of surfaces that can be safely cleaned. If a product is not recommended for a hardwood floor, it can cause permanent damage that is quite costly to repair.
• DO NOT water mop a hardwood floor with anything other than a hardwood floor soap, such as Murphy’s Oil Soap. Follow the directions on the bottle – this “soap” is used in a diluted form. In any event, don’t pour water straight onto the floor and don’t let the water puddle or let the floor stay damp.
• DO NOT use ammonia on your floor! This harsh chemical will ruin the floor’s finish and may destroy the look of the wood itself.
• DO NOT wax the floor unless you know what you are doing. Many hardwood floors are laid with a glossy finish. Your wax must be the same sort of wax originally used. Discuss this issue with the company that laid the floor.
• DO NOT drag furniture across the floor. Lift the edges of the furniture onto a mat or rug and drag that. The legs of the furniture are likely to scratch or scuff the wood.

Things TO DO

• Keep your floor free from dirt and grit
• Use blinds on windows to protect wood from direct sunlight
• Remove shoes before entering the room and wear slippers, or at the very least wear shoes without heels to avoid damaging
• Place rubber mats by the doorway to catch outdoor dirt and moisture, and place area rugs under tables to trap spills
• Trim pet nails to stop them from scratching
• Clean spills immediately with paper towel or cloth

Additional Help

If you have more questions about how to care for wood floors, you should talk to a professional. Use TalkLocal to get in contact with up to three flooring professionals in your area, who will be available to help you when you need them.

Remove Ink from Carpet

Things drop on the carpet all the time, but not all stains are considered a walk in the park. Ink stains are tough to remove from carpet. However, you can inexpensively remove ink from carpet by following a few simple steps using spray lubricant or rubbing alcohol.

How to Remove Ink from Carpet

Try to treat the ink stain as soon as it happens to facilitate removal. Never rub or scrub an ink stain as this could cause the stain to spread and become permanent and impossible to remove.

Lubricant and Soapy Water:

Supplies:

-WD-40 or other spray lubricant

-Dish detergent

-Water

-Sponge

1. Spray the ink stain with the lubricant, and let it sit for a few minutes.

2. While you wait, combine 1 teaspoon of soap with 1 cup of warm water. Make sure the water is soapy. You may adjust the quantities accordingly.

3. Wet the sponge in the soapy mixture.

4. Blot the lubricated ink stain with the wet soapy sponge until the stain disappears.

5. Rinse the affected area with warm water.

6. Let the carpet dry by either using a wet vac or placing a fan over the stain to speed up the evaporation process.

Rubbing Alcohol:

Supplies:

-rubbing alcohol

-white cloth

-warm water

1. Wet a rag or cloth with rubbing alcohol.

2. Blot the ink stain with the wet rag. Use more alcohol as needed.

3. Continue this process until the stain disappears.

4. Rinse the area with warm water.

5. Let the carpet dry using either a wet vac or by placing a fan over the stain to speed up evaporation.

Additional Help

If your stains are too tough to remove yourself, TalkLocal can help connect you with the most qualified carpet cleaners in minutes. All you need to do is enter in your specific issue, location and availability, and TalkLocal will contact multiple carpet cleaners who will then call YOU directly, ready to help.

Mold is a naturally growing fungus, but discovering it in your home can have very dangerous consequences. In nature, it holds a beneficial purpose, but when trapped within the confines of warm and humid environments, such as in your basement or bathrooms, mold can grow exponentially, presenting serious health risks. If mold is touched or inhaled, it can lead to severe allergic reactions, heavy and muffled breathing, rashes, eye and throat irritation, coughing, and serious respiratory problems.

How to Remove Mold from Carpet

If you have discovered mold in your carpet, here’s what you can do to kill and remove it.

1. Locate the source of the problem. If you discover mold in areas where there are plumbing leaks and/or excessive moisture, this is another problem in itself, and a plumber should be contacted to fix any leak.

2. If the moldy area is small enough to handle on your own, the next step would be to acquire protective gear. This can include gloves, goggles and even protective masks to prevent inhalation.

3. Often times, the mold is coming from underneath the carpet as well. You may have to pull or cut up the carpet to get to the flooring underneath. Be sure to open some windows for ventilation during the cleaning (and drying) process.

4. Do a base cleaning of the carpet; use a steam cleaner containing water and cleaning detergent to scrub away the mold from the carpet. Be sure to suck up all of the water, and repeat the process until the water being sucked up is clear. Do the same with the flooring underneath.

5. Use a mixture of hypochlorite solution (household bleach) and water to further deep clean and disinfect the area. It is critical to not overcompensate on bleach, so try using a 1 cup per gallon ratio of water concentration. Let this solution set in for 10-15 minutes, and then use the steam cleaner again to completely suck up all the moisture.

6. One of the most important steps is the final one: drying. You have to be sure to let the carpet area dry completely, or else the mold will grow right back. Use a fan, a heater, open windows and even a dehumidifier to ensure the carpet is 100% dry. Check afterwards for any remaining mold.

Preventing mold growth in the future can be done by reducing the overall humidity in your home. Moist environments help mold thrive, so with the use of a dehumidifier, the risk of mold can be decreased significantly.  In addition, avoid having carpet in those particularly moist areas, especially bathrooms and laundry rooms.

Additional Help

If the area is too big to conquer yourself, try contacting a professional. If you need a professional carpet cleaning service to help remove mold from carpet, try using TalkLocal to find one near you. TalkLocal is a free service that will connect you with top-quality carpet cleaners in your neighborhood, within minutes. Simply enter in your problem, location and availability and TalkLocal will contact multiple professionals, who will then call YOU directly, ready to help.

When it comes to carpet cleaning the square footage of any home can seem like a pretty daunting task. In fact, most people don’t even recognize the cushy layer of fabric that covers their floors until there is a major blemish. Even if you have the most amazing maid services, many times a proper cleaning falls by the wayside. With all the stains that could possibly dirty up your carpet, it begs the question: does carpet cleaning fade carpet color?

Does Carpet Cleaning Fade Carpet Color?

The answer to that question is an astonishing yes. With the broad range of chemicals available to clean carpets it is not uncommon for a carpet to be subject to color loss. And the common culprit for color fading is often times bleaching agents. Many household items contain these chemicals. Perfumes, aerosol sprays, laundry detergents even pesticides. If there is a chance for it can get on the bottom of your shoe then it’s probably in your carpet too.

A possible alternative to using damaging chemicals is to find natural, or home-made, carpet cleaners. These can often decrease damage to your carpet’s fibers, extending the life of your carpet.

Additional Help

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by keeping your carpet clean, don’t worry, you are not alone. Millions of people all over the world are simply uneducated on the proper way to prevent color fading and carpet cleaning. Luckily, TalkLocal has got you covered. With TalkLocal will connect you with up to three high quality carpet cleaning professionals in your area, who will be available to help you when you need them.

I think we can all agree: cigarette smoke does not top the list of the most pleasant, refreshing scents out there. Especially when it has cooped itself up in your home and sunken into your rugs and carpets. Trying to get that stale, gross stench out of your carpet for good? Follow these easy steps.

Get Cigarette Smell Out of Carpet

There are several different methods you can try to get cigarette smell out of  carpet. You can attempt one, a combination of them, or even all of them if the odor has set in and become stubborn.

1. Purchase an allergen-eliminating deodorizer. Sprinkle it generously over your carpet (be sure to move any furniture first). Let this set in overnight, and vacuum it up the next day.

2. Buy some baking soda, and plenty of it. After vacuuming up the allergen-reducing deodorizer, take the baking soda and do the same thing. Sprinkle over the entire surface area, let it sit for several hours, and vacuum it up.

3. Scrub the carpet. Purchase or rent a carpet cleaner and complete a thorough washing of the entire carpet. Add some vinegar to the carpet cleaning detergent as well to add in some extra odor-fighting power.

4. A final option you can try is to spray Febreeze or another odor-fighting agent over the carpet after cleaning. This may not remove the odor completely, but can serve as a quick fix if you are expecting company and want to freshen the house up.

If the smell lingers…

If you have a lingering smell in your carpets, chances are the cigarette stench has also seeped into your furniture upholstery, curtains and even your walls’ paint. Scrubbing and deodorizing your carpet is a good start to removing the odor, but if that hasn’t completely solved the issue, you may need to dedicate some serious time to cleaning other parts of your house as well.

Find Professional Help

Try using TalkLocal to find a local carpet cleaning professional if you are still faced with a smoky problem. TalkLocal is a free service that will connect you with top-quality, reputable professionals in your area, within minutes. Simply enter in your problem, location, and availability, and TalkLocal will contact multiple carpet cleaning companies, who will then call YOU directly, ready to help.

We all know how important carpet cleaning is; it refreshes your dingy and stain-filled carpet to reveal its shining cleanliness. While most professional cleaning companies can reach this goal, they typically use heavy duty chemicals. More and more people are staying away from those chemicals and switching to more natural and “green” alternatives. Here are some reasons why you should look into hiring a professional who deals with natural cleaning products instead of these harsh chemicals.

Why Use Natural Carpet Cleaners?

When using cleaners made with chemicals, toxins are released into the carpet, the environment, and the air you breathe. This means that you, your children, and your pets are all inhaling unsafe chemicals, such as these:

• Acetone
• Benzene
• Styrene
• Hexane
• Toluene
• Formaldehyde

This is exactly why you should switch to organic, natural carpet cleaners, as well as companies that use them. They still do a fantastic job cleaning your carpet, and the cleaning products will smell nice, but will not be releasing unhealthy chemicals into your household and potentially harming your loved ones. Using these green products is also great for those who are medically sensitive to chemicals and have allergic reactions to them.

What to Look for in Natural Carpet Cleaners

When looking for home products or companies who use natural products, look to see that the products are biodegradable and nontoxic. A pH balanced cleaner is also gentler on the environment and your carpet fabric.

Additional Help

If you need help finding a local carpet cleaner and who uses organic and natural products, use TalkLocal to connect you with up to three reputable professionals in just minutes!