The 8 Most Common Carpet Stains You’ll Encounter When Living With Children

Along with the joys of being a parent, are the joys of scrubbing stains out of carpets. From the moment you bring your bundle of joy home until they go off to college (and then return to “help you out”), you’re going to be finding all sorts of interesting stains on your carpets. Before you react, take a deep breath and remember, they’re just human just like you are and everyone makes mistakes. Here are some of the most common stains your kids are going to leave on your carpets.

Grape Or Cherry Fruit Drinks

Yep, these top the list. Give a kid a glass of juice and inevitably you’re going to tell them to keep it in the kitchen, or dining area. Why? Because fruit drinks tend to wind up on your clean carpeting.

If your child has spilled grape or cherry (or any other flavor) of fruit drink on your carpet start by blotting up the mess. Don’t scrub. Scrubbing will just spread the stain to other areas of your carpet and cause you more headache in the long run.

Chocolate

A piece of chocolate may seem like the perfect treat, but if that treat falls on your carpet and sits in the sun you can wind up with a huge mess. Start by blotting up the sticky mess. Again, avoid scrubbing so that you won’t be spreading the stain.

After scrubbing, if there are dry bits of chocolate use your vacuum and get those up. Then mix some liquid dish soap with warm water and gently work it into the stained carpet. Work from the outside in and blot it up after about ten minutes. Repeat as needed.

Gum

Every child likes bubble gum. Every parent has great fears of bubble gum in hair and on carpeting. Here’s an easy trick. Grab an ice cube.

Put the ice cube on the gum and watch it harden. Voila! Now you can gently remove the gum. Use a dull butter knife or the bowl of a spoon to gently scrape any remaining bits off of the carpet.

Blood

If you have boys, you already know this one. If you find blood on the carpet, again, gently blot up what you can. Then use cold water to flush the remaining blood from the carpet.

You can also mix in a bit of liquid dish soap but keep in mind, you don’t want to scrub or spread the stain. Blot it up and repeat as needed using cold water.

Wax (From Candles And Crayons)

Children are fascinated with lit candles and if they spill the candle wax on the carpet you’ll have a mess. Crayon and candle wax comes in next on our list. Start by blotting any liquid up and then grab a towel and your iron.

Fold the towel over several times and heat up the iron. Place the folded towel over the wax and gently “iron” it up. Refold the towel as required and repeat as necessary.

Ink

Even adults have problems with this one. While your little one is learning to print, you may find that your favorite ink pen just sprang a leak. Regardless, there’s ink all over the carpet.

Again, blot it up don’t scrub. Use a bit of rubbing alcohol on a dry towel and blot until the stain is gone. It may take a few minutes but if you’re patient you’ll get it all up.

Coffee

Whether your kids are trying to imitate mom and dad, or they’ve run into you and spilled your coffee, coffee can stain a carpet rapidly. Blot the coffee up immediately and absorb as much of it as you possibly can.

Spray some clean water on the are and continue blotting it up until you no longer see any coffee. Now you can use a mild dish soap or shaving cream and lightly blot up any remaining coffee.

Eggs

If your little one has dropped a raw egg on your carpet, you already know what a mess it can be. Pour salt on the spot and allow it to sit. As the salt is absorbed by the egg you’ll be able to scrape it up. Salt will make the egg firm up as if it were cooked. Blot any remaining stain with a damp cloth and mild dish soap.

Once you catch on to how to remove a variety of stains from carpet you can then relax and know that nothing can’t be undone. Kids and carpets will always have clashes but you can relax and remove most of the stains.