Any DIY carpet stain removal methods?

Question

I really don't want to get Stanley Steamer to come out. Huge house, it would cost a small fortune to get them to come out... did that once before.

I've got old hard water stains from a previous leak on the carpet, cat pee, and misc spilled coffee type stains. It doesn't smell and is only slightly visible now -- it's mostly the old stains I've previously had carpet cleaned coming back.

I'm not able to replace the carpet now.

I've tried vinegar with baking soda on it. That made a huge mess and left white residue on the carpet too.

I've sprayed vinegar and water on the stains. That helped a little, but not fully.

I have an "at home" Bissell steam cleaner, but that's not good for "tough" stains.

Woolite carpet stain removal spray worked for one of the stains, but I would need way too many bottles of that to do the entire house. That would be pricey and tiring to spray everywhere. Is there a DIY alternative that I could pour on it?

Would it help to literally pour vinegar on the carpet stains with no water? Or put vinegar in my Bissell steam cleaner?

Any carpet stain removing tricks?

Any DIY kitchen stain removing recipes that actually work?

Michaela G. · Answer

I had an orange juice stain that we couldn't get out. It covered it nicely and evenly. I guess the guy knew what he was doing

Jon K. · Answer

Blue tide with water?  Did it stain it blue at all?

I guess Forex might be my best bet. I have used Forex once before. With as much stains as I've got, I was hoping for a cheaper recipe. Maybe I can get a Forex type recipe that I can mix up and put in my Bissel steam cleaner.

Jon K. · Answer

Bizarre. How does the carpet absorb the color evenly? How long does it take to dry? How would it cover up colorful stains (yellow or red wine or whatever)?

I have thousands of square feet of carpet with the stains scattered throughout the house, so I wouldn't be able to do this. Still, hadn't heard of this. Weird.

Jon K. · Answer

Beige. Light beige.

Carpet "paint" would be nice, but trying to stain thousands of square feet of carpet would be a nightmare. And expensive. And I think a red stain would show through some sort of brown carpet stain "paint." I can't imagine any carpet stain that you're not pouring hundreds of gallons worth of stain being even-- carpet doesn't absorb stains evenly. Unfortunately I would know. ;)  My carpet is stained unevenly from hard water from a leak.

Jon K. · Answer

Hmm. I've looked at some of the off names that are insured, but my square footage is behind most of their limits. I'd rather DIY myself than have some uninsured, potentially sketch guy off craigslist around valuables. I found a deal for $100something for 5 rooms, but my rooms were "too big" for them-- they wanted me to buy multiple packages due to square footage.

Jason Miller · Answer

Ive seen two items that work really well.

Forex was able to remove red wine from a very white carpet.

I have also used Tide in water with a scrub brush to remove a washer line that backed up onto a white carpet.  The gunk was black and smelled awful, and the tide pulled it out.

Bienes Raices · Answer

Nature's Miracle (normally used to remove pet stains) works well. Just be sure to apply to an inconspicuous area first as a test.

Jerome Kaidor · Answer

We have had pretty good luck with Folex.  We also learned a trick specifically for Kool-Aid stains:

You use some freshly laundered white terrycloth towels.  Wet and wrung out.  Drop or two of detergent in the water.  Steam iron.  Fold the damp towel and lay on top of the stain.  Lay the steam iron on top of the towel.  Leave for some minutes.  The moist heat will draw the Kool-Aid up into the towel.  It will take several tries, and the stain will get fainter each time.  Only makes sense when there's a Kool-aid stain or two ruining an otherwise OK carpet.

Michaela G. · Answer

I have actually stained an off-white berber to a gray color to cover up a stain. Didn't cost much more than steam cleaning the carpet. They use the cleaning machine to distribute the color

Mike H. · Answer

What color is your carpet now?

I'm wondering if you would have better luck trying to dye the existing stain the same color as the carpet. As opposed to trying to remove the existing stain.....

Thats really what they need - "paint" for carpeting. Wouldn't it be great if you could bring some swatches to the house to match up against your carpet and then somehow spray that color on to the discolored area so it brings it back closer to the original color.

It wouldn't have to be perfect either. Anything would be better than a pink stain. Just need it to hide it better.

On the next house I have carpeted, I'll try something like that with some of the scraps. Put an ugly red wine stain in the scrap. Then try to find something that can match the carpet color and see if its possible to stain the stain.

If you can have a train the trainer. I don't see why you can't do a stain the stainer. Well I guess it would be stain the stain. :-)

Just a thought.