Rescuing your carpet after a party

If you are planning a gathering or two throughout the summer, you will be hoping your home escapes unscathed from the celebrations; however, even careful guests and relatively sedate get-togethers can lead to accidents and spills! Read on for some simple tips to help you get your carpets looking their best again after a full house:

Dealing with food spills

Whether you are hosting an extravagant buffet or just having the neighbours over for a drink and a bbq, food is going to end up on your floor. Crumbs are inevitable and can be easily vacuumed up once everyone has left, but what about more serious spills?

The first thing to do is to remove as much of the spill as possible. Most spills won’t stain, but certain foods – such as tomato sauces and chocolate puddings – can be trickier to clean up. When you have removed as much of the spill as you can, use either a suitable carpet detergent or a homemade white wine vinegar solution to blot the stain. Depending on the size and depth of the stain, you might be blotting away for some time, but this method should work on most common food stains.

Removing wax from a carpet

If your gathering continues throughout the evening twinkling candles and tealights may be dotted around the home, it is a good idea to acquaint yourself with the easiest method of removing wax from carpet. Many people choose to melt the wax with an iron, soaking the melted wax into a piece of paper such as a brown paper bag. While this is often highly effective, the heat from the iron can burn your carpet and cause irreparable damage; therefore, this method is best avoided, particularly if you are dealing with expensive flooring.

Instead, use a regular butter knife and gently yet firmly scrape the set wax from the carpet. If this leaves the carpet looking tatty, a small, sharp pair of scissors can be used to trim any fluff or untidy strands at the end of the process. When you have removed most of the wax, it is time to dig the iron out. Use a low setting, and don’t use a paper bag – a clean tea towel or folded cloth will help to prevent the iron burning the carpet. Brightly-coloured or dark wax might stain lighter carpets, so finish off with a suitable stain remover if required.