Aagh, have I ruined our carpet?

[MacmillanDo]

So I dropped coffee on the runner going up stairs. In fact on this step there was hardly any but I tried to clean it up - used a bit of bicarb soda, some white vinegar and washing up liquid.

But - it's still drying - there's this large yellow looking patch! I have no idea why.

What have I done and what can I do?

I have a Vax spot washer for things like this! I bought it for about £100 when we had a cream carpet fitted and it’s been a godsend.

this clearly doesnt help much on this case but could you beg, borrow or steal one from someone? Because that’s what you need - to wet the stain and add a little cleaner / detergent and then suck it all up with a spot clean machine

I blitzed a mug of coffee on our cream coloured landing carpet when it was dark and a flash of lightning decided to scare the crap out of me.

I hired a carpet cleaner and got the solution to clean a carpet covered in vomit. Worked a treat, but had to do the whole landing.

Now it still damp, dash to the shops and get some foaming spray-on carpet cleaner. The one I have in the cupboard is made by Vanish, and it's great. Supermarkets or car accessories places like Halfords are your friends here! But don't delay!

This, you need a proper carpet cleaner before it dries too much.

Dr beckmans carpet cleaner is brilliant .

You need something like the spot washer because you need to suck it all out
Nothing else will work.
Put a message on next door or something and see if someone will lend you one.

I did this on my cream carpet and got it out with a bowl of hot water and wash in powder. I used a nail brush to scrub at it.

I would book a professional.

Get some hydrogen peroxide, spray it on, cover with cling film and leave over night.

I have recently discovered that hydrogen peroxide is brilliant at removing organic stains without damaging even wool carpets. I have completely removed some ancient rabbit pee stains that had been tackled with all the shop bought carpet cleaners, all the homemade cleaners and two attempts with a hired cleaning machine.

It sounds like a scary dangerous chemical but it really isn’t. It breaks down into water and oxygen.

If all else fails, try using WD40. I dropped a tin of black gloss paint on my pale grey carpet and thought I had ruined it. I tried everything to get the stain out and nothing worked until I sprayed it very liberally with WD 40. It got rid of the paint immediately and no-one, including my husband who was out at the time I dropped the paint, has ever noticed any mark at all. I know coffee is different but if it will shift gloss paint then I would expect it to work on coffee.

Another vote for Dr Beckmann carpet cleaner. Works miracles.

The biggest problem is the carpet type/pile - it looks like a more natural type than a twist pile which means you can’t scrub at it in the same way. I have had success on a carpet you can scrub with Coke/coffee/red wine with a spray bottle mix of cold water (90%) and clothes detergent (10%). Blot stain with kitchen towel first to remove as much liquid as possible then saturate with the spray and scrub with a white flannel. I’ve also had to replace a more natural type carpet because you can’t get into the stain in the same way.

I too would go with Dr Beckmann.

Brilliant tip! 👍

Black gloss paint - wow! Great to know trusty old WD40 sorted it. I love the stuff but wouldn't have thought of it for something like this.

thanks all. I'm trying with carpet stain remover, but I don't hold out much hope. I suspect I'll have to get a professional in and / replace. It just looks like a weird big patch of yellow (way bigger than the original stain).

Seriously, try hydrogen peroxide.

This is what you need -
https://www.dr-beckmann.co.uk/products/carpet-stain-remover/

Agree or get the Vanish foam cleaner. Gets anything out of our beige carpet.

Watching these tips with interest. I have some old carpet stains (cat was sick, cleaned it up the best I could at the time, but it’s left a residual stain)- does anyone know if the spot washer and/or Dr Beckman will work on old stains?

I've found Dr Beckmann to be brilliant on old cat vomit stains.

Be careful to follow the Dr Beckmann exactly and you could bleach the carpet if it’s not removed afterwards.

Hydrogen peroxide works.

@FoxChops what model Vax do you have please?

Call a professional in - the problem with some of these suggestions is that we don't know what the carpet is made out of - and some of the "fixes" suggested may well just make it worse. Call in someone who knows what they are doing.

Hi all, I used Dr Beckmann and it helped a lot. It's not perfect but it's not that noticeable. So, thanks so much!