There's nothing better than a relaxing coffee in the living room – until that coffee ends up on the carpet! Spilling coffee can feel like you've ruined your carpet, but luckily, there are many ways to fix the problem. Read on as we discuss how to remove coffee stains from carpet.
As with most liquid spillages, you should deal with a coffee spill as quickly as possible. This is because coffee is very good at dying fabric, so it is likely to stain, especially if you have light carpets.
The first thing you need to do is blot the area with a cloth or towel, to collect as much liquid as possible. You should also dilute the spilled coffee with cold water, then continue blotting it. You'll know that you've got as much out as you can when blotting doesn't change the colour of your cloth any more.
Once coffee has set in, it's more difficult to remove it from your carpet. However, it's not impossible.
First, loosen the stain with warm water. You then need to blot it with a wet cloth. Make sure that you blot using inward motions, to avoid spreading the stain.
You can then mix two cups of water, one cup of white vinegar and one tablespoon of dish soap to create a stain remover. Use a sponge to apply this mixture to the area, then blot it dry. You can repeat this as many times as you need to.
In truth, DIY methods of removing coffee stains from carpets generally have limited results. Coffee is a really tricky stain to deal with on carpets, so you’ll need the very best methods, equipment and cleaning solutions to get rid of it.
If you’re wondering how to remove coffee stains from carpet, the National Carpet Cleaning Association (NCCA) can help. We have a directory of professional carpet cleaners with the expertise and experience to get coffee out of your carpet. Every NCCA-accredited cleaner is insured, experienced and follows our code of conduct.
Search our directory for trusted local carpet cleaners.
If the colour of your carpet doesn't look right, there are a number of things that could be causing it. While it's sometimes not obvious, figuring out the source of your carpet discolouration can help you to solve it. The list below will help you learn why your carpet is discoloured.
The most common cause of a discoloured carpet is dirt, grime and dust. It can build up over time and completely change the appearance of your carpet. Luckily, you can prevent this by regularly vacuuming and cleaning your carpet.
From coffee to nail polish, all sorts of things can stain your carpet. Spillages happen all too easily and aren't always discovered quickly. This can cause your carpet to change colour – and can be difficult to reverse without damaging your carpet further.
It’s best get in a professional cleaner to remove these stains, because you can easily spread a small stain into a much larger one. Nail polish removal will almost certainly damage the carpet and may even affect the glue, so tufts will start to dislodge from the backing
While natural light is a welcome lift to the environment of any home, it's not good for your carpet. Over time, sunlight can cause the dyes in your carpet to fade. If you move furniture and the carpet appears a different colour, this might be because it has been protected from direct sunlight, and the rest of the carpet has faded. If this bothers you, you can close blinds and curtains during the day to protect your carpet from UV rays.
As your carpet ages, the colour will fade. This is especially true of carpets in high-traffic areas. Not only can this cause the dye to fade, but it can compress the fibres of your carpet together and make the colour look different.
When your carpet gets wet, it doesn't dry easily. If moisture seems into the deep fibres of your carpet, it stays there. It rises when it gets warm, making the top layer change colour. This can also lead to mould, which causes even more discolouration. You can prevent this by soaking up as much liquid from spillages as you can, and only letting professionals deep clean your carpet.
Pets can bring all sorts of dirt in on their paws, but they also produce their own messes. Animal droppings may contain ammonia – the alkaline nature of which can lead to discoloured carpet. If you're unlucky enough to have an infestation, this is also likely to cause a mess on your carpet.
Using the wrong substances to clean your carpet, or using the right substances in the wrong way, can cause damage to your carpet. Be careful when cleaning your carpet, and never use strong chemicals like bleach. If you're unsure whether you're making the best choices for your carpet, your best bet is to hire an expert.
For a clean carpet without discolouration, get your carpet professionally cleaned. Every National Carpet Cleaning Association (NCCA) cleaner is insured and accredited to cleanse your carpet with the best results. Our database of carpet cleaners is easily searchable to find carpet cleaners in your area. Search our carpet cleaner directory to solve your discoloured carpet woes.
As any business owner knows, running a business is about more than the services you provide. Marketing your company is an important step to keep customers (and revenue) coming in. If you're unsure how to market your carpet cleaning business, here are six marketing ideas for cleaning businesses to get you started.
Carpet cleaning videos can be very satisfying to watch, especially when the carpet starts out particularly dirty and ends up pristine. Not only is this entertaining content, but it shows off your talents to anyone who watches.
You can share videos across social media and even on your website. However, make sure that you get permission from the homeowner, as not everyone is happy for their home to be shared publicly!
Flyers are a popular way to advertise – with good reason too. Even if people don’t keep your leaflet, receiving it through their door brings your business to their attention. Next time they need a carpet cleaned, they'll know that you're there. You can also make the most of community notice boards, as these are a good place to make local connections.
Top tip – Putting out leaflets when you are cleaning on a particular street is a great way to advertise your business.
An effective way to encourage customer referrals is to reward them. By giving customers discount codes on their invoices, you make sure that they keep you in mind for their friends. People are much more likely to recommend your business if they can also offer money off and get themselves a discount. If anyone is putting off getting their carpet cleaned, a code from a friend might be the gentle push they need to get in touch.
Sometimes, marketing ideas for a cleaning business are just about reeling customers in with a good deal. If you want customers to keep coming back, you can offer them deals for regular cleaning upkeep. Whether it’s selling packages of multiple cleaning visits or incentivising smaller windows between visits, customers love a good deal. This also encourages customer loyalty, which is important for business longevity.
It's not easy to drive traffic towards your social media accounts, but giveaways encourage people to follow you. While offering a specific package or voucher for free may feel counterintuitive, people love to be in with the chance of winning free things. Asking people to like, share and follow your account in exchange for entry into a giveaway can see your following skyrocket.
Another easier idea is to give a stain removal bottle away to good customers. Put a price on the bottle, so customers can see the value of the giveaway.
It's not an easy market for small businesses to navigate, and many business owners value community. Reaching out to local businesses and finding ways to advertise as a collective can be beneficial to all of you, as well as the local economy. For example, decorators are often called in around the same time as carpet cleaners, so recommending each other's services may lead to more bookings for both of you. You could also pop into carpet retailers and swap business cards.
Members of the National Carpet Cleaning Association (NCCA) are all listed on our searchable directory, helping customers to find you easily. Membership also grants you access to discounted training courses, including marketing ideas for your cleaning business. Other benefits of joining us include our arbitration service, online forums and seal of approval.
Become a member of the NCCA to start growing your carpet cleaning business.
Mould is a common household problem. The humid British climate is a perfect environment for mould to breed, making it difficult to prevent and remove. Mould thrives in damp, humid environments, and carpets, as with other types of soft furnishings, provide an ideal breeding ground when exposed to moisture.
First of all, make sure that you have appropriate safety gear. You’ll need to wear safety gloves, goggles and a mask to ensure that the mould spores don't harm you.
Next, ventilate the room with the mouldy carpet and isolate it from other areas of your house. You can do this by opening your windows but closing internal doors. If this isn't possible, you can cover mould-free carpets with plastic sheets to protect them.
You can then use a stiff brush to remove visible mould. If your vacuum has a HEPA filter, you can use it to vacuum up spores. However, beware that these spores can live in your vacuum and spread around your house.
The next step is to use something to kill the mould. Do not use bleach, as this can damage your carpet. More importantly, some moulds create toxic gases when mixed with bleach. Instead, use a stain remover that is marked as useable on mould. You can also try using white vinegar and baking soda.
After that, you need to allow your carpet to dry. If you used the white vinegar and baking soda method, the mixture can be blotted away with water. Make sure that you do not soak your carpet with water, but use a damp cloth to dab the area.
There are invisible spores all around us all the time. As long as they don't get the right conditions, it won't necessarily turn into mould.
Moisture is the biggest cause of mould. By using devices that control the humidity in your home, you can keep mould at bay. Air purifiers help to contain the spores, minimising the amount around your home.
You can buy electric devices that plug in. Some will both dehumidify and purify your air. You can also get moisture absorbers that don't require electricity.
Spills happen all the time, no matter how careful we are. It's important that you use something absorbent to soak it up as soon as it happens. If you don't, it can travel deep into your carpet and become trapped there, making the perfect environment for mould.
Deep cleaning your carpet without the right equipment or know-how can leave carpets wet for too long. This provides a paradise for mould, especially in colder weather when it takes even longer to dry.
Mould can be difficult to combat if you're inexperienced. Search the National Carpet Cleaning Association member directory to find qualified, experienced carpet cleaners that can tackle mould for you. They will tackle it safely, avoiding risk for you and your household.
Find accredited carpet cleaners near you to get started.
Spring cleaning is a popular way to welcome the better weather. For some people, this means decluttering, dusting and deep cleaning. Carpets are often neglected, but here's why they should be on your spring to-do list.
Keeping your carpet clean is the best way to ensure that it lives a long life. Allowing dirt to accumulate can damage the carpet or make it harder to clean without causing damage. Regular cleaning saves you money, while also saving the resources that would be needed to produce a new carpet.
With hayfever season approaching, people with allergies are starting to suffer. These allergens can build up in your carpet and worsen symptoms. Every time someone steps on your carpet, the allergens on it are released into the air, creating a difficult environment for allergy-prone people. A deep clean will help remove these particles and reduce irritating symptoms.
A clean carpet can bring a whole room together. You might not even notice dirt impacting the colour of your carpet until you clean it. Dust and grime can discolour your carpet. Cleaning your carpet prevents damage and brings it back towards the colour you originally chose. This improves the appearance of your home not just for yourself, but for guests, too.
The fibres of a carpet are liable to flatten or stick together. This can make a carpet feel much older than it actually is, and often quite rough. Freshly cleaned carpets feel softer underfoot, as the fibres are given new life.
Notice a bad smell in your home? It could be your carpet. Like other things, bad smells can get trapped in your carpet and haunt you. The worst part is, you might not notice it anymore, but your visitors certainly will. You can buy scented sprays, but these will cover the problem, not solve it. Proper deep cleaning is vital to remove these smells and keep your home smelling pleasant.
Households with pets will have noticed how often pet hair clings to the carpet. Hoovering can remove some of it, but there are always stray hairs that take more effort to remove. Deep cleaning your carpet will stop hair becoming matted into your carpet.
Invisible mould spores gather deep in your carpet. These can grow into patches of mould when they meet moisture. Your health can also be negatively impacted by these spores when they are disturbed and propelled into the air. Hoovering can collect some of the spores, but doesn’t kill them. It's important that you get your carpet deep cleaned to keep mould spores at bay.
Take the hassle out of carpet cleaning by hiring a professional carpet cleaner. Every cleaner in the National Carpet Cleaning Association (NCCA) directory is insured, accredited and experienced. Our members are all over the UK and searchable by postcode.
Find a local carpet cleaner today!
If you're looking to expand your carpet cleaning skills, you've come to the right place. The National Carpet Cleaning Association (NCCA) has a collection of courses designed to support your business and increase your confidence. Here's why you should try our training courses:
With a wide range of topics to choose from, there's something for everyone. Whether you need a knowledge boost on pest control, water damage or fine fabrics, there's a course for you. We even offer business topics that aren't specific to cleaning, such as marketing and stress management.
Members of the NCCA gain exclusive discounts on our courses. This allows you to gain extra training, without paying the steep costs you'll find elsewhere. Many courses are exclusive to members, ensuring that members get priority for limited spaces.
It's not uncommon for people to retake our courses. Aaron Midgley of Midgley Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning described our upholstery cleaning course as “a very informative course of which you attend multiple times and still benefit from.”
Whether you need to refresh your memory or gain a brand new skill, our courses are worth taking multiple times.
Our courses are recognised qualifications that allow you to expand your business. After completing a course, you will receive a certificate. This can prove your expertise to potential customers. Many also come with manuals and resources that you can keep for future reference.
Every course’s tutor is carefully chosen for their expertise. With years of industry work under their belt, they can teach you trade secrets and best practice. Interior Revival’s Chris Walker even commented on the “novel and entertaining way” that the course was delivered.
Whether you're new to carpet cleaning or you've been in the business a while, our courses offer insights that suit every level. Some courses, such as stain removal, have multiple grades to help you progress your skills gradually. Every topic is covered in depth, regardless of your prior experience.
With such a wide reach, the NCCA has members from all over the UK. Our courses are an exciting chance to meet other carpet cleaners. This not only allows you to socialise with like-minded people, but allows you to collaborate and share tips and tricks.
If you're used to handling the same kinds of jobs, you might get out of practice with other things. Our courses make sure that you can confidently handle new or unfamiliar situations. Many courses also cover aspects such as pricing and customer interactions, allowing you to confidently deliver services.
Whether you are an experienced cleaner or new to the industry, if you are ready to enhance your skills and efficiency, make sure you learn from the best in the business. Take a look at our upcoming training courses and secure your place.