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Recipe 42 of 100 · The Country Cleans Mix Book

How to Get Old Set-In Stains Out of Carpet

Glycerin and Steam Trick

Months old stain that already survived one scrubbing? Patch test first. Stir 2 tablespoons vegetable glycerin and 1 teaspoon clear dish soap into 1 cup warm water, press a towel soaked in it onto the stain for 30 minutes, then blot. Lay a damp white towel over it and press a low steam iron on the towel 10 seconds at a time, moving to a clean section. Finish with a light vinegar mist, blot, and weight a dry towel on it overnight. Never on wool.

Old Set In Stain Rescue recipe card: 2 tbsp vegetable glycerin, 1 cup warm water, 1 tsp clear dish soap, 2 tbsp vinegar spray, at the end
What it fixesDried, months old, unknown origin stains that have already been scrubbed once and did not come out.

You need

Mix it

  1. Stir the glycerin into the warm water until it dissolves. This is the softening soak.
  2. Add the dish soap and stir slowly.
  3. Keep the vinegar spray separate and use it only at the very end, after the glycerin step is blotted out.

Use it

  1. Patch test in a hidden spot, including the steam step, and let it dry fully. Old carpet and cheap backing can distort under heat.
  2. Vacuum the area.
  3. Dampen a towel with the glycerin solution and press it onto the stain. Leave it there 30 minutes, re wetting once. Glycerin is a humectant and it re hydrates dried stain material so it can move again, which is the entire reason old stains resist normal cleaner.
  4. Blot the area with a dry towel.
  5. Lay a clean damp white towel flat over the stain.
  6. Set the iron to the lowest steam setting. Press it onto the towel for 10 seconds, lift, and check the towel. You should see the stain transferring up into the fabric.
  7. Move to a clean section of towel and repeat. Never let the iron sit longer than 10 seconds in one spot.
  8. When transfer stops, mist the area lightly with the vinegar spray to cut any glycerin residue, blot, then blot again with plain water.
  9. Weight a dry towel on it overnight.
Dale's noteWatch the towel, not the carpet. If the towel is picking up color you are winning. If three cycles produce nothing on the towel, the stain is dye and it is now part of the carpet, so stop before you damage the pile.
Don'tNever touch the iron directly to the carpet, and never use anything above the lowest steam setting. Nylon, polyester, and olefin carpet fibers melt and glaze at iron temperatures and one second of contact leaves a permanent shiny burn patch you cannot repair. Skip this method entirely on wool and on any hand knotted rug, where heat and moisture together will shrink the foundation and pucker the rug for good.
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