A stain that vanishes after cleaning and then reappears a week later is usually one of two things.
The first is wicking. The spill soaked through into the backing and the underlay, the top was cleaned, and as the carpet dried the moisture carried what was underneath back up to the tips. The second is residue. A spot cleaner or washing-up liquid left a sticky film in the pile, and that film holds onto dust from every pair of feet until it shows as a dark patch. Both can be fixed. For wicking we extract from low in the pile and get air moving so it dries fast. For residue we rinse the film out, and the dark patch usually goes with it.
The clean comes first
Stain work happens inside a carpet clean or a sofa clean. The whole room is vacuumed and rinsed first, since plenty of the marks people point to are ground-in soil and come out with the general clean. What is left gets treated by type. Tannin marks such as tea and wine need a different product from protein marks such as blood or milk, and grease needs something else again. Knowing what went down, and what you put on it afterwards, saves time.
Mud from the park and the Common
Walks in Battersea Park or on Wandsworth Common bring in a lot of mud on boots and paws. Dried mud is fine dust with clay in it. Let it dry completely, vacuum it up, and there is often very little left to treat. Scrubbing it while wet pushes the clay into the fibre and turns a vacuuming job into a stain.
Marks that stay
Bleach removes dye, so there is nothing on the carpet to clean off. Turmeric and hair dye colour the fibre themselves. Red wine that has been through a steam cleaner or a hot wash is often set for good. We give each one a proper try and tell you on the day which kind yours is.
Cost
The room price already covers everyday spots: a bedroom stays at £36 with its spots, a living room at £43. A room covered in separate marks is quoted before we begin. Spots on a sofa or a rug are covered by the price of that item in the same way.
| Clean | Price |
|---|---|
| Bedroom | £36 |
| Lounge | £43 |
| Through lounge | £61 |
| Stairs, per flight | £41 |
| Small rug (to 3m²) | £35 |
| Rug, over 3m² | £51 |
| Carpet per bedroom, alongside an end of tenancy | £29 |
| Living room carpet, alongside an end of tenancy | £36 |
| Stairs, with a move-out clean | £35 |
Stairs in split flats
In the split terraces where the upper flat has its own staircase from the street door, the bottom few treads take the mud and the coffee spilled in the rush out of the door. Stairs are £41 a flight and spots on the treads are part of that price. If the marks are fresh, blot them with cold water and leave them for us; a stair tread scrubbed with foam cleaner is harder work than one left alone.
Questions we get asked
Coffee went down the stairs this morning. What should I do before you arrive?
Press a white towel onto it with a splash of cold water, and keep pressing, with no rubbing, until the towel comes away clean. Leave the supermarket foam in the cupboard. After that, let it be, and tell us when we arrive what you used.
Why has the patch I cleaned with a spot remover gone darker?
The product has left a sticky residue that is collecting dust from shoes. It is a common problem and it rinses out well. We flush the area during the clean and extract it, and the dark patch usually goes with the residue.
The dog was sick on the wool rug. Can it be saved?
Usually, if it is dealt with soon. Stomach acid can leave a yellow mark on wool that gets harder to shift as it ages. Scrape up what you can, blot with cold water and keep heat away from it, then book the rug in the same week.
Is candle wax a stain?
The wax lifts off; the colour in it is the problem. Let it harden, crumble away the loose wax and leave what remains for us, because ironing it through paper can drive coloured dye into the pile. White wax nearly always comes out completely.