We have wall to wall carpetting throughout most of our house, and three cats. The cats occasionally get hairballs or whatever and throw up on the carpet and I've noticed lately that in areas where they have, in the past, thrown up, there are darker marks on the carpet than in the areas around it. I've used all sorts of different cleaning detergents and sprays to get the stains out right when they happened, and right after they looked fine, but now they're darker and - to me - quite obvious.
I really want to get rid of these dark patches and prevent them from happening again. Can you recommend a product? We own a Bissell rug shampooer that we're planning on using this weekend throughout the whole house (Dad's coming for a visit), but I'm not 100% certain that it'll get the dark marks out. Any suggestions or ideas would be welcomed.
Re: Carpet stains?
We actually decided to just shampoo all our carpets (when I say, "we decided" I mean that I decided and drafted H in to the cause) and so we're in between floors at this moment. And yes, our motivation is a houseguest, too - my dad. He's not picky, but I am.
Our shampooer is a Bissell Heat Pro and I love it. I can't believe all the gunk it gets out, and that's *with* running the Roomba at least 3-4 times a week per floor. Stairs are hard, though. Lots of leaning over and a lot of elbow grease required.
Make sure when you use a shampooer that you get all the soap out of the carpet. Otherwise the soap will stay in the carpet fibers and it can actually make your carpet soil quicker.
Try using a good spot remover before you bust out a cleaning machine. Blot the stain up with a white cloth. If need be--re apply the spot remover.