For all you tea lovers out there, and there’ll be many of you, a tea spillage can be quite the nightmare! Particularly if you’ve managed to spill your lovely end-of-the-day cuppa over a lovely clean cream carpet! Or, worse still if you’ve tipped your tea over a friend’s carpet!
I’m sure we’ve all been there and done it… But the good thing is, after your heart skips a couple of beats, and you calm down and spring back into action, you can actually do something about the stain. You can remove it!
In this article we’re going to look at how you can remove a tea stain from a carpet. So, if you’re an unlucky tea spiller you need to grab yourself a brew, settle down, and read on! And if you do spill this cup of tea, at least you’ll know how to remove its stain by the time you’ve finished reading…
We will cover:
- Essential points to think about before tackling a tea stain
- Home remedies to cure the problem
- Products that can be bought to remove stains
- Professional help to remove stains from a carpet
- Removing difficult carpet stains
A few essential points before we begin
When cleaning any type of stain off a carpet there are a few things that you should always do beforehand. Check out this list:
- Act quickly – The faster you act the better it’ll be because the tea won’t have started to settle into the carpet.
- Test first! – Try your chosen method on a small area of the carpet first.
- Soak it up first – Soak up as much tea as possible before you start trying to remove the stain.
- Gently dab/rub the stained area – there is absolutely no need to start scrubbing the carpet with all the force you can muster! Gentle dabbing/rubbing will reduce damage to the carpet.
- Have some cloths/kitchen roll ready – This will come in handy to soak up excess tea.
- Work from the outside of the tea stain to the centre of the stain when trying to remove it – This’ll limit the stain from spreading around the carpet.
- Try and keep the water cool – Hot water can make tea more difficult to remove.
- Don’t go pouring water over the carpet – This will make the stain spread.
- Take care – Keep kids and animals away from the carpet when it’s being/been treated, if possible.
Home remedies to remove tea stains from a carpet
Below you will find a list of methods to remove tea stains from a carpet. The methods are all based on products that can be found in the home. Additionally, the products used are relatively cheap and can be bought from most local shops too!
Method 1: Salt
What you need:
- Salt (table salt)
- Cloth
- Soda Water
Method:
- Use the cloth to soak up as much tea as possible from the carpet.
- Dab at the area – don’t scrub.
- Pour salt over the tea stained area.
- Pour some soda water – not loads – and let the bubbles do their work.
- Dab the area again with a cloth.
- Repeat the process until the tea stain has gone.
- Open a window so that the air can dry the carpet.
Do not let children or animals lick the treated area.
Method 2: White Vinegar
What you need:
- White Vinegar
- Spray bottle
- Cloth
- Warm water
- Cold water
Method:
- Use a cloth to soak up as much tea as possible from the carpet.
- Add a tiny amount of cold water to the stained area.
- Use the cloth to soak up the rest of the tea.
- Mix 2 ounces of white vinegar and 4 ounces of warm water in a spray bottle.
- Test the mix on the carpet – go to an area you won’t be able to see, for example.
- If it works out okay, spray the mix on the tea stain.
- Rub the carpet gently, from the outside of the tea stain towards the centre of the stain.
- Repeat the steps until the stain has gone.
- Open a window so that the air can dry the carpet.
What can I do about the vinegar smell?
Vinegar isn’t really one of the nicest smells to have around the house, so here are a few ideas that you can use to try and get rid of the smell:
- Make sure the stained area is relatively dry.
- Place some bicarbonate of soda over the area.
- Allow it to settle for about 2 hours.
- Hoover the area.
Or:
- Open the windows and allow plenty of air to circulate the room.
- Spray some air freshener.
- Use a diffuser.
Method 3: Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking soda)
What you need:
- Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- Bowl
- 2 cloths
Method:
- Place one cup of bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.
- Wet a cloth.
- Dip the damp cloth into the bowl.
- Coat the cloth in bicarbonate of soda.
- Gently press the coated cloth onto a testing area. Continue with this method if the test is okay.
- Gently press the coated cloth onto the tea stain.
- Leave for a few minutes.
- Rinse the area with a new wet cloth.
- Soak up any excess bicarbonate of soda and water.
- Repeat the process if need be.
- Open a window so that the air can dry the carpet.
While it may be tempting to start scrubbing the area hard, you shouldn’t scrub the fibres of the carpet too forcefully as this will cause damage. Be patient when using this method.
For those of you who don’t fancy mixing up your own potions at home, here’s another alternative.
Specialised carpet cleaners
There are many products available today that are designed to remove tea stains and such from carpets. However, if you do choose to go down this route make sure that you buy a cleaner that is suitable for your carpet.
Tips:
- Try out the cleaner on an invisible section of your carpet first.
- Keep it away from children and animals.
- Read the label and follow the instructions on the pack.
Here are some examples of carpet cleaners that can remove tea stains:
- Dr. Beckmann Carpet Stain Remover with Cleaning Applicator – See on Amazon.co.uk
- Vanish Oxi Action Powerspray Carpet and Upholstery Stain Remover – See on Amazon.co.uk
- 1001 Carpet Shampoo –See on Amazon.co.uk
There are however pros and cons to using specialised carpet cleaners.
Pros:
- Removes other dirt and bacteria.
- Very little residue is left behind.
- Nice odours.
- Helps to extend the life of the carpet.
Cons:
- Time consuming.
- Finite amount of product in a pack, so you’re limited to how much you can use before it runs out.
- Cost.
Individual preference, and the amount of work needed to remove a tea stain, will impact the result you get from using a specialised carpet cleaner. You will find a number of different opinions online, so it’s up to you if you choose to use an off the shelf product.
Further to this, you might own a specialised carpet cleaning device, so you could give this a go. If you’re not sure on which carpet cleaner to buy, check out our article here for some advice! All the carpet cleaners are under £100, so it might be a good long-term investment if you’re a regular tea spiller, or you have lots of traffic back and forth on your carpet.
Professional help
If you have tried the methods and products above and you’ve still got a stain, perhaps it’s time to call in professional help.
There are many cleaning companies in the UK who specialise in removing difficult stains from carpets. And they would be more than happy to help you.
Carpet cleaning specialists also have access to different and tougher cleaning gadgets and products too – so if anyone can get a stubborn old stain out of a carpet it’ll be them.
Professional help is a good option if you want your carpets cleaned thoroughly. For example, if you need the carpets in an office deep cleaned, or you plan on having all of your home carpets washed. However, for a small-medium sized tea stain at home, you might think that professional help is just a tad too costly.
Weigh up the pros and cons, and do your research into local companies before you go ahead with this method.
Conclusion
As you can see with a couple of ingredients found at home, you can remove a tea stain from a carpet. Removing a tea stain doesn’t have to be a huge task, it can be done in a couple of hours in most cases. And if you’ve got a stubborn stain you might want to call for professional help.
Here’s a reminder of what we’ve covered in this article:
- Essential things you need to remember before going to remove a stain.
- Some home remedies you could try.
- We’ve looked at some products you could buy.
- We’ve checked out professional help.
If you have any tips please share them with us!
FAQs
Can I use Borax?
Some of you may love watching your cleaning videos online, so you might be wondering why Borax has not been mentioned on this list. The reason for this is because Borax is not sold in the UK. There are alternatives, but we’ve decided to focus on things that can be bought and used in the UK in this article.
What else can I use vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to clean?
Vinegar and bicarb can clean many things – You might be surprised by how much they can clean!
Bethan has a passion for exploring, reading, cooking and gardening! When she’s not creating culinary delights for her family, she’s concocting potions to keep her house clean!
