Category Archives: Carpet Cleaning

Carpet Cleaning New Jersey.

Specializing in Cleaning, Area Rugs, Oriental Rugs, Persian Carpets and all things Rugs throughout!

Aladdin Oriental Rug Cleaning, we utilize different rug cleaning processes for each and every rug we clean and care for. We specialize in cleaning modern and antique rugs for residential and commercial accounts, rug dealers and commercial importers.

Rug/Carpet Protection Secrets

Here at Aladdin Oriental Rug, our expert technicians regularly perform repair and restoration service for rugs and carpets that have suffered natural or accidental degradation. Rug degradation is a natural process that happens over time, and rugs in high traffic areas are constantly placed in risk of abrasions, spills, and other occurrences. Here’s some tips prepared by our rug and carpet repair experts on different ways that you can ensure that your rugs and carpets stay clean.

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Hot Chocolate Stains

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This is the perfect season for you to come closely together with your friends and family, enjoying the warmth of togetherness. This calls for holiday parties, rife with guests and delicious food – and who can forget hot chocolate. It’s the perfect drink that seems to warm you up from the inside – even warming your heart and spirit. However, hot cocoa is a notorious stain culprit – which is why the rug stain removal experts at Aladdin have prepared this brief guide to mitigating the damage that hot chocolate can cause to rugs.

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Removing Wax from Carpets

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With the warmth and coziness of holiday decor, your carpets and rugs will likely come across some risk of being stained with candle wax. There’s no replacement of the feeling of being in a cozy home with lit candles burning bright – but wax can pose a danger to your pristine rugs. Here’s a guide from the rug cleaning experts at Aladdin on how to remove wax from your carpets or rugs.

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Cranberry Sauce Stains

One of Thanksgiving’s classic dishes is cranberry sauce – the perfect tart complement to turkey or savory vegetable dishes, rife with all the fresh savor of Autumn. However, despite its magnificent deliciousness, cranberry sauce is a notorious carpet stainer, perhaps only rivaled by the dastardly beet. Here’s Aladdin’s guide for carpet cranberry sauce stain removal, so you can remain calm, confident, and really enjoy your family get together this Thanksgiving.

 

  • First, scoop up the majority of the sauce with a knife, being careful not to press it down into the carpet fibers (if it’s the more solid, gelatinous kind or has whole cranberries,) then blot the area with a clean cloth or paper towel to absorb as much of it as possible. Then wet a small towel with water, and continue blotting away.

  • Cranberry sauce produces a stain due to it’s tannins – these stains can be removed easily with detergent and hot water.

  • Don’t use natural soap for this, as natural soap make tannins harder to remove from carpets. Make sure, if you’re using bleach, that you use color safe bleach.

  • If the stains don’t come off, repeat the above steps. Just don’t use heat to dry it, as it will set the stain in.

  • If the Cranberry sauce isn’t 100% natural and has food coloring, use an oxygen based color safe bleach like OXO Brite-in or OxiClean according to package directions. Dip a clean rag into the solution and work from the outside edge of the stain inwards in order to prevent spreading it around. Don’t’ get it too wet. Let the solution stay on the stain for at least a half an hour before blotting it up.

  • Use a clean white rag to blot away any moisture, but don’t rinse it. Oxygen bleach usually turns into water within a couple hours – simply let it air dry away from direct sunlight or heat. Then vacuum to restore the pile of the carpet.

  • It’s essential to remember not to get the fabric of the carpet too wet with the cleaning solution as it can cause mildew.

  • If none of these steps work, contact a licensed carpet professional, like those at Aladdin!

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Signs you need to replace your carpet

Making a decision on when you need to get a new carpet can be hard since there’s a lot of time, effort, and cash involved in tearing out already in place carpets, safely removing it, and installing the brand new carpeting. Here at Aladdin, we want to make things constantly easier for our customers. Here’s our guide to when it’s time to replace your carpets – highlighting a few crucial issues that, if present, will tell you that your carpet definitely needs to be replaced.

 

Wearing Down

The older a carpet is, the more tears and wear it will contain. Most regular carpet owners can remedy tiny tears and rips. However, even the most skilled professionals have issues fixing large rips and tears – so if your carpet has these, it might be time to get a new one. Polyester carpet fiber, especially, easily mats up and loses its form as it gets older – and nylon carpeting fiber is usually more resistant to this, and can retain its form even after being matted down.

 

Staining

If your carpet has a massive stain that can’t be fixed, you should replace it. Stains are probably the leading cause of carpet replacement. If you have owned the same carpet for many years, it’s likely that it’s been affected by a wide range of stain types – including dirt, food, or even animal waste. After a while, these stains can absorb down into the very padding of the carpet, causing it permanent damage. This will show you that it’s absolutely time for a replacement.

 

Odors

Carpets can absorb smells from stains that go deep into the fibers of the carpet. This can cause unpleasant odors to emanate from your carpet. If you don’t take proper care of your carpet, and have it regularly cleaned by a professional, it might transfer its odor to the broader room around that houses it. Nobody wants a smelly carpet, and nobody wants a smelly room – so if your carpet stinks, it may be time to get it replaced!

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Carpets vs Area Rugs

Carpet and area rugs have their own sets of advantages and disadvantages. Here’s the experts at Aladdin’s guide as to the differences between the two, so you can better decide what works for your household or business.

 

Advantages of Carpets

Carpets are one the most commonly used type of flooring inside homes. They go through phases of popularity, but have remained used for years and years. Homes with wall to wall carpets create a sense of comfort and total stylistic unity, offering the advantages of:

  • Softening both the appearance of a room, and sound
  • Being very comfortable for bare feet, which is great in cold months
  • Affordability
  • Cheap cleaning
  • A soft cushion to walk on, sit on, or fall on – important if you have toddlers
  • It insulates your home, which can help reduce your energy bill.

 

Disadvantages of carpets

However, carpets have these disadvantages:

  • It can be hard to clean the wall adjacent edges of carpets
  • Carpets can wear within a  few years, leading to the need to replace the entire carpet
  • Carpets require specialty  installation
  • Carpets can contribute towards allergies and asthma as if improperly cleaned they can hold dust or mites

 

Advantages of Area Rugs

Many other homeowners love their area rugs. Some of the reasoning behind this passion is:

  • Rugs often come in bolder designs and colors
  • Rugs offer versatility and the ability to be switched from different rooms
  • Rugs are easier to clean, either yourself or by a professional cleaner
  • They are perfect for anybody renting an apartment, as you can take it with you when you move, and they also muffle your footsteps, decreasing potential annoyance for downstairs neighbors
  • They are generally less expensive than wall to wall carpets
  • THey can be utilized easier in a broader design scheme as a pop of color
  • They can be conversation pieces
  • They don’t require specialty installation

 

Disadvantages of area rugs

Some of the potential drawbacks of area rugs are:

  • If not set down properly they can easily slide – but this can be remedied with the use of a rug pad.
  • They can be tripped over if a corner is sticking up – which can be remedied with double sided tape on top of a rug pad.
  • They only cover part of the floor – but that’s also part of their appeal! Can you tell we favor area rugs over carpets? Don’t blame us, this is our passion!
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When to know to clean your rug

Some people think that when rugs need to be cleaned they can just beat them against a hard railing to get rid of all the dust. However this isn’t the best approach because it doesn’t provide the most thorough clean. Most fine rugs are made of wool. Wool not only acts as a warm surface, but also as a filter for removing dampness, dust, and bacteria from the air. In many ways, a wool rug or carpet acts as an air filter. Unfortunately, that makes them susceptible to becoming quite dirty over time – so dirty that a simple beating won’t work at all to clean it.

How to know it’s dirty enough to warrant a cleaning

If you want to check how dirty your rug is and if it needs a professional clean, pick up a corner of the rug and kick it’s underside.. If dust and wool fiber fly out don’t worry, that’s normal. But if a massive cloud flies out – it’s probably time to get your rug professionally cleaned. Another cleanliness test can be conducted by rubbing the rug’s fabric f or 10 to 15 seconds, and if your hand comes off dirty, it certainly needs a clean.

Cleaning Methods

The best way to clean is by placing a rug in a utility room or area where you don’t mind getting dirty. A somewhat clean outdoor area is the best. First, vacuum both sides of the rug. Then shampoo the rug with cool water and soap – the best kind is a rug shampoo. Never use ammonia or a harsh detergent. Always test the shampoo against any color run in a small area of the rug first. Then use a soft long hair brush or a firm sponge that doesn’t shed. Brush or rub it against the rug in the direction of the weave when it’s fully covered in soapy water. Wash fringes as well, and always brush them away from the rug. Then rinse off the rug with water – you can use a window squeegee to get out all the excess water – but always do so in the direction of the weave. Lay out the rug flat to dry, and once the exposed side feels fully dry, flip it over to allow the other side to dry. If the rug is way too stiff, brush it gently or vacuum it lightly. If the stain still remains, take it to a professional rug cleaner.

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Gravy Stains

It’s possible that you got a bit excited with your Thanksgiving feast, and some thick gravy may have made a trip from your plate or it’s ladle onto your rug or carpet. Unfortunately, gravy is rife of strange proteins that can really do a number on a rug or carpet. Fortunately, if these stains are handled when they occur, or soon after, they can be quickly mitigated. Here’s Aladdin’s tips on how to instantly combat those tricky, nasty gravy stains, depending on what surface it fell on.

Getting Gravy off Fabric

  • Scrape off all gravy
  • Treat with prewash stain treatment
  • Wash using the hottest possible water that the fabric can handle

Getting Gravy off Upholstery

  • Scrape off all gravy
  • Apply baking soda on the stain and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes
  • Use a clean white cloth to clean the stain with a dry solvent
  • Blot with the cloth until the solvent is absorbed
  • Repeat until stain is removed

Getting Gravy off Carpets or Rugs

  • Scrape off all gravy
  • Apply baking soda on the stain and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes
  • Use a clean white cloth to clean the stain with a dry solvent
  • Blot with the cloth until the solvent is absorbed
  • Repeat until stain is removed
  • If the stain is being stubborn, apply mix of one spoon worth of liquid handwashing detergent (this formula cuts grease) and one spoon worth of white vinegar, all mixed with two cups of warm water. Use a sponge to apply this mix to the stain, and blot with a white cloth until all the liquid is absorbed..Use a clean sponge soaked with cold water to blot the cleaning solution until it’s removed,
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Beer Stains

Perhaps your holiday parties got (or will get) a bit raucous – that’s not a bad thing! However, with raucous parties come spills, and beer is a particularly gross kind of stain to deal with, as not only can it change the color of a carpet or rug, but as it sits and soaks, it’s smell can permeate the entire room, making it smell like a dive bar from the 1970s – certainly not something you want your living room to smell like. Here’s some expertly tested methods for removing beer stains from your carpet or rug.

  • Soak as much of the beer up as possible with towels or paper towels. This is best done ASAP.
  • Mix a tablespoon of white vinegar with a tablespoon of dishwashing detergent, and two cups of warm water.
  • Apply this stain solution onto the stain, from the outside in, blotting the area of the carpet where the stain lays.
  • Use cold water to remove any vinegar that might still sit on the carpet.

Method Two

  • Soak liquid up with a towel
  • Apply Woolite carpet cleaner spray foam onto the stain
  • Dry with towel after solution sits on carpet for 15 minutes
  • Vacuum rest of remaining foam off carpet.

Method Three

  • Once carpet is completely dry and all liquid is soaked up, sprinkle a large amount of baking soda right on the stain. Make sure that the entire surface area of the stain is covered with baking soda.
  • Allow baking soda to sit on top of beer stain for at least 24 hours – this will absorb all the smell that the beer may have imparted onto the carpet. After a period of 24 hours, vacuum up the remaining baking soda.
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Common Carpet Cleaning Mistakes

 

Here’s how to avoid making the most common carpet cleaning mistakes – spot cleaning carpets is something that every carpet owner has to do once in awhile. Whether your pet had an accident, or you spilled a glass of red wine, your carpet can sustain quite a proverbial barrage of stains. There’s a great combination of methods that you can use to remove the most common kinds of stains and spills (all of which you can find on our blog) but there’s also tactics that should NEVER EVER be used while you’re cleaning your carpets.

 

Check out the below tips to learn what any carpet or rug owner should NEVER EVER attempt while trying to get rid of a stain.

 

Colored Towels

Never use a colored towel to dab or soak up a stain! If you’re using a towel or rag that has color, you are risking the chance of the color bleeding or soaking down onto the carpet fibers – this is a phenomenon called color transfer. Never use a red or dark blue rag on a light colored carpet – this will no doubt stain it seriously – if you want to avoid causing color transfer, use a white cotton towel or white paper towels to do all the dabbing or soaking up that you need to do.

 

Over the Counter Carpet Cleaners

For the most part, avoid using any products advertised as Carpet Cleaner, whether it’s foam, cleansing liquid, or spray. These products often leave a hard to remove residue inside your carpet which, over time, attracts a bunch of dust and soil, leaving you with a gross brown spot inside an area that once looked clean. These soaps are tailor made to attract soil and dirt, and then get washed away with water – when over the counter cleaners are used, you won’t be able to properly wash away the soap, so it stays on your carpet fibers and continues to attract soil, causing a stain that you can’t remove.

 

Rubbing

Only blot stains on rugs – never use a rubbing motion to attempt their removal. This is one of the most common carpet or rug cleaning mistakes, since most people simply don’t believe that it really causes damage. Scrubbing stains on carpets simply just spread the stain around, creating a much larger and more diffused mess. Remember to blot the stain – don’t rub it. If you need more pressure when you’re blotting, stand on the blotting material pressing it down – this will help move the spill or stain to the towel you’re cleaning it up with.

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