Rugs - cleaning advice?

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
CostaBlanca
Posts: 253
Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:58 pm
Location: Costa Blanca

Rugs - cleaning advice?

Post by CostaBlanca »

Hi,

I have bedside rugs, runners, area rugs in my villa. When the last large group (should have been 7 but allowed to extend to 9 at the last minute - however, it was probably 10 for a period of their 3 week stay) left, all the lighter colored rugs were very grimy and had to be removed and cleaned. But what does one do for stains in a large area rug in the living room in a 5 hr. time frame? Any ideas?

Maria
Fraise
Posts: 2079
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 8:25 am
Location: Charente Maritime and Middle England

Post by Fraise »

Heck -if they are stains that are a nuisance but aren't too bad I would get the carpet cleaner spray/liquid out and rub like Billio !! If they were absolutely awful, to the detriment of your property I'd remove them, get them cleaned at home somehow and put back later, either during their stay ( with your visitors' approval of course) or before the next lot arrive. If they are just awful and won't get any better I'd ditch them altogether and possibly take the money ( or a proportion ) from the security deposit if youknow that those visitors ruined them. :roll:
CostaBlanca
Posts: 253
Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:58 pm
Location: Costa Blanca

Post by CostaBlanca »

Thanks, Fraise. The smaller rugs have cleaned up nicely and I am thinking that I won´t bother putting them back in childrens bedrooms - save time and money in cleaning - probably not necessary anyway.

I will see what sprays are available locally and try cleaning up the stains on the bigger rugs. As the rugs are patterned, the stains are not too obvious but I can see them.....

Maria
A-two
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Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 10:05 am
Location: USA

Post by A-two »

We removed a small but noticeable dark stain from the beige colored living room carpet last weekend with basic washing up liquid and as Fraise says, rub like billio! For larger stains of the glass of red wine type, I keep a few small area rugs in the housekeepers cupboard - usually cheap multi colored rag rugs from IKEA, so they match anywhere, and either replace the stained rug and take it away, or place these strategically over any larger marks on the fitted carpet until we have chance to rent a carpet shampooer and tackle it properly with a professional stain remover. If that doesn't work for you, I wouldn't worry about it until the end of the season.

We're currently living with a crayoned wall in one of the bedrooms which someone kindly left for us at the beginning of the season, since when we have been fully booked. I think people understand this is a vacation home and you can't start redecorating or shampooing carpets in a 4 hour changeover.

Their main concern is that you're not going to accuse them of doing it, so if you show them round, you might want to point out that you are aware of it, but there's nothing you can do to fix it without disturbing someone's vacation.
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debk
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Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:01 pm
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
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Post by debk »

IKEA throw rugs are wonderful. I buy them by the bundle. :)

As for large rugs, we buy two identical rugs for each living room. The backup is rolled and stored under one of the beds.

When one rug gets dirty, it's taken to the cleaner and the backup is used. It seems expensive to buy two rugs... but I think they BOTH last longer (ground-in dirt is a notorious rug destroyer) so, long-run, I've decided it's cheaper. Silly mind games perhaps, but the reduction in stress is important, too: back-to-back changeover and FILTHY rug? Whew. No problem!
debk
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