How to Remove a Tea Stain From Your Rug
When you’re curled up with a good cup of builder’s tea, and a few biscuits to accompany it, there’s nothing worse than getting a shaky hand or jumping dog which sends your delicious brew hurtling to the floor. This British staple drink might be the way we all keep calm, but it can send temperatures rising when you end up with a dark brown tea stain in the middle of your favourite rug, especially if it’s a plain rug. If the rugs in the bedroom, that means there’ll be no more morning cups of tea bought to you in bed. Whilst if it’s the lounge rug that takes a hit, you know for sure that it’ll be you dipping digestives into it that gets blamed. We’re here to help you be one step ahead of the game and get that stain cleaned up before anyone could even notice.
Head to the kitchen and take a quick inventory; there are three items which could help you here and should be found in the majority of kitchen cupboards. Find either baking soda, white vinegar or salt and you should be able to make that stain disappear in no time.
The Baking Soda Method
If you’ve selected baking soda as your weapon of choice, then it’s best to start out with two bowls – one filled with cold water, and another with a cup of baking soda in it. Take a clean, white cloth and dip it into the water, and then into the bowl of baking soda so that it is coated entirely in the powder.
Apply the baking soda cloth to the stain by pressing firmly around the entire stain. Be careful not to rub the rug too much as it can damage the fibres a little, especially with natural fibre rugs, which has its unique cleaning methods. Once you have fully covered the area, use a different part of the cloth in the water to apply cold water to the stain completely. This should soak off the remaining baking soda and the area beneath should be significantly less stained.
Depending on the severity of the stain, just simply repeat the process until the stain is gone. When you’re happy, just pat the area dry with a clean tea towel and your rug should be as good as new.
The White Vinegar Method
If you’re using white vinegar then the process is relatively straight forward, but you will need a spray bottle in which to make a cleaning solution. Take 2 ounces of the vinegar and combine with about 4 ounces of warm water, then give the bottle a shake to mix up your brand-new stain remover.
Then it’s as easy as spraying onto the area and using a clean cloth to dab at the stain; the solution is a little weaker than the typical stain remover so you might need to scrub a little more than you would expect. This means you need to make sure you’re careful not to damage the rug as you go. Keep repeating and adding more spray solution as needed until the stain is gone.
No one wants their rug to smell of vinegar, so we’d recommend that you do a cool water rinse afterwards just to remove the remaining solution. Then use a clean tea towel to dab the area dry.
The Salt Method
To remove a tea stain using sale, you need to begin by absorbing as much of the tea as possible. The best way to do this is to start out with a wet cloth and quickly dab across the entire area as you see the tea transfer over onto the cloth.
When you’ve removed as much as you can, liberally pour salt over the stain and it will begin to absorb the remaining tea. Top it off by pouring a small amount of club soda on top as the carbonation is great for stain removal. Then all you need to do is rinse with cold water and repeat until the stain has vanished forever.
That’s three simple methods you can use to remove a tea stain and prevent disaster happening to your rugs. Using household ingredients like salt or baking soda are great ways for gently removing stains without risking a huge amount of damage to your treasured décor.
Disclaimer: Although these tips are tried and tested, they may not remove every stain from every rug and carpet. If you are in any doubt then call up a professional carpet cleaner for advice. Rugs Direct takes no responsiibility for trying any of our idea.