How to Remove Cooking Oil from Carpets

Cooking oil-based stains undoubtedly fall in the "heavyweight" category of stains and it is really hard to get rid of them once they've reached your carpet. Not to mention that if the oil is too hot it can melt down the fibers of your carpet, thus ruining it permanently. Anyway, if you were lucky enough to spill cooking (or olive) oil under different circumstances you have a fair chance of getting the stain out. Just follow these simple tips.

Start the procedure by blotting as much of the cooking oil as you can. Use some paper towels or some old (but clean) expendable cotton cloth. When you're blotting, it is essential not to scrub the surface because this will only work the oil deeper into your carpet's fibers and there is also a chance to enlarge the spot. You definitely don't want that. After that, you'll have to sprinkle the affected area with some sort of absorbent such as baking soda, cornstarch or salt (whatever you have at hand). Let the absorbent of choice stay on the spot for at least 15 minutes and hopefully it will absorb most of the excess cooking oil. To continue the carpet cleaning process you must vacuum the spot in order to remove the absorbent. If the spill is solid you may have to repeat this process a few more times until most of the cooking oil is gone.

Unfortunately, we are not done yet. In order to clean the spot completely you'll need to use some sort of carpet cleaning solution. I do not recommend the use of commercial cleaning products, though. Not only that they are very expensive but they are extremely harmful to the environment. And the really shocking thing is that scientists consider that there might be a direct correlation between these products and cancer. Green cleaning is absolutely the better choice. Almost any stain can be removed from a carpet by a simple mixture of dish-washing soap and water. Use a bowl to mix the ingredients in it, then soak a clean cloth in the soapy water and start scrubbing the oil stain with it. When you've removed the stain completely, just rinse the carpet with clean water. Make sure that there is no trace of the carpet cleaning solution as well. When you're done, don't cover your floor immediately with the carpet. Hang it somewhere to dry properly (on the balcony for instance). This will prevent the manifestation of mold.

As you can see, dealing with cooking oil stains is not so hard after all. All that you need is a little knowledge and enthusiasm. Of course, you can always use the services of the professional carpet cleaning companies as well if you don't have the free time. And finally, I'd recommend for you to do a little research on these commercial cleaning products and see for yourself how bad they really are.