How do I deal with spills, spots and stains?
This is one that sends us all into a panic. No matter how careful we are, stains and spills do occur. Don't despair. Your Wear-Dated carpet was designed to recover from most of these accidents, and allows you more time to discover and remove spots. However, we still encourage you to attend to spots promptly.

If you have a Wet/Dry vacuum cleaner, this can greatly facilitate spot removal. Put on the attachment which gives the greatest suction and vacuum up as much stain as possible.

Add water to the spot as you continue to vacuum. If detergent is required, use it sparingly. After removing the stain, rinse by slowly pouring water into a pile as you work the vacuum wand back and forth to remove all detergent. Or follow these suggested steps:

1. Remove solid materials with a tablespoon, spatula or dull knife edge.

2. Blot spills with clean, white absorbent materials-such as towels, napkins or tissues. Press down hard to remove as much liquid as possible-even stand on the absorbent material putting all of your weight directly over the stain. You won't hurt the carpet, as long as you don't vigorously rub the surface.

3. If a spot removal solvent is necessary, apply several drops to an inconspicuous area of the carpet and blot with a clean white cloth. If color transfers to the cloth, or a color change occurs, consult a professional carpet cleaner.

4. Use cleaning solutions sparingly, and always blot.

5. If one spot removal fails to work, try another until the stain is removed.

6. Finally, always gently rinse the area with water to remove as much detergent as possible. Absorb all remaining moisture. Incomplete removal will cause area to soil rapidly. Place towels or tissue over wet area with weight-such as brick-to absorb moisture. Leave overnight. Next morning the area should be dry; the spot gone. Gently brush up the carpet pile.

What if the spot returns?
Good question, because this can happen. If it does, it's usually because of a couple of reasons:

1. Incomplete Removal of Foreign Material. You removed the material causing the spot by dissolving it with cleaning solution. But, because of gravity, it sinks deeper into your carpet. Blotting with absorbent towels removes most of it, but as it dries, the remainder of foreign materials can migrate to the top of your carpet pile and it's left there as the lack of the moisture evaporates into the air. This is called "wick-up". Just repeat the spot cleaning process with special emphasis on the blotting step.

2. Residual Detergent Left In The Carpet. Always gently rinse the area with water to remove as much detergent as possible. Incomplete removal will cause area to soil rapidly. Absorb all remaining moisture. Place towels or tissue over wet area with weight-such as a brick-to absorb moisture. Leave overnight. Next morning the area should be dry; the spot gone. Brush up carpet pile.