Selling your home not only calls for at least some initial staging but also constant and consistent maintenance in order to try and ensure – as far as possible – that your home looks its best each and every time a home hunter comes to view it.
Some maintenance tasks are obvious; cleaning kitchen and bathroom counters, making sure that the clutter you spent hours clearing away does not return and ensuring that the place is as clean and fresh as possible. And while vacuuming carpet is almost certainly already on your list of regular chores there is more to maintaining it than that, especially as you’d be surprised at just how eagle eyed buyers can be when it comes to spotting stains and spots.
Should they really matter? Maybe not, but they do, especially as carpeting is usually considered a part of the fixtures and fittings that will come along with the property and if a buyer thinks that will need to replace it were they to buy the home that can be a reason for them to lower an offer.
The Carpet Stain Dilemma
A while back, your kid spilled their juice all over the living room carpet. Or Fido had an accident because you were a little slow taking him for a walk. But it was OK, you remembered all of the advice you read in the Internet, you acted pretty quickly and mopped that mess right up. At the time your carpet looked nice and clean. But now weeks later – right before your agent is due to bring a potential buyer over – that stained spot has reappeared and it looks worse than ever before. What on Earth is going on?
There are two big reasons that old spots and stains may reappear on your carpet. Allow me to explain:
The Spill Made it to the Backing
Even if only a few minutes elapsed between an accidental spill or pet accident occurred and you swung into action to clean it up that is still time for some of the liquid to seep down into your carpet and make its way to backing. As many people know, carpets do tend to be great at absorbing things, something that can be helpful when it comes to pollutants in the air that can be vacuumed up later but not so much when a liquid spill occurs.
If the spilled liquid did make it to the carpet backing as it dries it will often migrate back towards the surface of the carpet, seeming to reappear ‘like magic’ weeks later.
Residue Returns
The other big reason that pesky – and rather ugly – carpet spots and stains may reappear after you thought you had dealt with them often has to do with the way you went about cleaning them up in the first place. Even if you followed the standard – and very sage – advice to treat the spill with simple soapy water if you did not rinse the area properly then some sticky residue may remain. Over time it will attract dust and dirt (even if you vacuum regularly) and it will then look like the stain has returned.
Out Damn Spot
So just how do you get rid of these annoying spots and stains for good? Many people turn to a stain remover product from the grocery store, but at this point these are rarely effective and can make matters even worse. The only real solution is to call in the professionals; a carpet cleaning company that can deep clean the carpet without the use of harsh chemicals and help return it to its former glory. It is an extra expense sure, but one that may save you a great deal more than it costs in the end.