A Comfortable Stay

Posted on: 1 February 2016

Your toddler most likely brings a great deal of joy and excitement to your life, but this age can require a lot of parenting patience. Considering that a large percentage of toddlers drink juice from a sippy-style cup, you may have experienced one or more spills out of their favorite cup onto your carpet and rugs. In these situations, you may reach for common carpet foams and sprays to remove the juice stains. While effective, many of these cleaners contain VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds, which affect your home's air quality. In addition, these carpet cleansers may irritate your family's skin and eyes while affecting their breathing. Using this guide on natural carpet cleaners, you can remove juice spills when your toddler's sippy cup gets a bit tipsy.

Salt

Traditional table salt is a common ingredient for flavor, but it is also an effective option for soaking up liquid and dissolving away the harsh dyes from juice spills on your carpet.

Sprinkle a good amount of salt directly on the juice immediately after your toddler spills their sippy cup. Allow the salt to remain on the liquid for 20 to 30 minutes. During this time, the salt will absorb the juice before it spreads through the carpet fibers, staining your flooring permanently.

Unfortunately, you may not know about the juice spill immediately. If the juice has already soaked into your carpet or rug, sprinkle a generous amount of salt onto the dried juice and add a few teaspoons of warm water to the area. Using a clean cloth, scrub the salt and water into the dried area of juice. After a few minutes, soak up any remaining moisture using a second clean cloth. Once completely dry, run your vacuum over the area to fluff up the carpet fibers, eliminating any sign of a past spill.

Baking Soda

Quick cleanups are essential with juice spills, and having a toddler in the home should increase your desire to keep a bottle of cleaning solution on hand and ready to go. Fortunately, you can create a safe, effective carpet cleaning solution using another common household ingredient.

Sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, offers deodorizing and effervescent properties when it comes in contact with moisture on a surface. This cleaning, bubbling sensation not only absorbs dirt and food particles, but it also dissolves the juice from your carpet fibers.

In a spray bottle, combine the following to use when your toddler's sippy cup of juice gets tipsy:

• 2 cups of warm water
• ¼ cup of baking soda

Place a few paper towels directly on the spilled juice and press down gently to soak up as much liquid as possible. After absorbing most of the juice from the carpet, douse the area with the baking soda solution. Allow the solution to sit and soak for 20 minutes, eating through any leftover juice and food coloring. After the time, apply a damp cloth to the area to soak up any remaining solution. Let the carpet dry before freshening up with your vacuum.

Hydrogen Peroxide

If you are unable to remove the juice before it stains your carpet, consider making a stain remover using hydrogen peroxide. While this bleaching ingredient may sound toxic, it offers a safer alternative to traditional chlorinated bleach. Due to its bleaching ability, do not use this solution on darker colors of carpet and rugs.

Soak up the remaining juice using clean paper towels. Then, combine 1 tablespoon of warm water with 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide in a bowl. Pour the solution directly on the affected area of carpet and use a clean cloth to blot the stained area. Continue blotting with your cloth until the stain begins to lighten. If the stain does not lighten after a few minutes, add more of the solution and continue to blot.

Sippy cups may have a lid, but they are known to spill when carried around by a toddler. Fortunately, cleaning up your toddler's juice is possible without the use of harsh chemicals. Using these safe, non-VOC solutions, you can remove juice spills from your toddler's sippy cup.  

If you are still having problems, consider contacting carpet cleaning companies that offer green methods, such as Southwest Chem-Dry.