Did you just pre-treat that carpet stain? Well yes, why do you ask? I’m asking because some stains do not require a pre-treatment. But, I read online to pre-treat the pet stain with a vinegar and water solution. Do you believe everything you read online? Well no, but the article was posted on a nice website and it sounded good. That’s great, but may I give you some advice? That would be nice. Okay, here goes…DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ ONLINE!! First, anybody can post an article online on just about anything. All because the article sounds good does not mean it’s true! Second, a nice website do not constitute truth either! We have also found store bought rugs tagged with incorrect cleaning instructions…very common!

Here’s why pre-treating stains is not always a good thing. First, there are many different types of stains caused from different types of sources such as food, coffee, tea, wine, paint…you get the point! My point is, there all different in their own way. We cannot possibly discuss all of them here, but we can discuss the drawbacks from pre-treating. Before we go further, some stains are worth pre-treating, but that’s another article for another time. Here we go, there are two different types of drink and food stains that come from dyes. These are called “Synthetic” and “Organic” dyes. We will discuss these since they are the most common. Synthetic dyes are from drink products such as kool-aid, Hawaiian Punch or anything containing red, blue, green, orange or yellow synthetic dyes. You will find the majority of these dyes in kids dessert foods and soft drinks / juice boxes. Synthetic dyes are made from petroleum and approved for use by the FDA to enhance the color of processed foods. They are made in a lab with chemicals derived from petroleum…oh yes…really good for you (yuck)! Well, because of dyes being derived from petroleum, this means, when spilled onto carpet or upholstery, the dye penetrates the fibers causing the stain. So yes, the food dye actually penetrates the fibers from olefin, nylon and polyester. Once stained, pre-treating the stain is pointless and a waste of time. There are no retail products that work well for synthetic dye removal. If you decide to pre-treat a (synthetic red dye) stain it will just go from bright red to pink…the stain will remain! Also, the stain will be more difficult to remove at a later time. So now you have a huge pink stain that’s more difficult to remove because of the pre-treatment process…not good…what’s the point…leave it alone!

Next, are the “Organic” dyes from wine, coffee, tea and natural fruit juices. These types of stains can be super difficult to remove and cause discoloring that actually changes color over time. For example, spaghetti sauce stain is red, but changes to yellow over time. Same with red wine, stain starts out red, but changes to a green / gray color months later…kinda weird! If you were to pre-treat an organic stain, it will change immediately to a different color and stain the fiber even more! Some say, just soak the stain in club soda…sorry, not going to work! It might lighten the stain some but only a ammonia / peroxide base will remove the discoloration…period! Don’t get me wrong, do what you want if it works, but typically your wasting your time and making the removal process more difficult! My point, why pre-treat something that is only going to make it more difficult! But, if you jump online, there are many articles about stain pre-treating…pure rubbish! We could break down the chemistry of it all, but sure you have better things to do…you get the point! The bottom line, dyes are called dyes for a reason! They are going to stain whatever they come in contact with…period!