In our daily routine, an upsy daisy moment tends to come from spills or other accidents on the floors and furniture. In order to make the upsy daisy moment a positive instead of a negative, try these tips to make your floors and furniture more resistant to spills and stains.
1. Keep your floors and furniture clean. For rugs, carpet and upholstery, be sure to vacuum regularly. For hardwood, vinyl or tile floors, sweep daily and dry mop regularly. The frequency will depend on how much use it gets, but plan somewhere between daily to weekly.
2. Get your floors and upholstered furniture cleaned on a regular schedule so stains from dirt and regular use do not have a chance to set in and create that permanent dingy look. The recommendation for floor and furniture cleaning is once every 6-12 months for maintenance cleaning and schedule cleanings as needed in between to deal with problems such as pet stains, food and/or drink spills or anything else that requires cleaning the floor or furniture before the next scheduled deep clean.
3. On rugs, carpet and upholstery use a good protector after each cleaning to make the material more stain resistant between cleanings.
4. Whenever your floors or furniture get wet, be sure to allow enough time for them to dry completely before using them to avoid ground in dirt bonding to the fabric. If you must walk on wet floors, use clean white socks to avoid transfer of dirt or fabric dye.
5. If you do get a spill or other accident between cleanings:
a. Blot up the spill as much as possible as quickly as possible.
b. Test in an inconspicuous spot first to check for discoloration or damage before trying any cleaning options in a highly visible area.
c. Try a basic hot water and gentle dish soap mixture applied with a clean rag to work the stain and rinse with clean water.
d. If that does not work, try vinegar with baking powder (not baking soda) to clean the area. Do not use this if you are trying to clean a pet stain. Vinegar and ammonia both have that acrid odor that may attract the pet to try to use that spot again.
e. If you have a steam iron, you can try to use the steam setting to iron a clean cloth over the stain. The steam may help move the stain from the affected material to the cloth. If you see transfer after the first try, continue to iron the stain, but be sure you are rotating the cloth or changing it out so the stain does not get transferred back to the affected material again.
f. After any of the above cleaning techniques, allow the area to dry completely before using it again.
g. Call ServiceMaster 5 Points Athens to do a professional cleaning to make sure the stain is fully cleaned. Surface cleaning may make the stain appear to be gone, but if the stain is under the surface, it can come back up at a later time making the spill magically reappear.
By taking these steps, you can minimize the damage from stains and spills. This makes the upsy daisy moment into a positive funny story instead of a negative permanent stain.
