Coffee spill – don’t panic

 

It is bound to happen.  If not a full pot of tea, or a freshly filled cafetière, then a bump of the elbow that deposits a few decent sized splashes of your cuppa onto the carpet.  It happened to me last week at home.

The rug is a flat weave wool and as my wife was quick to point out – expensive.  I reckoned this would be as good a subject as any for my next blog.  How to remove a coffee spill from your rug or carpet without too much fuss or any machinery.

So, first things first.  Don’t panic.  Put the mug down and get a good handful of kitchen paper towel.  A tea towel would suffice if not.  Fold it into quarters and gently blot up the liquid.  Gentle presses are all that is needed to absorb the spill.  Use a fresh bit of the paper towel for each blot.

Quite quickly it will look as though no more is going to come out as the amount transferring to the paper towel lessens.  It is quite normal for the splashes to still be visible.  Get some fresh paper towel and have it several layers deep.  Place it over the whole spill area.  Put a heavy weight on top – a thick book is ideal.

Leave it for a few hours and then remove the towel.  This may have removed everything but sometimes a small trace may still be visible.  You can use a small amount of water and start blotting again.  Even better use a stain removing product sparingly.  Be sure you’re using something that won’t cause any damage.

Leave it to dry and with any luck the coffee has gone.  This should work for most water based spills.  I’ve made a short video which highlights the steps taken.