Carpet Stain Protection – Does It Really Work?

Posted on 09 February 2017

Carpet Stain Protection – Does It Really Work?

Having a nice looking carpet is always good; some see it has a luxury when purchasing a really nice, thick piled carpet for their favourite room. One of those soft pale carpets, that you can sink your feet in to and just feel the luxury and see the improvement in the room when it’s first fitted. Some of us though hesitate when purchasing such a carpet for fear of destroying it in no time at all, be it a stain from our shoes or dropped glass of wine. Then we have the salesman trying to tell us that we need to splash out on the stain protector or scotch guarding which makes it even more costly and we start to wonder does carpet stain protection really work? Is carpet stain protection worth it?

Is Carpet Stain Protector Worth Paying For?

Whether carpet stain protector is worth paying for is always going to be a matter of opinion but you cannot answer that question truthfully for yourself if you do not have all the information in the first place. There are a number of factors to consider before deciding if you want to spend the extra on stain protector, whether it is when you first buy the carpet or having the carpet professionally cleaned and are considering having it stain protected afterwards.

Without trying to bore you to sleep we will provide the facts about stain protector and answer some of your questions so you can decide whether or not you feel the cost of carpet stain protector is worth it.

If you’re reading this you have asked the correct first question, does carpet stain protection really work? And in short YES it does, but there are as I have said above factors to consider first. All things that you should be asked before any salesman, be it the one selling you carpet from new or the professional carpet cleaner who is offering you stain protection as part of their cleaning services, proceeds in taking your hard earned cash to apply stain protection to the carpet.

Stain Protector Is Stain Protector Right?

There are different types of stain protector or Scotchguard, not everyone knows that Scotchguard is actually just a brand, a manufacturer of stain protector treatments, its not the name for stain protection just one manufacturer.

There are different options, some carpets have stain protection built in to the carpet, meaning the inside of the fibre, the fibre core is stain protected. For example SmartStrand Forever Clean has no dye sites for spills to adhere to, giving permanent protection. Then you have pre applied synthetic coatings, which are in place when you purchase the carpet and spray carpet protectors which can be applied to carpets that are already in place whether they have previously had stain protector or not.

Stain protection doesn’t last forever!

That’s right when someone tells you, “oh don’t have stain protection I spilt a drink on my carpet and it soaked straight in the stain protection didn’t do a thing” ask them how old there carpet was. Why? Because stain protector wears away, friction, light and cleaning can all have an effect on the stain protector slowly wearing the protection away.

So if the answer to how old was the carpet and they say oh three years and I had it cleaned just six months before that, you will have your answer, at the time they spilt that drink they didn’t even have stain protection.

It is advised that you have carpets cleaned once every 12 months which will keep them looking fresh and hygienically clean too, but if you have and want stain protection always get it reapplied at the same time.

Stain Protection is not miracle prevention

Don’t listen to anyone that tells you it will stop any stain, essentially stain protection gives you extra time when dealing with liquid spills, meaning you have a few more seconds to run and grab that paper towel to soak up the spillage.

It can help tracking marks but will not last forever and is not really meant for that purpose, so if that is what you are after, stain protection is not the answer, the better option would be to purchase a darker colour and go synthetic not high wool content or better still, hard flooring.

Stain protection may not work on all fibre types

It depends on the stain protection option that is being offered or you may just need to ensure the type of protector is the right one for the fibre your carpet is made up of but some protectors do not work on synthetic carpets and it is pretty much pointless on a 100% synthetic carpet, however on the flip side if you have 100% wool in my opinion some form of stain protection is essential.

Always check with the carpet manufacturer or the carpet cleaner that the type of stain protection being applied is suitable for the carpet style you have.

It does not stop colour fading

Again not what it is designed for, and direct sunlight for prolonged periods can have an effect on the stain protection itself. Colour fade is something that will happen with most types of carpets and stain protector will have no effect on that what so ever it is a clear coating after all.

So you have all the facts, now you just need to decide if stain protection will help you prevent stains in your home? For me personally I have stain protector downstairs, in my lounge and dining room (all other floors down stairs are hard flooring), this helps me be sure that we can react quickly enough to any spillages, which we have plenty of with young kids running around. Upstairs however even though my carpets are 80/20 wool I don’t bother, we don’t allow drinks upstairs so there is very little risk of staining upstairs.

If that has answered your questions and you are still thinking it may be worthwhile, there is just one last question How much does carpet stain protector cost? But that one takes a little more research as it it’s a little like how long is a piece of string, it will depend on if it’s new carpet or ready installed carpet, the size of the room and location. What I can tell you is stain protection applied as part of professional carpet cleaning can co as little as £10 per room, which if the risk is high f a stain, it’s probably a very small investment. However book your carpet clean with Vapor Clean in February and we are offering all our carpet clean customers free stain protection… grab a bargain now!