by Josh Palmer

Laundry detergent is one most common household items found within the home. If you spill detergent on carpet, you could spend hours trying to remove it becaues the very thick liquid gets deep into carpet fibers. It could take several hours for you to even make a dent. One of the best ways to take care of the problem is to use a heavy-duty vacuum cleaner as well as a steamer.

Here's a quick guide to help you remove laundry detergent from your carpet.

1. Run your kitchen faucet until the water is as hot as it can get. Make sure that the water is at its highest temperature to effectively remove the laundry detergent from your carpet. Wash a bottle so that there is no left over residue from the former liquid. Fill a clean spray bottle with the hot water.
2. Spray down the entire surface of the carpet that has the laundry detergent embedded in it with the hot water. Run your hand over the carpet until it feels sudsy like a sponge. Use the vacuum cleaner to vacuum up excess water from the carpet. After you have vacuumed up the excess water the carpet fibers will still be wet.
3. Allow the carpet to sit for a couple of minutes. This will allow the laundry detergent to separate from the fibers. Repeat the process with your high-powered vacuum cleaner until you have gotten most of laundry detergent out of the carpet. Use a towel to dab the carpet until the rest of the laundry detergent has come up. Although it may seem that the carpet is clean and all of the laundry detergent has been removed, there are still particles embedded in the fibers that could potentially damage your carpet or pets.
4. Rent a steam cleaner or borrow one from a friend after you have successfully extracted most of the laundry detergent from the carpet. Fill the steam cleaner up with the cleaning solution provided with the unit and then fill the water container to the fill line. The fill line should be at the front or back of the water tank. Do not overfill the tank as this could damage the unit. Run the steam cleaner over the spot on the carpet until the carpet fibers feel like they have gone back to their normal texture.

If you don't want to undergo the task of getting laundry detergent out of your carpet yourself, contact a carpet company that specializes in stain removal. Professional carpet cleaning companies have specialized equipment to remove the detergent and leave your carpet fresh. Carpet cleaning companies use specific steam cleaners and chemicals to break down the detergent components. You can even contact a carpet company after you have tried to remove the detergent yourself.