[Richard Meads]

We all know the situation, pricing up a job, and there is clearly a problem stain, and the custy has used vanish/2001 etc etc! She says "The dog was ill and with small children I had to clean it up well" Now I'm not about to tell the customer she should have dabbed with a little cold water!

Now we'd all love it if customers called us out for every spill, but that just doesn't happen. What is safe for a customer to use to clean up after pets/children's accidents?

[Neil Williams]

Using a spoon scrape up from outside to inside any lumps.
Multi fold a towel and absorb what you can.
Apply warm water and then absorb what you can, repeat, repeat.

If that works great. if it doesn't and the customer doesn't understand the basics of chemistry (acids, alkalines etc) then leave alone and call someone who knows what they are doing.

If they must use vanish etc then very diluted, then apply water gently rub and absorb, then reapply water until no more foam etc is present.

And that's as far as I ever allow customers to think that they can do it for themselves.

If they do have the common sense to phone me after an accident I will then try and talk them through what can be done with whatever they tell me they have to hand. I once kept a customer applying water via a sprayer for an hour (to emulsion paint) until I got there. Which was the difference between 30 minutes work and possibly hours work if it had set.

[Richard Meads]

Hi Neil,

She had been on my website and said "I know that you are only supposed to use water" and I left it at that.

She had also sprayed with anti-bacterial spray, and I get that with children running about she wanted it "safe".

She is happy and knows that I can't put the colour back in to the big bleached out spot in the middle (!) when I clean it 

[MAX Carpets]

Is 2001 a new version of 1001?

[markpowell]

I tell them to use cold water and white vinegar mixed 1-1, apply and place towel on top with something heavy on top, then i go round and rinse out.
Mark

[Stu.Clem]

Always spot n dab with just COLD water then as much kitchen roll as they can afford to absorb / transfer the stain also usin the blunt spoon method for thicker lumpy accidents first - if u tell em to use warm water on blood for instance it will make your job so much harder if they then call u too clean it...

Stu