Getting beer stains out of your carpet isn’t just about getting the stain out, it’s about getting the smell out as well. Beer won’t necessarily leave such a horrifying stain on your carpet as red wine, but the smell can linger in the air for weeks if not treated correctly. That being said, here is how to get the beer stain and smell out of your carpet if someone gets carried away during a game and spills their suds on your rug.
Step 1: It doesn’t matter whether you spill a beer on upholstery or carpeting, the clean-up is the same. Since this will be a big spill, you will first need to sop up as much beer as possible. Get a beach towel or several of them to do this and then throw them in the washer. Leaving towels lying around is one of the reasons why the beer smell lingers so long.
Step 2: Beer is one of those deceptive liquids in the fact that when it is spilled on carpets or upholstery, it doesn’t leave an immediate stain like red wine or chocolate. So, as soon as someone has mopped up the carpet with a beach towel and there is no immediate stain, most people forget about it and go back to the game or the party. It’s the next day when you realize that the stain and the smell (especially with stouter ales) is still around.
So the next thing that you have to do to prevent this is to take a mixture of one tablespoon of white vinegar and then 2/3 of a cup of rubbing alcohol and dab it on the carpet or upholstery until the stain (if there is one already) or the smell is gone. As opposed to sopping up the beer with a beach towel, use clean paper towels to apply the mixture and blot at the stain until all of the mixture is absorbed. You can also use one tablespoon of white vinegar and one tablespoon of clear dish detergent diluted with water to do the same job.
Step 3: Make sure to complete Step 2. Of course, no one wants to stop and be dabbing paper towels delicately at spot on the carpet during a get-together, but you need to take some time out and do it while the stain is fresh, otherwise there may be a stain and a smell that may be more difficult to get out the next day.
Step 4: Sponge the area with cool water to make sure that you get up all of the vinegar and dish detergent. This will make sure everything is gone and you won’t have to worry about it the next day.
Bonus Tip: The same directions can also be followed when it comes to red wine spills, although the most successful way to remove a red wine spill is to dab some white wine and table salt on it. The white wine acts to neutralize the color in the red wine and it can be cleaned up easier with some carpet cleaner.
