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Most people keep their carpets clean enough using nothing more than a vacuum cleaner, with water and carpet shampoo on standby if any deep stains are made. Unfortunately, trusting yourself instead of hiring a professional can mean that stains keep coming back instead of vanishing for good, and that can be a real pain when you've been on your knees scrubbing it away just a few hours or days before.

However, it's no mystery why this happens. Here are just three reasons improper cleaning can lead to returning carpet stains.

1. Using Too Much Water

When people try to get rid of carpet stains by themselves, they often use too much water. This does help lift the stain and dilute the shampoo, but using lots of water often means that moisture penetrates right down to the carpet backing and underlying pad.

This moisture will then mix with what originally caused the stain and become dirty and discoloured itself. Some of it will be removed through blotting when you're trying to dry the carpet out, but not all. Your carpet will look good for a bit, but dirty water will gradually wick up into the carpet fibres as moisture evaporates and the carpet dries. If your stains reappear as the carpet dries, this is probably why.

2. Using Too Much Shampoo

One of the main problems with using shampoo is that it's quite hard to get rid of all the residue. If you don't completely rinse and blot the affected area, some shampoo residue will remain. You won't notice it at first, but the problem is that shampoo residue is quite sticky. It attracts dirt, dust, and grime to the same spot you just cleaned.

In this case, the stain won't be the same colour as before but will stick to the same sort of area. You're especially likely to notice such returning stains across high traffic areas.

3. Not Getting Down Deep

Vacuuming is great for everyday cleaning, but vacuums can't get to dirt and debris right at the bottom of your carpet where the fibres are their thickest. Shampooing can do a better job, but you still might miss dirt, grime, and other staining agents that go down deep, especially if you have a deep or thick pile carpet.

You might think the stain is gone, but it could only be gone from the top. As people keep walking on the carpet, they'll work fibres down and against each other, causing dirt and stains to work their way back up. For more information, contact local carpet cleaning professionals.