The Bane of Stains: Shoe Polish

With most people working from home, it was no longer a high priority to keep shoes clean and shiny. In many cases, people had meetings with clients and teams over virtual options like Zoom or Skype. Attendees could wear a shirt and tie while keeping comfy with sweatpants or shorts below the camera. Dress shoes? Who needed them?

Now that COVID vaccines are plentiful, businesses are opening their doors to customers, employees, staff and managers. Despite personal desires to keep the status quo as far as working from home, we might be directed to attend meetings in person again or come to the office. Time to shine up those shoes! But in the panic of preparing for that interview or presentation, you might get a little too liberal with the shoe polish, and it ends up on the carpet before you know it.

DIY is Good for Shoe Shining, Bad for Shoe Polish Stains

Although there were versions of shoe “blackening” before the 19th century, it wasn’t until World War I and II that “spit and polish” shoe shines became standard business wear. Since that time, many cultures invested in the saying “You can tell a lot about a person by their shoes.” What that means for carpet care is a lot more shoe polish stains.

Many online DIY instructions suggest using WD-40 or acetone to remove the stain. Preferred Carpet Care does not recommend such solvents as they are dangerous to use and often have fumes that could increase risk to the user or those in the area. The lubricants in WD-40 can even make things much worse, depending on the type of carpet. Instead, here’s what you should do, if you don’t want go easy on yourself and just invite Preferred Carpet Care to take care of the job for you:

1. Remove the excess with a dull-edged instrument like a putty knife. Also, try removing the stain by dabbing it with a white paper towel.
2. Pour rubbing alcohol on a clean white cloth or paper towel. Blot the stain. Repeat until there is no more color transference to the cloth. Remember not to pour alcohol directly onto the stain, as the alcohol could destroy the latex bond of the carpet backing.
3. If the stain persists, use 1 teaspoon of dish-washing detergent (without bleach or lanolin) and 2 cups of water. Dab the mixture into the stain, working from the outside inward. If you see color or polish transference, continue the process of dabbing with blotting until there is no more transference.
4. If this mixture does not seem to be working, add 1 teaspoon of ammonia to the mixture and dab into place on the stain, then blot the area with clean, dry paper towels.
5. Rinse the area with water, using a spray bottle, and blot to remove the excess.
6. Spray again with water, but this time apply weighted paper towels to absorb the excess.

It might be that your chosen brand of shoe polish has something extra to boost its resilience, and the stain is keeping its foothold. At that point, it’s time to call in Preferred Carpet Care in Redding and schedule an appointment. With our expertise, equipment, training and skill, we’ll help you kick that shoe polish stain to the curb!