Mustard, Mustard, Mustard…why mustard on my new carpet! Yes…not good, but there’s not much you can do about it…blame it on the mustard and move on! Yes, I know, it’s not that easy having a huge yellow spot in the middle of your living room! So what can you do? The answer…very little! This is why mustard can become more of a permanent problem than a tasty one!

Here’s the deal with mustard. Typically, the first ingredient in mustard is distilled vinegar. As we all know, vinegar can be used for many different things…good and bad! The good, distilled vinegar is one of the most universal products known around the world to clean and cook with. The bad…mustard!! I’m not picking on mustard here, it’s one of my favorite condiments for classic American junk food! From burgers to pretzels…I like it! But, the distilled vinegar can make the removal of mustard very difficult. The reason, distilled vinegar is basically a mild acid! This is why you can use vinegar to remove lime scale from water faucets and shower tile. The vinegar pretty much dissolves it, therefore removing lime scale residue. With mustard, it opens the carpet fiber and acts as a catalyst for the yellow called “Tumeric” to penetrate and cause permanent staining. Basically, the distilled vinegar opens the door for the tumeric to adhere to the carpet fiber. Tumeric is actually used in parts of the world as a fabric dye to color clothing!

So, what is tumeric? It’s a bright yellow aromatic powder obtained from the rhizome from a plant. The plant is related to the ginger family. The plant looks kinda like a sweet potato, but longer! The plant is then broken down an dried into a powder form. Once liquefied, the yellow color penetrates the carpet fiber with assistance from the distilled vinegar (discussed above) and “BAM” you have a mustard stain!

So what can you do to remove the stain? The truth, most people end up making it worse! The reason, most retail stain removers contain solvents and detergents! These chemicals can promote stain adhesion in some ways. There are several different variables that go into the stain removal process such as synthetic or natural fiber carpet. When treating your carpet for a mustard stain, you must know the compound from which your carpet was made. If not, your probably going to make the stain worse! Carpet is attached to the floor and cannot be thrown into the washing machine like clothing. My, point you can fade a mustard over time using color & whitening safe bleach alternative products on the market. You cannot do this with carpet.

Now that we have discussed what’s in mustard, you are probably wanting the answer on how to remove the staining from your carpet. This article was written to explain why mustard stains and the difficulty of removing it. Basically, to develop an understanding of why mustard can be so difficult to remove. We recommend contacting a professional carpet cleaning service to assist in removing the stain. There are some DIY methods, but be cautious when pre-treating. Once a stain has been pre-treated, if done improperly, you run a 50% chance of the stain becoming permanent.