1001 Spot Shot Carpet Stain Remover

...lighter I walked out with 1001 Spot Shot for Carpets.

Now initially, I was reluctant to buy another 1001 product when the one I had hadn't worked so I looked at all the different variants of Vanish along with other makes. However, Spot Shot claims "..with it's fresh scent formula it provides immediate help in removing even the toughest stains without scrubbing. Just a quick blast and stains disappear before your eyes. Odours disappear ...
...urine) are no match for 1001 Spot Shot's outstanding cleaning power"…With NO other product actually stating what it could treat and the fact that this mentioned coffee (even though mine was tea), and was made by the WD40 Company, I was swayed to make the decision.

This Spot Shot comes in an aerosol can and looks just like the picture above so no need for a description. However the spray nozzle has a extra piece jutting out from ... more

When I get tired, I get clumsy, very clumsy. I drop things, knock things and walk into things as I misjudge how close they are. Sorting out some things that required floor space, I used our study/office for ease of use. Having made my cup of tea I had placed it on the desk but being lazy picked it up and placed it on the floor next to me. 2 minutes later and not realising it was as close as it was, the tea was all over the floor! Now we don't cups….we have MUGS…BIG MUGS.
Needless to say there was lots of running to and fro with paper towel and damp cloths, trying to clean up as much as possible…you get the picture. The result was that I was left with a nice brown tea stain on a beige/mushroom coloured carpet. Having tried 1001's Carpet Cleaner over the next couple of days it didn't shift it at all, just sort of moved the stain round a bit and the mix of damp carpet and the small amount of milk in the tea also started to make it rather whiffy. So 4 days later, the earliest chance I had, I headed to our local ironmongers to see what was on offer (they tend to have a bigger selection that the supermarket). 15 minutes later, with some help from the staff and £5.25 lighter I walked out with 1001 Spot Shot for Carpets.

Now initially, I was reluctant to buy another 1001 product when the one I had hadn't worked so I looked at all the different variants of Vanish along with other makes. However, Spot Shot claims "..with it's fresh scent formula it provides immediate help in removing even the toughest stains without scrubbing. Just a quick blast and stains disappear before your eyes. Odours disappear too, eliminated by specially formulated neutralisers. Even old stains from greasy foods, coffee, cola, wine, make-up, blood, oily dirt and pets (including urine) are no match for 1001 Spot Shot's outstanding cleaning power"…With NO other product actually stating what it could treat and the fact that this mentioned coffee (even though mine was tea), and was made by the WD40 Company, I was swayed to make the decision.

This Spot Shot comes in an aerosol can and looks just like the picture above so no need for a description. However the spray nozzle has a extra piece jutting out from it allow you to have a concentrated jet of Stain Remover.

As with all stain removers it advises you to test a small area first. I didn't simply because I was impatient and wanted to try it out but then our study carpet was only a cheap one with a very short pile and nothing could be worse than a smelly tea stain!

Basically after shaking the can, you point and spray the liquid onto the carpet, without saturating it. Blot with a clean white absorbent cloth. Repeat these steps until the treatment is finished then blot with cold clean water with and against the pile and leave to dry…no need for any scrubbing. Don't walk on it either whilst it's drying obviously.

You can use Spot Shot on old stains too according to the can, just keep spraying, leave for 60 seconds and then blot and repeat until the stain is gone then use the water etc.

So that's what THEY say, what was it like to use?

Having shaken the can I aim and fire, it certainly comes out like a strong jet and made me jump the first time! Being such a small jet if you were treating a small stain spot you'd just have to give a quick blast to see where the liquid ended up and adjust your position accordingly. This is surprisingly easy to do despite me thinking I would waste loads trying to hit the target area if it was a small stain. No where on the can does it say 'hold at arms length' or 'x amount of inches away' so I just held it about 6" away and although it comes out very fast, you don't saturate the carpet as it's an automatic reaction to either stop or move the spray to another area. Once the liquid Spot Shot hits the carpet, for a millisecond it turns white and bubbles up and then sinks in. As my stain hadn't actually dried out fully and had been there for a few days I was undecided how to treat it so opted for the 'leave for 60 seconds '. I started to blot but this seemed pointless as with such a short pile I wasn't really making any difference so ended up gently rubbing the carpet in small circular motions with an old tea towel to ensure I attacked the stain from all angles. A couple of minutes later when I was satisfied I'd done to whole area, I stood back to see. No one was more surprised than me to see that the stain had completely vanished!!
To say I was astounded would be an understatement, so many times have I read the claims of a product only to find it's no where near as good as they say and for once Spot Shot actually did all it claimed. Even though the carpet was a darker colour being damp, the brown had definitely gone.

I finished off by using another tea towel to blot with water although the blotting turned into the small circular motions again! I couldn't see the point of this and can only assume it's to neutralise the chemicals in the product as the blotting didn't seem to 'lift' the tea into the tea towel.. Which brings me to the point that whilst the can is good in telling me what it does do, there is no list of what Spot Shot contains, not even just one of the ingredients which I find rather odd. I must point out it contains the usual safety instructions, keep away from naked flame, use in a ventilated area, keep away from children etc. It does not mention pets apart from do not use near birds (the feathered variety!) We have a dog and I think the smell got up her nose as she sneezed a lot but that was all. Please always read the can fully before use anyway to check it's suitability.

I would also agree with the 'fresh scent'. Whilst this does have a chemically smell, it's not as bad as others and as my PC is in the same room, I've smelt this for a few hours (it was just too chilly to open a window) and it's not set off a migraine or made me feel ill like some similar stain removers. The closest I can get to describing the smell is it's like that of a spray window cleaner. I used this 2 days ago and the chemically smell has gone and the whiffy one has not returned…thank goodness.

So all in all I was over the moon that for a tad over a fiver I had got rid of the stain completely, the nasty whiff had gone and the carpet was back to it's normal colour, something I didn't expect to happen. I used about half a can on the stain which was about 12" x 10" by the time I'd made it worse with the carpet cleaner. I will certainly make sure I always have a can indoors as I know I will have another 'accident', it's just a case of when!

I would thoroughly recommend 1001 Spot Shot, it is easy to use and provides excellent results, and I am usually very sceptical of products like this. The 'no scrubbing' claim is also true as I gently rubbed and it worked just fine, neither did it leave the carpet feeling 'stiff'. The 'fresh scent' isn't too overpowering and doesn't take too long to disperse either. The carpet took just over 24 hours to dry out completely during which time I kept waiting for the stain to re-appear but it didn't. I'd say it's good value for money (though I could have happily spent the fiver in the Lush shop!) as I still have half a can left and it actually did what it claimed. I also tried Spot Shot on a small oil stain (that was left by the swivel chair) and even though this mark was months old it managed to remove that too after about 4 treatments, still without any scrubbing. The only problem I can see is availability as I know it's not stocked in my Tesco which is huge so check out the local ironmongers, you may stand more of a chance of finding it.

I wish I'd thought to take some photos after I'd knocked the tea over but I have included an 'after' one and you can just see where the stain was but only because of all the scrubbing has lifted the pile more and therefore makes it noticeable but I can assure you it's all back to being the same colour.

Info : www.wd40.co.uk. Tele 0800 027 3340.
WD40 Company Ltd,
P.O. Box 440,
Kiln Farm,
Milton Keynes,
MK11 3LF

Thanks for making it to the end!

HotBabes
© Nov 2007 

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