Flooring Stain of the Month--Mustard

Colonel Mustard often is a doer of dastardly deeds in Clue. His namesake condiment is among the most heinous of flooring staining agents.

This month's "Flooring Stain of the Month" is good 'ole mustard. Mustard has been around for centuries. It is mentioned specifically in several instances in the Bible, for example. Most mustards, e.g., the traditional yellow (a.k.a. "ball park") varieties like Plochman's, French's, Heinz and the like, contain a substance called "turmeric." Turmeric essentially is a dye, which means if mustard containing this dye contacts flooring there is a strong chance that the product literally will change the color of the flooring. Obviously, factors such as the length of contact and type of flooring (e.g., carpet + mustard = bad news as the mustard literally can dye the product a new color) also impact the damage done.

Here are some tips to consider when confronting that dastardly mustard stain on your flooring.

First, remain calm. While, the stain--particularly if set in--may look unsightly, it is possible that acting too rashly may make the problem worse. Remember, we are dealing with floor covering, not life or death!

Second, review very, very carefully any and all instructions and ingredients on the cleaner you intend to use. You should almost always use a cleaner or cleaning agent specifically approved by the manufacturer of the flooring (more on the manufacturer below). This is critical not only to ensure you do not void potential warranty coverage but also beacause certain cleaners may contain components that actually will make your flooring stain worse. For example, with regard to mustard specifically, other sources report that chemicals such as ammonia, often found in household cleaners, will set a mustard stain more thoroughly into fabric. Rather than helping the situation, you may be hurting it. This tidbit about ammonia and mustard being a bad mix is especially scary given that one of the most popular responses to a Google Search (if not the most popular) regarding mustard stain removal from flooring actually recommends (as of this date) using ammonia. Yikes! The lesson here is you cannot be too careful. EVEN IF YOU BELIEVE YOUR CLEANER IS ACCEPTABLE, BEFORE MOVING FORWARD, PROCEED THROUGH THE NEXT STEP!

Third, if at all possible, contact the retailer who sold you the floor as well as the flooring manufacturer. While this may seem like overkill, no one will be able to address nuances that may be involved in stain removal better than the product's manufacturer. At a minimum, hop on the manufacturer's web site--you obviously are comfortable enough with computers and the Internet as they relate to floor covering to be perusing this blog. There generally is no excuse for not likewise checking out the manufacturer's specific recommendations. Need help finding the proper site? Keep in mind that an earlier entry to this blog contains a host of links to helpful flooring manufacturer web sites. To jump there, click here.

With regard to mustard stains, you will find that hard surface flooring manufacturers, such as Armstrong, have specific products they recommend and (unfortunately) that for mustard stains in particular that they emphasize the stain may not be entirely removeable. Other suppliers, such as Crossville--a porcelain tile manufacturer--provide more general guidelines, grouping mustard together along with a series of culinary staining agents but at least referencing specific cleaning products to attack the problem.

Furthermore, when it comes to carpeting, the fabric manufacturers may have specific recommendations for removal of particular stains. As an example, Stainmaster--perhaps among the more famous fabric providers--offers a specific set of instructions for mustard stain treatment on its own Stainmaster web site.

Certainly with certain hard surface products and a fresh stain in particular, you may believe that the "need for speed" outweighs expending significant research time on removal techniques. Ultimately, that judgment call is up to you and neither I, this post, nor anyone else can take responsibility for the consequences either way. Keep in mind, regardless of when you reach this point, that with regard to fresh stains always blot, never rub.

If your mustard stain has dried and set, you may have little chance of resolving the stain completely if at all (again, depending upon the floor covering involved). Your best hope is to utilize some type of tooling (even your finger) to scrape away (do not rub or grind) dried portions of the mustard stain prior to applying any liquid or liquid cleaner.

At some point, you may decide to "go MacGyver" on your stain. Particularly if you eschew the flooring manufacturer's and retailer's recommendations, you are on your own and may even void warranty coverage that otherwise might help you (this would always depend on the circumstances--product, timing, etc., yet another reason to always investigate prior to acting rashly).