Q: We decided to have a New Year’s Eve party at our house this year which turned out to be a little more successful than I had imagined with friends, family and even the neighbours joining us to see the clock hit midnight!

I prepared the house as much as I could beforehand, cleaning and removing any valuables and furniture that might get damaged, however my floors appear to have been the most effected with spilt drinks, muddy shoes and even a cigarette burn left on what was previously a relatively new cream carpet. Is there any way of restoring my carpet without having to replace it?

A: Stain Removal: ServiceMaster Clean specialises in carpet, curtain and upholstery cleaning and understands that during the festive season your flooring will receive more wear and tear than usual. As your guests mingle and move around your home all kinds of things can accidentally mark or damage your carpet. ServiceMaster Clean suggest when trying to remove a stain, start at the edges of the mark and work inwards to prevent it spreading and always test on an inconspicuous part of the carpet beforehand. A great little tip for a spilt glass of red wine is soda water to flush the wine from the carpet fibres.

Cigarette Burn: As the pile of the carpet is burnt rather than stained, restoring the carpet to its former glory is actually a job for the experts. Scrubbing alone won’t make any difference. You could try calling in a specialist company such as ServiceMaster Clean who will be able to diagnose the severity of the burn or mark and will treat accordingly to repair the damage.

For a small burn caused by a cigarette the patch can be re-tufted. This involves taking out the damaged tufts of the carpet and either re-weaving the effected area with new yarn or alternatively using individual tufts from a piece of excess carpet.

If the burn is quite deep, the area of carpet can be treated with a micro sheer, which is a tool unique to ServiceMaster Clean. The micro sheer trims a fine layer off the top of the carpet and with a bit of skill from a ServiceMaster Clean expert can successfully treat a burn up to 12mm deep. The area is gently feathered out giving an even appearance and leaving your carpet free from marks!

With a more noticeable mark where the burn is more severe there is the option to replace individual sections with your left over pieces of carpet. ServiceMaster Clean can replace and repair the area leaving behind a seamlessly restored carpet.

ServiceMaster Clean Expert Tip: If you have no stain removal products to hand and need to tackle a stain on your carpet or upholstery immediately, a dab of vodka or gin works well on most stains dabbing and blotting until the mark is less obvious.

ServiceMaster Clean can provide one off specialist cleans or regular cleans with prices tailored to your carpet or upholstery. For more information about ServiceMaster Clean log onto www.servicemasterclean.co.uk or telephone 0800 021 3073.