Everyone loves a spaghetti dinner, but how do you get those tomato sauce stains out of your carpet? Very simply: act fast, blot, and do not rub!

The longer you wait, the more the tomato sauce will cling to the carpet fibers. It's always a good idea to keep some cleaning products on hand so you don't have to make a trip to the store when you have a spill. You should have: dishwashing detergent, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, and club soda on hand.

• Remove as much excess sauce as possible, and using a spoon or the blunt side of a knife, scoop or scrape off the tomato sauce. Start out from the furthest part of the stain and work inward so as not to spread the stain.
• Apply a little club soda and blot the spot, and use a paper towel to dry the area as much as possible.
• After that, mix a tablespoon of liquid dish detergent with 2 cups of cool water.
• Blot the stain and rinse with cold water, and blot with napkins when done.

If the above instructions do not work, try this:

• Mix 1 tablespoon of ammonia with a 1/2 cup of cool water (Warning! Be careful handling ammonia. Use gloves, and never mix ammonia with bleach!)
• Do a test area spot to ensure it's safe for the colorfastness of the carpet.
• Apply the ammonia solution and blot the sauce stain, then rinse with cool water and blot dry with paper towels.

If the stain still isn't gone after using the ammonia solution, try this:

• Create a hydrogen peroxide solution with 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide and 3 tablespoons of cool water.
• Do a test area spot to ensure it's safe for the colorfastness of the carpet.
• Cover with a towel and keep the sunlight off the spot for 30 minutes. (Warning! Be careful handling hydrogen peroxide, and use gloves!)
• After 30 minutes: Blot, rinse with water, and blot with paper towels.