Blotting is the first line of defence, especially when you need to do carpet cleaning Grays. Its a race between the rug and whatever youre using to absorb the spill. The best tool for blotting is an old towel or tea-towel, though in a real cleaning emergency (such as red wine on a white carpet if anyones silly enough to serve red wine over a white carpet, as its an accident waiting to happen), you can grab anything handy that is more absorbent than the rug itself. This is where salt comes in handy as a cleaner: it absorbs liquids very, very readily (oh no were back to chemistry again).