Removing Paint from Carpet
Spilled paint on your carpet? Wondering what to do next? Well, a few drops of paint might make you bear a heavy cost of replacing it. While you think of removing paint from carpet, you need to work really fast to clear off this spilled paint. If you are painting your interiors, then there are many chances of paint spills on your carpet. Even after taking all the precautions like covering the carpet and furniture with plastic sheets there are chances that the paint ruins your carpet. So, how to remove paint from carpets? Well, there are a few easy ways to get this done and have your carpet back in a great condition. Let's check out how to get paint out of carpet easily.
Ways of Paint Removal from Carpet
Wet and Vacuum
This is an effective carpet stain removal method, even if you splashed an entire tin of paint, just work carefully and fast. One of the carpet cleaning tips is to keep the paint wet. Removing dry paint might become a really tough task. A vacuum cleaner is what you need to get this paint off the carpet. Great if you have a vacuum, or you need to soon arrange for one. While you get a vacuum, make sure the paint doesn't dry off. Now simply spread a large plastic sheet over it, to keep it wet. You can also spread a wet towel over this spilled paint. Start vacuuming. Wet and vacuum, keep doing this until you have cleared it off. You can also wet and blot with towel, but in this case, make sure you softly blot. Scrubbing or applying pressure while blotting can cause paint to force down into the carpet.
Dishwashing Liquid Detergent
As soon as the paint spills off and covers the carpet, you need to get some washcloths and liquid detergent used for dishwashing. First blot the paint, as much as you can using a water absorbent towel or cloth. As mentioned above, do not scrub. Now mix a cup of dishwashing detergent with cup of lukewarm water. Apply this on the carpet and blot the remaining paint and stain. Finish by cleaning with a damp cloth. While removing dried latex paint from carpet, you might need to soak it for a while in this water and detergent solution and then clean by dabbing it using a sponge.
Solvent for Oil Based Paints
While removing oil paint from carpet, soapy water is of no use. You need a solvent for removing paint from carpet in this case. But which solvent is the perfect one to be used? You can opt for spirit, methylated spirit or turpentine as well for this job. While the paint is wet, you need to dab and get off most of the wet layer using a sponge or towels. Now start removing paint from carpet that is dry or just a thin oily layer or a stain left behind. Take a sponge and dampen it with one of the aforementioned solvents. Make sure you dab it on the specific area and work from outer side till the center of this stain or spill, so that the stain does not spread. Now just finish carpet cleaning by dabbing the area with a detergent solution to get rid of any oily residue.
Remember that most of the time, a light stain will be left back. Procedure of stain removal from carpet must be done depending upon the type of paint you spilled. Carpet cleaning method in case of oil based paint spills and water based paint spills is different. You can get the information of type of paint from the paint tin. Removing water based paint from carpet like emulsion, latex, powder, etc. is much easier. In case the paint has dried off completely, first scrape its top layer using a blade or knife and then work on the residue. Apart from implementing the aforementioned tips for cleaning a carpet, you can consider consulting the professional carpet cleaners for removing paint from carpet. Also, covering the light stain can be easy by placing a showpiece or a piece of furniture over the same. With these smart ideas, you just don't need to worry about paint spills. But working carefully is sure to save the entire task of cleaning.
