Paint and carpet do not mix well. Whether it was a living room redecoration gone wrong, or little Timmy accidentally spilled some paint during arts & craft time, paint stains are relatively common if you have an active household. If you don’t act quickly, that paint stain will set in and be hard or impossible to remove, becoming a permanent fixture in your home unless you rip up the carpet.

With that in mind, let’s explore how to get rid of a paint stain on your carpet or rug so your home looks as good as new in short order:

Whatever you do, act quickly!

The important thing for you to remember is that you want to attack the carpet paint stain just as quickly as humanly possible, not giving your paint any chance whatsoever to dry and permanently stain your carpet.

Contain the stain with paper towels, blot up just as much paint as you can, and be sure to test any cleaning chemicals in a spot on your carpet that won’t be seen all that often to make sure that no discolouration is going to happen.

Make sure that you use the right cleaning solution for the right kind of paint

Acrylic paint

Apply glycerin, blot. Treat leftover residue with rubbing alcohol. If there is still a faint stain, clean with mild detergent and water. Finally, blot the area with a sponge and vacuum dry.

Oil-based paint

Act quickly! Apply turpentine and blot with paper towel. Apply rubbing alcohol, blot. Apply mild detergent and water, blot. Clean the remainder with a sponge.

Latex paint

Blot as much as possible, then apply a mixture of neutral detergent and water, blot and repeat until the stain has cleared.

Water-based paint

Blot, continue to blot with a small amount of water or vinegar. If you use too much water the stain will spread. Continue to blot, add a mild detergent or dish soap, continue to blot, rinse with water.

Dry paint

Lightly scrape the dry stain. Spray with WD-40, let site for 15-20 minutes. Blot the area and pick up flakes of loose paint. Clean with neutral detergent, rinse. Blot up all excess liquid.

Call in the experts

If you weren’t able to get to the paint before it dried, or if you don’t have the cleaning solutions on hand to tackle the project yourself, don’t be shy about calling carpet cleaning professionals to take care of it.

Using professional grade equipment and state-of-the-art cleaning products, Ottawa carpet cleaners can fix any stain or issue faster and more thoroughly than most people can do on their own. If you have a paint stain, or another stain you can’t get rid of, contact Ja-Doc Inglis for professional carpet cleaning in the Ottawa area.