When a piece of chocolate ends up on your beautiful rug leaving a stain it may seem hopeless. However, all hope is not lost. Before panicking or coming to terms with the fact that your carpet is a lost cause don’t despair! You don’t need to go online to buy a new rug and you don’t need to move your coffee table over to cover the unsightly stain on your carpet just yet. There are a number of ways to save the day. Take a deep breath and relax.
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Try out one of the following techniques and in most cases, one of them will hopefully bring your carpet back to its clean original state before the chocolate mishap.
The most important thing to remember once you’ve spotted the nasty chocolate stain is to act fast! Do not leave the stain sitting there for hours or even minutes. Get working on the stain as soon as possible. The longer the stain sits there the tougher it will be to remove it and that’s something that you will want to avoid.
- Get down to the floor and have a closer look at the chocolate on the carpet. If there are actual chocolate pieces there then start to remove all the bits that are easy to pick up. Bring a little bag or paper towel to collect all the pieces in. Try to be very careful not to rub in more chocolate into the carpet and make the situation worse. You may need a dull knife to gently scrape away the excess chocolate. A plastic knife is fine or a dull butter knife.If you see that the chocolate has melted or is starting to melt then immediately grab some ice from your freezer. Place the ice cube on the stain until the chocolate becomes hard again so that you will have an easier time scraping it off. If you suddenly find that you are out of ice cubes then you can also easily grab a bag of frozen veggies or anything frozen really.
- After this first step, you will hopefully have a lot less to deal with and you can move onto the next step. It’s so important to get as much of the chocolate off the carpet first in order to ensure a more successful outcome. There are a few options once this is done on how to clean up the area and not leave any stains behind on your carpet.
- One method you can try to do is to use a reputable store-bought carpet cleaner to do the job. You may want to put on a pair of rubber gloves in case your skin is sensitive to the chemicals.It’s very important to test out whichever solution you decide to use when treating a stain in an area that is out of sight or in the corner of the room or under the couch for example.Some carpet fibers may be badly affected by these solutions and get discolored or damaged. You certainly don’t want to risk that. Be sure to test out any sprays or solutions you plan to use and check to see if any damage occurs. Take a few minutes to determine if there is damage from any particular cleaning solution you use.
- Once you have done this and the results are positive you can move on to working on the chocolate stain and getting it out. Follow these steps with your carpet cleaner:
- Spray the chocolate stained area generously and let the solution sit for a few minutes.
- Carefully and patiently use a clean, wet cloth to blot the stained area starting from the outer part of the chocolate stain and working your way to the center of it.
- Continue these steps until the stain is gone.
- If you don’t have a carpet cleaner in the house no need to worry. You can make your own solution like this:
- Mix ¼ teaspoon of either laundry detergent or dishwashing soap with a cup of lukewarm water.
- Approach the stain in the same way described above working your way in from the outside of the stain to the center.
- Repeat this a few times until the stain actually disappears. Don’t give up too fast with this method as it may take a few tries.
This method will do the trick, however, if it’s a stubborn stain you may need to try another method.
- You may need to use a stronger cleaning solution. Try the following solution that you can make at home easily:
- Mix 2 cups of lukewarm water with a tablespoon of ammonia or white vinegar.
- Use a clean sponge to dab the stain generously.
- Once that’s done use a damp towel to gently wipe the area.
- Then, at this point, you will need to shake baking soda all over the stained area and sponge it over once again.
- Grab your vacuum to suck up any loose baking soda bits and let your carpet dry. The baking soda step will help eliminate odors that may linger.
- You may need to use a stronger cleaning solution. Try the following solution that you can make at home easily:
It’s important to remember that when you make any type of cleaning solution to only use lukewarm water and never hot water. Using hot water may actually help set the stain making it much harder to clean and possibly result in a permanent stain. Nobody wants to see that happen so make sure to check the temperature of the water you are using and avoid that mistake.
- If you have tried to clean the stain using a few different methods and you still see that the stain remains you have another option that in most cases does the job. Don’t forget to first test a small area that is out of sight to make sure it does not damage your carpet in any way. With this last method in order to see any possible effects, you will need to wait approximately 20 minutes.Here are the steps to follow:
- Use 3% hydrogen peroxide and leave it sitting on the stain for about an hour.
- After that amount of time, blot the stain with a clean cloth.
- Repeat this process a few times until the stain is removed.
- Once the stain has disappeared cover the entire area you were working on with a kitchen towel and place a heavy object on top. A heavy object could be a ceramic serving dish for example or some heavy books. If you are concerned about your books getting damaged and want to protect your books from any moisture then first place a plastic bag on the carpet and then place the books on top of that.
- Allow the area to dry overnight this way and check your carpet first thing in the morning. It should be stain free.
- Hopefully, after pursuing any and all of these options your carpet will be spotless and clean. However, if the stain is truly stubborn and still an eyesore then you do have the option of calling in a professional carpet cleaner to do the job. This may be pricey so only use it as a last resort.
Once you do have the stain completely removed you may decide to change the rules around the house. For example, only eat chocolate around the house using a napkin or a plate. Make sure toddlers and young children eat chocolate in the kitchen or outside in the garden. This can protect your carpet from future chocolate mishaps. Either way, if you are eating chocolate make sure to enjoy every bite!