You must have spilled bleach on your carpet and looking for quick tips on how to fix bleached carpet. When you spill bleach on a carpet, be it large or small, it leaves behind a very visible telltale sign.
Firstly let’s clear up a common misconception, bleach does not stain a carpet; instead, it removes the dye out of the carpet fibers, leaving a mark.
It creates a color loss; bleach causes areas of the stained spot to be yellow, white, or a much lighter version of the initial dye of the carpet, this can totally ruin the beauty of a room.
Bleach stains discolor spots on your carpet not by something being deposited into the carpet, but as a result of the carpet’s dye being removed, bleach stain cannot be removed like other stains.
There are a few steps you can learn on how to fix discolored carpet on your own, but first, let’s start with the basics;
Tips to Keep in Mind
When a bleach spill happens, never scrub it, that up-and-down/side-side motion will do more damage to your carpet, in-fact you can literally cause a rip in the carpet and create a giant hole.
You should also note that bleach is not a color; it’s a color-stripper that removes the tint of the carpet by eating it away. You can’t just remove bleach.
Be very careful when trying out any DIY remedies, because most of the suggested remedies online are not permanent solutions, most of them wash out of the carpet by the next cleaning.
Maybe because they were done with the wrong type of dye or not properly heat set, or even maybe the dye is not designed to be used on carpet fibers, so please be careful.
Read: How to bleach carpets the right way
How to Fix a Bleached Carpet
Table of Contents
There are two ways to fix your bleached or discolored carpet, the first is to restore the color by dying it, this is an expensive option, and you need a little bit of training and practice. The second is to replace that portion of the carpet, it sounds intimidating, but it’s quite easy and cheap.
You also need to understand color theory, to be able to determine what mix of color is needed to restore the carpet’s color back to the right shade.
Read:Can you dye carpet?
How to Dye Your Carpet
Before dying your bleached spots, you must first neutralize the bleach so it can stop eating away at the carpet, there is an easy way to do this; here’s how:
Pour some baking soda into a bowl and add water to form a thin paste, apply this paste all over the stained spot and use your fingers to rub it into the fibers.
Allow it to sit for a couple of minutes till it’s dried, then vacuum up the baking soda. Doing this step will help to protect your carpet from further damage until you re-dye your carpet.
Hair Dye
Most people recommend using hair dye, but a word of caution is not to buy hair dye from a local drug store or dye that is on sale, this is because those dyes could have been sitting on the shelves for ages, you don’t want to use a stale dye.
How to apply:
Mix the dye according to the instructions on the label, then apply it to the stained spot. It may look like it turning black but do not fret; it’s just the coloring process.
Get a quality blow dryer and make sure to have a timer at hand because most dyes take about 30 minutes to dry, and although you can go over that time, you need to be careful.
As soon as you apply the dye to your carpet, you have to begin blow drying as this helps to speed up the process. Continue to blow-dry until the dye is completely dried to the desired color.
Acrylic Painting
There different types of painting options available for fixing bleached carpets, depending on the size of the stain and the color of your carpet.
When using acrylic paint, you have to choose the perfect matching paint; you can take pieces of loose fibers from your carpet to the store to make sure you get the exact color.
Mix the acrylic paint with some water and begin to paint every fiber, it’s very time-consuming, but it’s worth it. Paint very lightly, because applying too much paint on your rug fiber will cause stiffness.
Depending on the color of your carpet, you may need to mix different paints to get the right color, and always make sure to paint in a well-illuminated area.
Automotive carpet paint
This paint is designed to be used on vinyl, thin carpet, etc. so depending on the kind of carpet you have, you may be able to use it to restore your carpet’s color.
One tip of caution is never to spray on the paint directly to your carpet, get an old Tupperware, spray the paint into it then use a brush to apply the paint to your carpet.
Ink
Depending on the color of your carpet, you may be able to use a pen, sharpie, or marker to color the stained spot.
Get a marker in the closest shade to your carpet, dissect the marker and get all the ink interior into a mug, add a dab of water and turn it into a dye. You can adjust the color by adding more water or adding more dye.
Apply this mixture onto your carpet and repeat till you get perfect coverage.
Read: how to get coffee out of carpet
Replacing the Bleached Spot
Another method on how to fix the bleached carpet is replacing that portion of the stained spot. You will need;
A cutting tool
Adhesive tape
Wide-tooth comb
Replacement piece of carpet
If you have remnants of your carpet, you can use it for the replacement piece, or you can cut off a piece from an area that is hidden like underneath a closet or couch.
Or you can go to your local carpet store and get carpet samples that match your carpet at home; you need the replacement piece to match your carpet as closely as possible.
Now let’s get to work;
Measure out the stained area you need to replace and cut it out, now use that ad your stencil to measure out your replacement piece.
Apply the adhesive tape to the section you just cut out, then place on the replacement piece and press it down firmly.
Use a wide-tooth comb to gently comb the fibers of the replacement piece, so they blend in with the rest of the carpet.
Related: How to get wrinkles out of carpet without a carpet stretcher
Conclusion
If you are looking for how to fix bleached or discolored carpet, hopefully, one of the above-mentioned bleach stains remover procedure will help.
But if after trying them out, you are still struggling with the bleach stain, you can call on professional carpet cleaners.
Before replacing the stained spot on your carpet, you may want to wash the whole carpet first because, if you place a new patch from an unused corner, it will he inevitably cleaner than the rest of the carpet, and this may make it hard to blend in very well.
To also avoid staining your carpet with bleach, refrain from using any cleaner that contains bleach in areas where stray droplets may get into your carpet. What other tips do you have on fixing a bleached carpet?
