Having a cigarette burn in your carpet leaves your home looking like a cheap motel, but fortunately, we’re going to cover how to fix cigarette burns in carpet. Of course, it can be fixed with a simple technique.
Cigarette burns are usually small but very noticeable, especially when in places with high traffic.
Replacing the whole carpet or calling on professionals can be costly, but with little care and patience, you will be able to learn how to fix cigarette burns in carpet, and the unsightly and annoying marks will be removed for good.
When dealing with the cigarette burns, you have to concentrate on the fact that your carpet is fabric, so your cleaning technique will be more like repairing a shirt than cleaning a floor.
How to Fix Cigarette Burns in Carpet
Table of Contents
Get out Your Materials
To repair cigarette burns, you will need a pair of scissors, a handheld glue gun or some gorilla glue, and a pair of tweezers.
Snip Away Damaged Fibers
Use a pair of scissors to carefully snip away the burnt fibers or thread from the carpet; this is something that should be done with precision, if it helps, make the area with tape then remove any fiber that has been burnt.
Clean the Stained Spot
If there’s any ashy stain or spot left behind, you can gently wipe it with some clean water and a little bit of soap, but be very careful not to spread the ashes or stains to other untouched areas of the carpet. Clean with a cloth or paper towel and allow it to dry.
Read: How to remove stain from carpet
Replacing the Fibers
Once the burnt area has dried completely, it is time to find a hidden area, somewhere under the couch or dresser that is not visible, use a pair of scissors to cut out a very small amount of undamaged carpet strands, cut enough to make a generous pile
Then, add a small amount of glue to the carpet and add about half of your pile of strands to the glue then press it down with the handles of your scissor.
Give it a minute or two to dry, then pull off the excess strands of fibers off lightly.
Finally, add a very small dab of glue to the surface of the burnt area, rub it around then add the remaining pile of fibers and again, press it down with your scissors or better still, use something heavy like a book to give it a good press, and give it a few minutes to cool down
Now take your scissors and cut some of the final laid fibers; this is to make the area even with the rest of the carpet.
Comb the repaired area with a wide-toothed comb, or use your fingers to plump up the new fibers so that it blends in very well with the rest of the carpet
Alternative Method
Begin by sanding away the burnt marks away using sandpaper, then using a vacuum remove every debris on the carpet
Finish off any remaining black spots with a scissor. And if the stains persist soak a towel with your carpet suitable cleaning solution, then blot out the stain making sure to work from outside towards the middle. Spray the area with some water to rinse it, then blot it dry
Allow the spot to dry, and if the hole left behind is not very noticeable, you can stop here; if not, you can patch the hole using the steps aforementioned above.
Fixing Large Cigarette Burns in Carpet
Things You Need
Vacuum
Carpet adhesive or cement
Craft knife
Scissors
Wide-tooth comb
Double-sided sticky tape
Some burns may be too large to be covered with just a few strands of fibers; they need to be repaired by using a replacement piece of carpet.
You can accomplish this by using the remnants of your carpet if you have any or cutting from a carpeted closet area or you can get samples of carpet that matches the color of your carpet from your local hardware store
Cut around the burnt area using a craft knife, apply adequate pressure to cut through the carpet but make sure not to cut through the underlay, it will need to be removed, and placed in the same way as the replacement piece of carpet, remove the cutout section of the carpet.
If you managed to cut out the damaged area in one piece, you could use that as your stencil, but if you were not able to cut it out in one piece, you could cut a piece of paper the size of the damaged area, adding about one inch (2.54cm) to all sides.
Position the cutout section of the damaged rug or piece of paper on the spare carpet or carpet sample you are using for the replacement.
If the carpet has a distinguished pattern, make sure to match the pattern properly, also make sure to make the pile direction also, use your stencil and cut out the edges of both pieces of the carpet using a craft knife.
Using a vacuum cleaner clean up the area where the carpet was cut, this is to remove debris, dust, and loose fibers hanging around, then place the replacement piece into the cutout hole, you can trim from the sides of the replacement piece in other to ensure a snug fit.
Remove the replacement piece once that has been achieved.
Apply some carpet adhesive or cement to the hole, make sure to use the manufacturer’s recommendation.
Then lay the replacement piece in place and press it down firmly. Cover the replacement piece with a towel, then place a heavy book over the towel and allow it to sit for at least overnight.
Depending on the type of adhesive you are using, as it will determine how long the replacement piece needs to dry for.
Another alternative on how to fix cigarette burns in carpet is to use double-sided tape, apply the tape to the hole and place the replacement piece on top and press firmly.
Once the carpet has dried, you can then remove the book and towel, after which use a wide-tooth comb to gently comb the seams where the replacement piece meets the rest of the carpet and try to blend the fibers together.
Read: How to Dry a Carpet
Conclusion
Cigarette burns are probably the easiest to remedy because they are often quite small, even how to fix cigarette burns in carpet that’s quite large is still easy. But if the burnt area is excessively large, you may need a more extensive repair or even total carpet replacement.
If you are unsure about the whole process or feel uncomfortable carrying it out, you shouldn’t hesitate to contact a carpet professional who will help you out with the repairs. You can check your local chamber of commerce or yellow pages to find carpet repair professionals.
But, if you are worried about the qualifications of a particular professional, before allowing them into your home, you can check with your local better business bureau, this you can do either online or on the phone.
For smaller scorch marks, you can remove them by simply rubbing the area with medium-grit sandpaper; you will remove the black discoloration from the carpet. Do you have other tips on fixing cigarette burns in carpet? Do share it with us.
