Having an indoor fireplace is a great source of warmth during a freezing day. However, that warmth and coziness comes at a cost.
The burning of coal or candle produces soot that settles on surrounding surfaces and floors; soot has a distinctive black color that discolors everything it settles on. If you placed a light-colored carpet around your fireplace, it’s no surprise you are searching for how to get soot out of carpet,
When the soot gets trapped within light-colored or white carpeting, it tarnishes the carpet’s appearance. Thankfully, there are ways to undo that and restore your carpet’s original look.
Read: How to bleach carpets
How to Get Soot Out Of Carpet
Table of Contents
Discard Large Soot Chunks
Start by using a spoon to scoop up any visible lumps of soot and discard them properly before attempting to remove the stains.
Scoop up the soot lumps as gently as possible and avoid smashing the soot deeper into the carpet; this creates a bigger mess.
No special spoon is required for this; you can simply make use of a regular-sized spoon; you can also use a paper towel for this.
Sprinkle Absorbent On the Stains
Next, sprinkle a generous amount of absorbents like baking soda, cornmeal, or talcum powder ensure to completely cover the stain with the product.
An absorbent is all you need, and you do not need to mix in any other product; it is powerful enough to pull out the stains by itself.
Baking soda is mostly used for this, as it helps to eliminate any lingering odour in your carpet as it pulls out the stain.
Read: How to remove grease stains from carpet
Allow the Absorbent Sit
You need to allow the absorbents to sit on the stain for at least 1hour so they can soak up stains without causing any damage to your carpet.
The absorbent should have formed a cake-like substance with the soot stain at the end of the waiting time; then, you can go ahead and vacuum.
Depending on the type of absorbents used, some are powerful enough to completely erase light soot stains if allowed to sit on the stain for up to 8 hours, but usually, 1 hour is enough time to absorb the soot.
Vacuum
Vacuuming is one of the best way to get candle soot out of carpet. With your vacuum cleaner set at its highest power, suck up the absorbent and soot up that should have formed a cake-like powder after waiting at least 1 hour after applying an absorbent.
You should go over the stained areas a couple of times with the vacuum to ensure you remove as much of the stain as possible.
You may need to attach a hose to your vacuum cleaner if the stained areas are along your baseboards or in other hard-to-reach areas.
Remove Soot-Stain
Using a clean, white cloth soaked in hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol wipe the stained area. It is recommended to use only a white cloth or towel when applying dry-cleaning solutions.
This is to prevent the chemicals in the absorbent from bleaching the cloth, which then bleeds onto the carpet when used to wipe it.
You can make use of 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol by itself, or you can mix in 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide with three tablespoons of warm water.
It is recommended to mix hydrogen peroxide with warm water in order to dilute the chemical and reduce the chances of damaging your carpet.
Only use hydrogen peroxide on white or light color carpets has it has bleaching abilities and can ruin your colored carpet.
Also, make sure to spot the hydrogen peroxide on an inconspicuous area of your carpet to determine if it’s safe to use before applying it to the rest of your carpet.
Rubbing alcohol is best suited for darker-colored carpet because it does not have the same bleaching effect.
Apply solution of choice onto the stained parts of the carpet. Do this in a gentle blotting motion; this is to avoid spreading soot everywhere on the carpet.
You should start noticing the stain being transferred onto the cloth from the carpet fibres. It is imperative that you do not push the solution deep into the carpet fibres, as this can cause damage to the carpet.
Read: Can you dye carpets?
Wipe Off Solvent
Using another clean cloth dampened with warm water, blot the stained area to remove the solvent. This should be done with caution to avoid saturating the carpet with too much moisture as this can lead to mold growth, so you need to ensure the stained area is dried thoroughly afterwards.
You can do this by continually blotting the soot-stained areas with a dry clean cloth, or you can place a fan right next to the affected area.
Read: How to get highlighter out of carpet
Repeat Process
If the stain still persists after the first cleaning session, although lessened in severity, you can repeat the steps. That is, apply the absorbent, vacuum it, and blot a dry-cleaning solution, following every step as you did the first time. This should eliminate the soot stain entirely.
Read: How to get slime out of carpet
Hire a Professional
If the soot stains persist even after repeating the cleaning procedure, you may need to bring in the experts. If the soot has become deeply embedded in your carpet, it can be difficult to remove it completely, especially if you are dealing with a large area.
Trying to clean such stains might only cause further damage to your carpet, so it is recommended that you call professional service and have them come take a look.
Even if you are dealing with a small stain, you should hire a professional immediately if you feel uncomfortable removing the stain by yourself. Soot stains are best handled as soon as they occur as it will be easier for them to clean it.
Hiring a professional for soot removal can cost a couple of hundred dollars, but it’s way cheaper than having to replace your entire carpeting.
Read: How to fix bleached carpet
Conclusion
This article highlights ways on how to get soot out of carpet and restore the beauty of your carpet. Soot which is usually generated from the burning of coal in a fireplace can cause lots of discoloration and damage to your carpet. Thankfully this can be undone with a few simple steps discussed in this article
