So you’re sitting at home enjoying a slice of pizza when the dreaded moment happens: a spot of grease makes its way down the slice and succumbs to gravity, leaving a nasty spot on your carpet.
Grease can make some of the most obvious stains, but fortunately, they aren’t hard to get up.
Everyone has food mishaps sometimes, but don’t worry; we can tell you how to get grease out of the carpet with some simple home remedies. You don’t always have to buy fancy cleaning chemicals.
So What’s in Grease, Exactly?
Knowing what a stain is made of gives you a rough idea of how to deal with it. Grease is nothing more than liquefied animal fat, usually from meat. Because it’s organic, you need to remove a grease stain as soon as possible before it congeals and starts to smell.
Baking Soda Method
First, you need to get up the excess. Most grease spots aren’t going to be too large, but they leave an obvious liquid residue on top. If it’s a fresh grease splatter, it might be hot so be careful when going near it.
To clean up the stain, use a butter knife or a spoon and scrape the liquid residue into a paper towel. Don’t use anything sharp, because you may cut and damage your carpet fibers.
After you’ve gotten rid of the excess, liberally sprinkle baking soda over the stain and allow it to sit for about an hour., maybe more depending on the size of the grease spot. Baking soda is a natural oil absorbent, so it will pick up the grease stains and hopefully prevent them from working their way more deeply into your carpet.
Baking soda is an excellent household cleaning tool for many messes other than grease stains, so you should keep a few boxes of it on hand.
Now, you need to get the grease-infused baking soda off your carpet. It’s nothing that a good vacuum cleaner won’t be able to handle.
Adjust the height to the highest setting and slowly run the cleaner over the carpet. It helps to count to three running forward and backward.
If you go too fast, you aren’t giving the suction enough time to take effect, and the baking soda will not leave the carpet. Make sure you get every bit of the baking soda out of the carpet. Leaving it can attract further messes.
After the baking soda is gone, apply a small amount of dish detergent – preferably one that has grease-fighting capabilities – to the affected area.
Use a brush to work the dish soap gently into the carpet fibers to remove any remaining clingy residue from the grease.
Soft-bristled brushes work best for this step because they aren’t as likely to damage the carpet fibers. Don’t use too much soap because it will take longer to get out of the carpet.
The final step in cleaning with this method is to rinse the carpet with water and blot it dry with a smooth, clean cloth.
Other Substances to Use
Baking soda is the most common DIY remedy for grease stains, but if you don’t have any, here are a few other alternatives. Note that as many of these are liquid, you’ll have to pull them up with a paper towel or something similar. Another thing to remember: while baking soda, in general, isn’t going to affect a carpet’s color, the same can’t be said for other solutions. Test them out on a corner that isn’t readily visible.
- White vinegar
- Nail polish remover (for synthetic carpets)
- Paint thinner (for synthetic carpets)
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Hydrogen peroxide
Other Considerations
The main thing you need to think about when applying cleaning solutions is what kind of carpet you have. If you have wool, then you have to be as gentle as possible. Wool fibers can fray and rip from the backing easily, especially when exposed to other chemicals.
Synthetic carpets, which most are, have a greater resiliency than wool, even if some people may think they don’t look as pretty. You can put some force behind scrubbing and not worry too much about what it’s doing to your fibers.
Oriental carpets, on the other hand, are exceedingly delicate. Made of silk, cotton, or wool, these carpets require you to be extremely careful when cleaning them. You may need to call a professional service to come clean Oriental carpet.
You can also use a carpet cleaning machine, also called carpet shampooer to get rid of grease in carpets. That is the best way to ensure that your carpet has a long life and looks good all the time. They come in various price ranges, and usually are very effective for both cleaning carpets and getting grease out of carpets.
If you have kids and carpets you might be interested in this guide as well: how to get slime out of carpet.
Grease stains don’t have to ruin your carpet. Simple household items are usually enough to clean grease from a carpet.
