BPS JPT FOR YOU: How to Clean Chocolate from a Carpet

Thursday, January 13, 2011

How to Clean Chocolate from a Carpet

hai frds

Chocolate. Know that sinking feeling when you find a lump of chocolate pressed into the carpet? Don't worry – it can be removed and here's how to get it out in a flash.

Note: The process outlined works for white, milk, and dark chocolate.

Steps

Act quickly. Take action as soon as possible after the chocolate has been rubbed into the carpet. As with most stains, the longer you leave it, the tougher it will be to remove.
Scrape up excess chocolate. Remove as much chocolate as you can with a clean, non-sharp, non-serrated knife. Be gentle, so as not to damage the carpet fibres.
- Place the removed chocolate onto a paper towel. Wipe the knife frequently to avoid smearing or grinding in the chocolate.
- If the chocolate is soft, chill it with an ice cube or frozen package to make it easier to chip out.
Grass, sisal and wool carpets need extra care
Check the carpet type. Different carpets react to stain removal techniques in different ways. Using the wrong removal method could cause the stain to become permanent or leave a worse mark than the stain itself. Carpets made of natural materials such as grass, sisal or wool can be severely damaged by liquid treatments. If you're in any doubt as to your carpet's suitability, contact a professional carpet cleaner.
Do a patch test. Before applying any solution to your carpet, you should always do a patch test. Choose an out of the way area of the carpet and apply a small amount. Wait a few minutes to ensure that problems don't develop. If your carpet starts to go brown or lighter in colour, immediately rinse the solution with cold water. Do not continue and call a professional.
Apply surgical spirit (or rubbing alcohol, which is similar). To dissolve the fat in the chocolate, use surgical spirit. Put on some rubber gloves and then apply surgical spirit to a white cloth. Lay the cloth over the stain.
- Use the back side of a spoon pressed onto a cloth and use massage-like strokes to work solutions into your carpet. This will help you to avoid damaging the carpet fibers.
- Massage the stain through the cloth with the spoon. When the surgical spirit is thoroughly worked into the stain, remove the cloth.
Mix a detergent solution. Now make a detergent solution by mixing a quarter of a teaspoon of a mild carpet shampoo (or colourless detergent) with a litre (33.8 fl oz) of warm water. Stir.
Apply the detergent solution. Do a quick patch test as outlined above. If it's safe to continue, dampen the whole cloth in the solution and lay it over the stain.
Blot the area dry. Blot the area by pressing some dampened kitchen towel onto the stain patch to remove excess liquid and to lift the stain.
If any chocolate remains, try making an alkaline solution.
- Before starting, make sure that the room is well ventilated, so that you don't breathe in too much ammonia. Keep your rubber gloves on.
- Add one teaspoon of household ammonia to one cup of warm water and stir. Remember to carry out the patch test. If safe, soak the cloth in the solution, lay it over the stain and massage the stain through the cloth using the spoon as before. Then gently blot the area dry with some kitchen towel. Repeat the process until as much of the stain as possible has been lifted.
Neutralise any remaining alkaline using vinegar. Add one part white vinegar to four parts warm water in a small bowl. Pour the mixture into the spray bottle.
- After patch testing the mix on a small hidden area of carpet, work the vinegar and water mixture over the stain using a spoon as before. Carefully blot the area using some kitchen towels, removing any excess liquid. The stain should now be removed. If it isn't, repeat.
Rinse. Spray the patch with water to rinse away any remaining solution.
Dry. To ensure that the stain is completely lifted and any remaining dampness is removed, stack a few pieces of kitchen towel over the stain. Cover with a heavy weight, such as a book.
- If the weight is coloured or porous, put a plastic bag between it and the kitchen towel. This will protect the weight and prevent the item and to prevent dye from leaking into the carpet.
Wait. Leave the weight on the damp patch, ideally overnight. In the morning, remove the weight, plastic bag, and paper towels from the stain. The stain should now be completely gone, but if by any chance it is still visible when you remove the weight, it's time to call in the professionals.

Video

Tips

Ask children and others to eat their chocolate over a plate; try to avoid the chocolate mess in the first place. Always keep serviettes handy when eating chocolate.
If you have a carpet-cleaning machine, try it either after scraping off the excess or after the entire procedure above. Soaking the spot with a mixture of detergent and water and scrubbing it with a rag (or the cleaner nozzle) will help dissolve the overly greasy chocolate spot so it can be sucked away. If you dislodge a lot of chocolate, suck it away with the carpet cleaner before proceeding with more solution and scrubbing so you don't spread the mess. Hot soapy water would probably be most effective in dissolving the chocolate, but heat can 'set' some kinds of stains, so cool or lukewarm soapy water would be safest. Spot test first, if you haven't used a similar cleaning method on the carpet before. But typical beige wall-to-wall carpets are pretty tough, as well as designed to hide minor damage.

Warnings

Take care with carpet cleaning products. There are many good carpet cleaning products on the market but they're not stain specific and may include ingredients which are not applicable to your stain and could do more harm than good. If you do intend to use them, read the instructions and ingredients with great care and be absolutely sure that they will work for your situation.
Wear protective clothing when cleaning.