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How To Remove Ink Stains from Carpet

What could be more terrifying than not knowing how to remove ink stains from carpet? 

An ink stain on a carpet, especially one that is pale in colour can look very odd.

If you want to know how to remove ink stains from your carpet then always remember this :

As soon as you spill that dark-liquid matter, it is a matter of very short time because once the carpet is stained, you will have to clean it up before it dries up. Ink stains on carpets are hard to clean.

Quite often we do not have all the ingredients in our hands to react fast to this scenario.

For this reason, we will discuss how to remove ink stains from carpet using several items. Near the end of this article, there are some Questions and Answers that address your concerns regarding ink stain removal from carpets.

How to Remove Ink Stains from Carpet by Using Rubbing Alcohol

How to Remove Ink Stains from Carpet by Using Rubbing Alcohol

Get a soft cloth that you do not need. Remember, try to be as fast as possible. Wet a small portion of the cloth with the rubbing alcohol and begin dabbing at the ink stains from carpet.

Begin dabbing at the corners of the carpet. Then continue slowly by dabbing towards the centre. If you feel that you need more rubbing alcohol then you can re-wet the cloth again with it and dab at the stain as usual. Lastly, use a towel soaked in lukewarm water to dab the area clean.

How to Remove Ink Stains from Carpet by Using Shaving Cream

How to Remove Ink Stains from Carpet by Using Shaving Cream

Who said shaving cream is exclusively for shaving hair?  If someone accidentally drops a few drops of ink stain on your carpet then worry not. You can grab a can of shaving cream to clean the carpet.

The process is simple, squirt some shaving cream on to the unfortunate area. Then let it sit for around 15 minutes and use a towel soaked in lukewarm water to dab the area and the stain should disappear. 

You may want to test an area of your carpet to check how your carpet reacts to the shaving cream.

How to Remove Ink Stains from Carpet by Using Hydrogen Peroxide with Dish Soap.

How to Remove Ink Stains from Carpet by Using Hydrogen Peroxide with Dish Soap.

This solution is a little stronger. Get a bowl and mix one cup of Hydrogen Peroxide with half a teaspoon of dish soap. Now soak a sponge or a soft cloth into the hydrogen peroxide solution. Now dab at the carpet where the stain is. 

The carpet will be wet with the solution. Let the solution do its work by letting it remain that way for around 5-10 minutes.  Then, use a paper towel or a wet cloth soaked in water to dab and absorb the solution on the carpet. 

How to Remove Ink Stains from Carpet by Using Vinegar and Dish Soap

Vinegar and Dish Soap

Another way to remove the ink stain from your carpet is to mix vinegar, dish soap and water. Fill a spray bottle with 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap,1/4 cup of white vinegar and fill the rest of the container with water. 

Now generously spray the contents of the bottle onto the stain. Then proceed to blot the carpet with a towel until the stain is gone.

This mixture is great for dark stains such as cool-aid drinks.

FAQs on Removing Dark Carpet Stains.

What is Rubbing Alcohol? Is there anything else I should be aware of?

Answer: Rubbing Alcohol is also known as Isopropyl alcohol. It is a colourless and very flammable chemical compound. A flammable chemical refers to a chemical that can easily get caught on fire. 

So if your carpet is near a fireplace, pull the carpet away from the fire BEFORE using rubbing alcohol to dab the stain.

Lastly, NEVER drink Rubbing Alcohol because doing so can be very harmful to you.

But why use Shaving Cream? What does it contain? 

Answer: Shaving cream can be used as a household hack for cleaning because it has properties like a bar of regular soap. The ingredients usually include surfactants, emulsifiers and cleansing chemicals.

So you can use shaving creams for polishing metallic objects such as stainless steel.

What if the stain does not disappear?

Answer: Do not be alarmed if the stain does not disappear. You can continue to repeat the process we have mentioned above.

Again, the trick is to clean it as fast as possible because once the stain is all dried up, the chances of the stain becoming permanent become stronger. Also, after you have used the chemicals, you can use warm water to wash away the stain for better results.

What if I do not have the above-mentioned items on your list?

Answer: No worries! You can try using hairsprays, nail polish removers and anything that contains high contents of alcohol. For example, you can use white wines and white vinegar.

Make sure when you use these substitutes, you rinse your stained carpet with water and then bolt the carpet until the area is dry.

Also, be sure to do a test on a small area of your carpet. Personally, I bought many carpets and trust me, not all carpets are the same.

Won’t Hydrogen Peroxide discolour my carpet?

Won’t Hydrogen Peroxide discolour my carpet

Answer: Almost all carpets have their own colour, so when you use hydrogen peroxide, the colour of your carpet will not be affected.

The Shaving cream I have in hand states that it contains Methanol. Will this be ok to use for removing the carpet stain?

Answer: Oh no please do not use that!

Avoid using a shaving cream that has colour, menthol, or is gel-based because it might discolour your carpet. 

Just stay true to the plain-white classical shaving cream. If you do not have a regular shaving cream then you can proceed to try other solutions above.

I want to remove the stain but I am afraid these solutions will damage my carpet.

Answer: I have been using carpets for the last 20 years so I can completely understand your concerns.

How to Remove Ink Stains from Carpet

Not all carpets are the same. 

The best idea would be to test a small section of the carpet with the mixes suggested above. Not all carpets will react the same way and may not react the RIGHT WAY to remove the stain. If the carpet is of pale colour then this is especially important to test a small portion of the carpet.

Do different stains require different solutions?

Answer: With regard to the ink stain of your carpet, not all stains leave permanent marks if the ink stains are different. In many cases, ink stains are not very strong and concentrated. Sometimes ink stains on carpets may be water-based inks. In such a case, there is no need to bring in the giant tank, just mix some plain dish-washing liquid with warm water. Then drench a towel or plain cloth into the mix and then dab onto the stain of your carpet without rubbing and dragging the carpet with force.

If you know the ink stain is highly concentrated and is more likely to leave an injured mark on your carpet then using rubbing alcohol is the best solution.

Can I use the above-mentioned solutions for household cleaning in general?

Answer: Sure you can!  Even, you can use them for cleaning your home. Just ensure that you wear a pair of rubber gloves when cleaning. Because some of these suggestions include strong chemicals that may not be good for your skin.

However, I do not think that using shaving cream is convenient to clean large areas of metal objects although they will do a great job.

Would these solutions be suitable for deep cleaning carpets?

Would these solutions be suitable for deep cleaning carpets

Answer: An unknown fact about carpets is that a carpet can collect several pounds of soil and skin flakes every year.

The best way to deep clean carpets would be to mix warm water with washing powder and adding some anti antiseptic solution such as Dettol’s Antiseptic Disinfectant liquid. 

Mix half a cup of regular washing powder in a regular bucket of warm water. Pour some antiseptic liquid but not too much (around 3 tablespoons)  

This recipe is close to my heart because it is still used by my mother and myself to wash carpets at our respective homes.

Honestly, we never measured when making this mixture although we did not add too much of the liquid Dettol. When we felt that the mixture was “soapy” enough, we would wet the carpet with this solution.

Once the carpet was soaked in the mixture we would let it sit for a while. Then we would use a squeegee to run over the carpet several times. You will not believe how much dirt would come out from the carpet. 

After running over several times, we would use water to clean the carpet one last time to remove all the soapy-slippery feeling from the carpet. We would again use the squeegee again to make sure all the water is pressed out before letting it dry.

Last Words on Removing Carpet Stains

Carpets give your home a warm and cosy look. They are especially useful in keeping your rooms warm. 

Yet, some do not know how to remove ink stains from carpet because carpets are considered difficult to maintain when they are not. When a stain does occur, a very common mistake is to use a scrubber and use force by scrubbing the carpet.  

Whatever solution you are using from the list above, make sure you do not wash the stained area of the carpet by rubbing it. Using force to rub the stain of your carpet will only spread the colour. 

Also, you can use a wet/dry vacuum cleaner by “pulling” at the stained area. That is AFTER you have soaked the ink stain on your carpet with one of the above solutions. This idea of using a wet/dry vacuum cleaner may or may not work for all situations.

It is a very good idea to prep a liquid solution for the hydrogen peroxide solution in a spray bottle because ink stains on carpets are never planned-they happen out of the blue. 

Therefore, the sooner you tend to the carpet-the the less likely will the ink stain turn into a permanent tattoo. 

So, what is your opinion on this article? If you have furthermore ideas for removing the carpet stain, please leave it on the comment section below. We are eager to hear from you. 

You can read this > 65 Inch TV Stand Buying Guide to determine the best fit for your room.

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