Painting and decorating can be very exciting, regardless if you're doing it yourself or hiring someone. Apart from giving your home a fresh look and feel, there are also other benefits. Akin to exterior paint, interior paint protects against normal wear and tear and minimizes damage from moisture. Repainting also helps cover up marks and stains from over the years.

Renovation processes can take anywhere from 1 or 2 days to a few weeks. It really depends on if the job is done by a pro, as well as the size of the property. In any case, paint spills are bound to happen. Removing wet paint can be somewhat easy on a hard floor, but paint stains on carpets are a different story.

How to clean Acrylic paint off carpets

What is the most popular choice for paint?

Acrylic paint

First, we have acrylic paint, which is almost entirely chemical based. It is made through the submerging of pigment into emulsifiers. This also includes various stabilisers and silicone oils, among other chemical products.

Acrylic paint is more durable, but also more expensive compared to latex. As it is more elastic than latex, it's significantly more prone to flaking and cracking. This is why it's usually used for exterior painting, but it's also really popular as an interior choice.

This type of paint is very resistant to water when dry. That means that you have to be very quick if a spillage ends up on your carpet. Do not allow the stain to dry, or the issue may become much harder to remove.

Acrylic paint 4

Latex paint

Latex paint or water-based paint is also made of acrylic copolymers or acrylic resins. Removing dry paint from carpet sounds impossible, but it's actually a very doable task, assuming we are speaking of latex paint.

Even when dry, with soapy water and elbow grease you should be able to do a decent job at stain removal. However, we recommend using nail polish remover on it first. It will redampen the stain, and paint is much easier to remove when damp.

Oil paint

A once popular type of paint is oil-based, now commonly used in art more than anything else. It used to be the most popular type, but has fallen out of favour since latex paint came to be. Still, it remains in use somewhat, but seeing it on a building is increasingly rare. The major reason is that it is very easy to ignite, which is not a desired trait of building exteriors.

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How to remove wet paint from carpet?

Removing paint from carpets is a very doable task if we're dealing with a recent paint spill, a.k.a. wet paint. The harder challenge is to not panic and deal with the issue quickly and efficiently.

Note: Always wear protective gloves and a mask, and prepare a lot of clean towels.

How to remove Acrylic paint

How to remove wet latex paint from carpet?

  1. Scoop up as much of the excessive paint as possible. Start from the outside of the stained area working your way towards the middle.
  2. Use an absorbent cloth and dab the remaining wet paint. It's important to dap with clean sections of the cloth every time. And it's vital not to rub or scrub the paint, as that will push it deeper into the carpet fibres.
  3. Mix 1 tablespoon of fairy liquid with 1 cup of lukewarm water into a spray bottle. Apply said solution onto the stain, but make sure to not oversoak it, and wait for 5 minutes or so.
  4. Grab another cloth and soak it with the pre-made cleaning solution and start dabbing the paint stain. Repeat as many times as necessary, while using clean sections of the cloth. Of course, one cloth might not be enough, so have a few handy.
  5. Rinse the area with a sponge/ paper towels/ a cloth and water until the soapy product is removed.
  6. Let it the area dry out and hoover it up to lift the carpet fibres.

How to remove wet acrylic paint from carpet?

  1. Grab a wet clean cloth and blot as much of the remaining paint as you can. Work your way from the edges to the middle. After most of the paint has been removed, pour 1 cap of laundry detergent onto a clean towel. Then, simply blot the area as many times as necessary.
  2. Now, the pain may have dried, and you might require more than just water and a detergent to break it down. Use acetone or nail polish remover containing acetone to "wet" the paint.
  3. Blot the stain once again with a laundry detergent and rinse until the stain is removed.
  4. Let the carpet dry out naturally by ventilating and hoover it up.

How to remove wet oil paint from carpet?

  1. Dry out the area by soaking up as much of the moisture as you can with clean towels. Once the carpet is full dry, go over the originally stained area with a hoover. This will ensure the full removal of the paint debris. Additionally, the carpet fibres will also be strengthened, which allows for a more finished look.
  2. In order to rinse the carpet, mix about 15 ml of fairy liquid with about half a litre of cold water. Then, dip a clean towel into the mix and sponge the stained area. Make sure to not apply the solution directly onto the stain!
  3. With a clean cloth, blot the stain several times until all or most of it is gone.
  4. Find a paint thinner recommended for the specific oil paint and apply a small amount onto a towel. Start dabbing the stain in order to evenly apply the paint thinner.

Read also: Do Steam Mops Clean Carpets?

How to remove dry paint from carpet?

Removing dry paint from carpet is obviously a more difficult task than removing wet paint. Your success depends on how long ago was the paint spilled and what type of paint is it. To remove the stain is really simple but it does require time, patience and efforts.

Note: Wear protective gloves and a mask, and have a fair amount of clean cloths handy.

What to know about carpet cleaning

How to remove dry latex paint from carpet?

  1. Mix one tablespoon of colorless dish soap with a glass of warm water, and pour it into a spray bottle. Spray solution onto the stain, in order to soften the paint. Then, begin blotting the stained area with a cleaning rag. Once the first cloth cannot accept any more colour, grab another clean one.
  2. If the paint does not soften, soak a sponge in glycerin. Wet the stain and let it sit for 3 to 4 hours. Afterwards, try washing the stained area once more with soapy water.
  3. If the stain doesn't budge, mix a tablespoon of white vinegar with a glass of water, and spray the area. And if you do not have white vinegar, replace it with 3% hydrogen peroxide. Just keep in mind that this step might discolour the carpet.
  4. After removing the stain, rinse the carpet with clean water and let it dry.

How to remove dry acrylic paint from carpet?

  1. Wet a clean cloth or sponge with paint thinner and start blotting the stain. The paint thinner should easily soften the paint and dilute it, making it easier to be absorbed with a cloth. After a few cycles, the stain should be removed.
  2. The next and last step is to rinse the carpet with a cloth and water. Make sure to repeat this process as many times as necessary as paint thinner has a really distinct and strong odour.
  3. Lastly, apply pressure onto the area with another cloth and try to soak up as much of the moisture as possible. Whichever moisture remains should dry out naturally.

How to remove dry oil paint from carpet?

Oil paint, being oil based, is much more difficult to be removed when dry. If you do not have success using the above described methods, it's best to contact a carpet cleaning company. Professionals cleaners are armed with commercial hot water extraction cleaning machines and high quality detergents. This is not to say that a 100% removal of the issue is guaranteed, but it may be your best shot!

Note: You may have higher chances of removing the issue if you firstly soften the stained area with a handheld steamer. Making a stain wet again is the first part of making it easier to remove.

Is there a universal way to remove paint stains?

There is one hidden trick to removing wet and dry paint stains of any kind. You can apply acetone nail polish remover onto the stain with a clean white cloth. Always blot instead of rubbing, and try to soak up as much as you can. For additional tips, you can read our dedicated nail polish article.

Check also: Carpet Cleaning Tools at Home

Acrylic paint, how to deal with them]

How do professional cleaners remove paint?

Professional carpet cleaners have the luxury of using commercial equipment and high quality cleaning products. They also have great experience dealing with various carpet types. Sometimes, calling experts might be your safest and best solution to dealing with paint spillages.

The product needed to deal with oil, latex or acrylic paint is called Solvex by Prochem. This is how the actual paint removal process takes place:

  1. The carpet is firstly inspected to determine if it's natural or synthetic. This is done in order to select the suitable water temperature for the rinsing process with the steam cleaning machine.
  2. A small amount of Solvex is applied onto a few pieces of paper towels or onto a clean white cloth. The stain is then blotted as many times as necessary until most or all if of it is removed.
  3. For the rinsing process, a commercial hot water extraction machine is used. The machine sprays water under high pressure deep into the carpet fibres. Simultaneously, most of the moisture is immediately extracted into the machine's dirty tank. The stained area is cleaned with the machine several times until the complete removal of the issue.
  4. The carpet is then left to dry out naturally.