A Handy Guide For Removing Oil Or Butter From Your Carpet
Posted on: 2 April 2015
Pasta with oil, bread with butter, a delicious dipping sauce made with olive oil and garlic – they all have one thing in common. They have a nasty habit of ending up on your carpet. A grease stain may not be bright pink or brown like a wine or chocolate stain, but it's annoying and obvious, nonetheless. Follow these steps to remove the oil slick and restore your carpet to its former beauty.
Step 1: Scoop up the oil.
If your oil or butter spill is more than a little smear, you need to start by scooping up the spilled substance without spreading it around any more than is necessary. A good way to accomplish this is with two butter knifes. Place one, blunt-side down, at one edge of the stain. Use the long, blunt side of the second knife to push the oil into the blade of the first knife. Wipe off the knives, and repeat this process until you're no longer able to remove any more oil or butter from the carpet.
Step 2: Blot, blot, blot
Resist the urge to rub the oil spill – you'll just drive it deeper into the carpet fibers. Instead, grab a thick stack of paper towels, and set them on top of the spill. Press down firmly on the paper towels. You can even step on them with your feet. The oil should come up out of the carpet, and soak into the towels. Repeat this step a few times with new, clean stacks of paper towels.
Step 3: Call in the dish soap.
Now that you've soaked up most of the oil, you can count on dish soap to wick away the last greasy traces. You'll want to use a concentrated, grease-fighting dish soap for best results. If you need to go to the store to buy one, go ahead. Letting the oil sit for an hour or so before proceeding with this step won't hurt, since most of it has already been removed.
Add a big squirt of the dish soap to a bucket of warm water, and dip in a soft, terrycloth rag. With this mixture, it's okay to scrub, since you want to work the dish soap into the carpet fibers. Scrub from the outside of the stain towards its center. Then, rinse out your rag, and scrub again. Repeat this process several times.
Step 4: Absorb the liquid.
Set a new set of paper towels, or even an old bath towel, on top of the wet area. Press down to absorb as much water as possible. The remaining oil should have been dissolved by the dish soap, and will be soaked up into the towels. Let the area dry, and you should find that it's free of grease.
Keep in mind that some types of carpet tend to hold onto grease more than others. If a faint stain remains after you follow these cleaning steps, you may wish to call a professional carpet cleaning company such as Tennessee Cleaning to remove its last traces.
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