Home renovations are fun especially when changing the paint of your house but not until you accidentally drop it on your carpet. It’s not a good scenario to witness and another workload to be accomplished.
But don’t worry because there are many ways that you can take this off your carpet by using what you have in the house. Here’s how you can get the paint out of your carpet:
Getting rid of paint out of carpet
- Using a sharp knife
When the paint starts getting dry and it’s only a small blot on the carpet, it’s safe to clean it with a sharp knife. Make sure that when you use the knife, be extra careful when handling it to avoid yourself from injury as well as incurring extra damages on the carpet.
Slowly scrape off the paint with the knife until the debris starts taking off. You should be seeing that the paint starts to come off. Clean the rest of the paint debris with a vacuum cleaner. Then, get a wet cloth and dab it onto the carpet to clean the rest of the leftover paint. Make sure you don’t smear the paint on other areas of the carpet and let it dry afterwards.
- Using a steam cleaner
If the paint stain is too big, scraping it with a knife may take you forever to finish. Use a Steam cleaner to soften the hardened paint debris and to clean the overall carpet.
If it’s your first time using it, just follow the instructions from the User’s Manual provided. This will effectively get rid of the paint stains and other dirt build up from your carpet.
If you don’t own a steam cleaner at home, you can take advantage of rental services offered in hardware stores or Home Depot that charge affordable fees per hour that you can use.
- Clean with baking soda
Another alternative you can use at home is the power of baking soda. Baking soda has an effective chemical content that softens any stain or hard to clean gunk and dirt on any surface or cloth. It’s also a perfect bleaching agent without having to act like chlorine that incurs more damage on the cloth.
For a half a cup of baking soda, just simply make a paste and add 3 tbsp. of warm water until you can achieve a paste consistency. Apply it onto the affected area and leave for about an hour. After an hour, the paint should start to come off. Clean it with a damp cloth and vacuum the rest of the debris. Let it dry and avoid any close contact for possible dirt.
- Using paint thinner or nail polish remover
If you have any of these two, use it for removing the paint as fast as you can. These two products have certain chemicals that enable it to take off paint from any surface. You can use this when the carpet has only small blots of paint.
When using paint thinner, you must be careful to not put too much on the carpet. As soon as it melts the paint, it may have the tendency to smear around the rest of the carpet. Make sure that as soon as the paint melts, wipe it carefully with a cloth until the paint starts to fade away.
For a nail polish remover, you can use a cotton ball or cloth and put a good amount on it. Slowly dab on the affected area and repeat the process as much as you can until the paint starts fading away. Unlike paint thinner, nail polish remover has lesser risk of smearing melted paint on the unaffected area of the carpet.
- Call For professional help
If after all the remedies have been applied and taken into action but no positive results were achieved, it’s time to surrender and turn to professionals. There are tons of carpet cleaning experts that you can find near you who are certified to effectively clean and restore carpets.
It’s good to note that since you’re hiring an expert for this work, it could cost more depending how big the damage you have on the carpet. However, the cost will be all worth it because these professionals will deliver the best work as long as they have legal permits and are accredited to operate.
Remember, never use other ways that are not proven to be effective. Example, do not use chlorine or any bleaching agent to the carpet. Instead of getting rid of the paint, it will only cause damage to the carpet that can result in discoloration.
The best way to take out the paint from your carpet is to clean it right away and follow the simple steps mentioned above. Do not wait after a week where the paint starts to absorb on the carpet, making it harder to clean.

David Nilsen is the former editor of Fourth & Sycamore. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. You can find more of his writing on his website at davidnilsenwriter.com and follow him on Twitter as @NilsenDavid.