How to Get Satinwood Paint Out of a Carpet

After a hard day painting the living room, the last thing you want to see is a giant blob of satinwood paint on the carpet when it should be on the skirting board!

You’re tired, fed up with painting, and need a quick and simple solution to the problem before someone gets home and sees the mess you’ve made. So, what do you need to do to get satinwood paint off your carpet?

Keep on reading to find out!

 

Tips Before You Begin Cleaning Your Carpet

Below you’ll find a few tips to think about before you start treating your painted carpet:

• Act as quick as you can – If you act fast, the chance of you actually removing the stain properly will be greater. Hardened paint stains are more difficult and time consuming to remove.
• Blot don’t scrub – Scrubbing will only drive the satinwood paint further into the carpet’s fibres.
• Perform a patch test – Go to a discreet patch of carpet and test out the product you intend to use before you use it for real.
• Patience is key – Be prepared to repeat the steps below multiple times to see the end result you want.

 

How to Get Satinwood Paint Out of a Carpet

Below you’ll find multiple ways you can try in order to remove satinwood paint from your carpet.

Try the method(s) that suit you and keep in mind that you might have to repeat the cleaning process(es) several times to yield a positive result.

Follow these steps if the satinwood paint is still wet:

1. Blot up as much satinwood paint as you can before it dries with some paper towels. No scrubbing!
2. In a bowl, mix a tablespoon of washing up liquid with warm water.
3. Dip a clean cloth into the water and wring it out.
4. Gently blot at the stained area with the cloth to remove the paint.
5. Continue to rinse the cloth throughout this process, so you don’t reapply the satinwood paint to the carpet.
6. If the paint has been removed successfully, you can hoover the area to suck up any leftovers and leave the carpet to dry.
7. Once this is done you can clean your carpet with a regular carpet cleaner.

Follow these steps if the satinwood paint has dried:

1. Grab a small comb/nit comb and start scraping off the satinwood paint. Be gentle.
2. Hoover up the chunks of flaky paint that come off.
3. If you’re able to remove a lot of the paint like this, keep going. If not, continue with the steps below.
4. In a bowl mix a tablespoon of washing up liquid with hot water.
5. Soak a cloth in this water, wring it out and then start blotting the affected area.
6. The warm water should help to loosen the paint up a little.
7. Continue to blot the area.
8. If need be, you can use a soft toothbrush or wooden toothpick to tease out any clumps of satinwood paint from the carpet.
9. Hoover your carpet, so small bits of debris are picked up and are not transferred and pushed into a new patch of carpet.
10. Continue to blot the area with a damp cloth.
11. If the satinwood paint has been removed you can leave the carpet to air dry.
12. You can then clean the carpet with a general carpet cleaner.

Follow these steps if the paint is very difficult to remove:

1. Try to scrape away as much satinwood paint as you can from the carpet – use a small comb or toothbrush to do this.
2. Hoover the area, so you pick up the chunks of dried paint.
3. Soak a clean cloth in some washing up liquid and warm water and carefully blot the stain with the cloth.
4. Pop a mask and gloves on.
5. Open some windows.
6. Dip a new clean cloth in some acetone/nail varnish remover and blot a discreet patch of carpet to see if the product has an adverse effect on the material.
7. If all is well, go back to the affected area and blot it with the acetone solution.
8. Repeat step 7 multiple times – use a new patch of cloth each time, so you don’t press the satinwood paint residue back into the carpet.
9. Soak a new cloth in some cold water when you’re done with the acetone, wring it out and press it onto the freshly cleaned area.
10. Repeat step 9 multiple times, so you soak up an acetone residue.
11. Hoover the area once again and leave the carpet to air dry.

 

Other Ways of Getting Rid of Satinwood Paint

If you intend to clean the satinwood paint off your carpet using a stronger product, like a chemical one, remember that some chemicals break down carpet fibres and this can cause irreparable damage.

So, if you’re in doubt about using a stronger cleaning method, always do a patch test first, or leave the carpet alone and call in a professional carpet cleaner.

Note: While the items below can clean paint away, it’s not always guaranteed that they will be able to remove every piece of satinwood paint off your carpet, especially old, set in stains.

Turpentine substitute

Turpentine substitute is ideal for cleaning paint off brushes and it can also tackle paint spillages too. But you’ve got to be very careful when using such a product to clean satinwood off your carpet because it could cause damage and discolouration.

To use this product simply remove as much of the satinwood paint from the carpet as you can (use a dull knife to scrape the paint off), and then blot the area with a cloth dipped in some turpentine. Then clean the treated area with a warm cloth soaked in washing up liquid and water.

Tip: Use turpentine sparingly and always follow the instructions on the bottle.

White spirit

White spirit is known for cleaning paint brushes and thinning paint. If you’re going to use it to break down satinwood paint on your carpet though, you’ve got to be very careful.

When using this product to blot clean the carpet, make sure that you have one cloth to dip into the white spirit, and a second cloth to dip into soapy water, so you can alternate between the cloths to clean the infected surface.

The white spirit will be strong on its own, so it’s important that you use soapy water to combat the strength.

Razor

Use a razor to remove toughened satinwood paint as a last resort. If you still see flecks of satinwood paint on your carpet after you’ve completed all the steps above, you could very carefully shave off the remaining splashes of paint.

This won’t work as effectively if the paint is embedded deep into the carpet, but if the paint is near the top, you should be able to shave it off. Just don’t press down too hard.

Rent a professional vacuum cleaner

It might be worth renting a professional vacuum cleaner for the day to get rid of your paint problem. Not only will you be able to use stronger, safer chemicals to clean the carpet, but you’ll also be able to give the carpet a deep clean too.

Pay a professional carpet cleaner to clean your carpet

If you’ve had a major mishap with the satinwood paint, and clearing it away is nigh on impossible for you, you should call a professional carpet cleaner for advice.

Depending on the state of the carpet, they may be able to help you, but that will be up to them. Just keep in mind that the job will likely be expensive, there’s no guarantee that the carpet will be clean by the end, and the material could end up damaged or discoloured.

However, they should tell you beforehand if their cleaning methods are likely to damage the carpet. On the flipside, they might tell you that the carpet is beyond repair, making it a write-off.

 

Tips to Avoid Getting Paint in the Carpet

Here are a handful of tips to keep in mind when painting:

• Make use of dust sheets/newspapers to protect surfaces around your home.
• Use the correct size tools for the painting job you’re doing (stops you overloading the brush with paint, for example).
• Don’t put too much paint on the brush/roller when painting.