Decided to iron your clothes on the floor but forgot to take the hot iron off the carpet when you went to hang up your shirt? Don’t fret. It’s an easy mistake to make but a simple problem to rectify if you act quickly!
Follow the steps below to get an iron burn off your carpet.
How to Remove Iron Burn Marks from a Carpet
Tip: The method below can also remove straightener, curler, hairdryer and cigarette burns from a carpeted surface.
Tools you’ll need:
- Razor or sharp scissors
- Tweezers
- Sandpaper
- Mild carpet cleaner
- Neutral-coloured cloths
- Vacuum cleaner
- Running water
- Fan
Steps to follow:
- Remove the hot iron from the surface, switch it off and store it in a safe space.
- Grab a brand-new razor or very sharp, small scissors.
- Gently shave or snip the charred bits of carpet. Don’t over-shave/snip the carpet, or it’ll look bare in parts.
- If you can’t reach all the charred bits, use tweezers to pull them up so you can trim them.
- Check the carpet over and keep trimming if you still see burnt sections.
- If need be, use some fine-grain sandpaper to remove trickier burnt pieces.
- When you’re ready, clean your carpet using a gentle carpet cleaner.
- Allow the carpet to dry naturally. Use fans and open the window to speed up the drying process.
- When the carpet is dry, hoover it to remove any remaining grime and re-fluff it (bring back its texture).
Optional additional steps
Bleaching agents
If you’ve got a burn stain on a light-coloured carpet, you can whiten it using a bleaching agent like hydrogen peroxide.
Mix one part hydrogen peroxide (3% version) in a bowl with ten parts water, then blot the blemish with a neutral-coloured cloth coated in the solution.
When you’re done, re-blot the treated area with a second damp cloth to remove any product residue. Then, allow the area to dry naturally.
Don’t try this method out on dark-coloured carpets, as they will end up discoloured.
Official stain remover
Another alternative is to use an official carpet stain remover to treat the burn blemish. Generic stain removers may be able to solve your issue. However, they get mixed results, so keep this in mind.
Covering up bare patches
If you’ve over-trimmed your carpet, you’ll need to replace the lost fibres so the treated patch doesn’t stand out from the rest of the surface.
You can do this by plucking fibres from a hidden patch of carpet and glueing them into the treated space.
Ideally, you need to pluck the fibres from an unseen patch of carpet, like behind a wardrobe or under the sofa.
Losing a few fibres in these regions won’t make a difference because they’re areas you don’t see much.
When you’re done glueing the fibres in place, you’ll need to leave the carpet to dry thoroughly, and then you can carefully comb the surface and trim off any long fibres. This ensures the new fibres blend in with the rest of the carpet.
Once you’ve completed this step, you can move on to cleaning the carpet with a mild cleaning solution if you like.
Replacing sections of damaged carpet
In more extreme cases, for example if you’ve got a huge burnt patch on the carpet and treating it has little effect, you will need to do a patch repair. This is essentially a ‘last resort’ method.
A patch repair goes as follows:
- Hoover the carpet.
- Grab a metal ruler and rub the ruler back and forth on the carpet to make a square impression around the burn mark – you must use straight lines!
- Repeat Step 2 until your impression is very clear. This is the line you’ll be cutting along.
- Cut along the impression lines you’ve made. Don’t press too hard because you don’t want to damage the underlay.
- Pick the cut-out up.
- Source a replacement patch of carpet. A piece from under the sofa, behind a unit or a spare strip of carpet would be ideal.
- Ensure the replacement patch of carpet matches up perfectly with the burnt patch, including matching the colours and patterns.
- When you’ve found the replacement patch of carpet, place the burnt cut out on top of it and use it as a template, then repeat Steps 1 to 5. Just make the new piece of carpet a few millimetres bigger than the original one so you’ve got leeway with it.
- Take the replacement patch of carpet over to the gap and check it for size and match.
- Hoover the area once again.
- Secure the replacement patch in place using a carpet adhesive.
- Press firmly on the replacement patch to ensure it sits flush in the gap. Put a heavy object on it to weigh it down.
- Leave the carpet alone overnight.
- Trim long fibres.
- Carefully brush the carpet to ensure the fibres blend in with the rest of the carpet.
Tip: Not got a spare patch of carpet at hand? Pop down to your local carpet seller and ask if they’ve got an off-cut in a similar colour.
Call a pro for help
If you’ve not been able to rectify your issue as well as you’d have liked, it’s time to call a professional.
To find a suitable carpet repairer, do an online search. Then, pick a reputable person with glowing reviews and lots of experience dealing with this or similar problems.
Don’t forget to ask plenty of questions. You need to know what the repair will entail and how much it will cost. Get a quote in writing!
Several factors influence the cost of a carpet repair. These include:
- How big the iron burn is.
- How deep the iron burn is.
- The scale of the work involved with treating the burn mark.
- Where you live.
- Who will be doing the repair work.
How to Prevent Iron Burns on Carpets
If you’re going to be ironing near your carpet, there’s a risk that you may scorch or damage the smooth surface. There are, however, measures you can put in place to try and limit these effects:
- Use an ironing board. If you don’t have one, there are a few ironing board alternatives that are better than the carpet!
- Ensure the carpet is covered before you iron on it. You can use thick cotton towels to protect the surface.
- Use a heat-resistant mat. You can place the iron on the mat when it’s not in use.
- Don’t leave the iron turned on for longer than necessary. Always turn the iron off when you are going to leave it alone or when you no longer need it. Then, store it in an appropriate place.
Can You Repair All Iron Burns on a Carpet?
It’s possible to repair most iron burns on a carpet. However, the severity of the burn will determine how you treat it.
Minor scorch marks, like those made by the tip of an iron, can be dealt with quickly by trimming, rubbing the area with sandpaper, and then cleaning the zone with a mild carpet cleaner.
In general, there’s not too much elbow grease involved, and by the end of the repair, the carpet will look blemish-free.
For more significant iron-related blemishes, you will have to replace a whole patch of carpet to eradicate the iron imprint from the surface.
This is often more work and can be a tricky repair to carry out. When you’ve got a large iron burn mark, it’s sometimes easier to call a professional to help you.
The take-home message: Try to put measures in place to stop an iron burn from happening in the first place!
Bethan has a passion for exploring, reading, cooking and gardening! When she’s not creating culinary delights for her family, she’s concocting potions to keep her house clean!
