Burnt and/or melted spots on the carpet can be unsightly and panic-inducing. Many accidents happen in daily life that can result in burnt or melted patches on the floor; candles can tip over onto the floor, the ironing board can take a spill, a hair styling tool was set down on the carpet while a youngster was styling hair, etc. Burnt carpet areas cause permanent damage to the fibers, but this does not mean you need to replace an entire rooms carpeted. Don’t let these unsightly areas drive you crazy thinking you are doomed to stare at them until you can afford new flooring, they can actually be repaired.
For Tiny to Small Burns
Tools
Scissors (manicure or medical if the spot is tiny)Superglue
Repair burnt carpet
For tiny and small burn areas simply snip the burnt fibers out with a small pair of scissors. This is a cure for those areas where a bit of trimming will take away the unsightly fibers, but go unnoticed to the naked eye once accomplished. For example; a tiny spot where a hot ember flew out of the fire place and hit the carpet.
Tiny scissors with very small blades such as manicure and medical scissors are great for itty bitty burn repairs. If after cutting the damaged fibers, the area is still noticeable you can snip a few fibers from an unseen area of carpet such as a closet or along a baseboard in a corner, or even better, a piece of scrap carpet. Take the freshly snipped fibers and carefully super glue them into place where the burned fibers once stood. Wait for the glue to fully dry and then trim the new fibers even with the surrounding carpet.
For Medium to Large Burns
Tools
Scrap piece of carpet or carpet cut from an unseen area like a closet to fill in the hole
X-acto type craft knife, Vacuum, Scissors, Carpet Adhesive (or double sided sticky tape), Some Heavy BooksWide, Tooth Combe.
Repair burnt carpet
Use the X-acto type knife to carefully cut out the burnt area of carpet without cutting into the padding. If you accidentally cut the padding it will need to be removed and patched with the same process as the carpet repair. Vacuum the newly made hole and surrounding ares to remove any debris left behind from cutting the carpet. Use the burnt piece that was just cut from the carpet as a stencil for the new piece you will cut out of the carpet scrap or piece cut from an unseen area. Hopefully you have extra carpet saved from the installation, so you do not have to cut a hole from somewhere else.
If your carpet has a pattern, make sure to match the cut piece exactly to the burnt piece, also pay attention to matching up the pile direction. If you do need to take a piece of carpet from an unseen area you can patch that with the same technique. Place the patch you just made into the hole where the burnt carpet was. Trim the patch if needed with the scissors to ensure a tight fit. Apply carpet adhesive to the area of missing carpet and match up the piece to be transplanted with the pile and pattern of the surrounding carpet.
Press the new piece in gently but firmly and block it off so that no one steps on it. Place a stack of heavy books to help hold the patch in place while drying. Allow at least 24 hours for the glue to dry. Lastly, remove the books and gently comb the edges of the patch with the wide tooth comb to blend the fibers into the surrounding carpet.
For more stain and spot removal ideas visit our Blog page.
