How to Fix A Carpet Burn And Remove A Tar Spot

There was a small cigarette burn on my livingroom carpet once and it nearly broke my heart because the carpet had only been down for little over a month. I couldn't afford financially to replace the carpet and I could not live with an ugly burn on my new investment. I called the carpet store and they told me how to fix the problem. It worked great.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Manicuring scissors
• glue
• a remnant of your carpet
• a can of W D 40

1. 
   Repairing it yourself is financially beneficial.

   Run the vacuum.
   
   First, vacuum the area to remove as much ash from the cigarette and the burned carpet spot as possible.

2. 
   Masking tape picks up debris.

   Use masking tape.
   
   Next, if your carpet is a light color like mine, take a piece of masking tape and press the sticky side on the burn and lift it. Do it several times to remove any left over ash.

3. 
   Perform carpet surgery.

   Use manicuring scissors.
   
   Now, using the manicuring scissors that are curved, get close to the burn on your knees. Very carefully, snip the burned strands as close to the underlying mat as possible within the burn hole. Use the masking tape again to pick up the trimmings. Using the tape keeps dark smudges from getting on the surrounding carpet. You want to avoid having to clean the carpet around the small area containing the burn hole.

4. 
   Looks as good as new.

   Now, if you have a piece of the scrap carpet from when they laid it, use that. Since you paid for the used and the unused carpet that was laid, they let you keep it. Some times there will be a good sized piece left over when they cut out areas to fit the carpet. If you don't have a scrap piece, you will have to go to an out of view section of the livingroom, usually in a corner, to retreive a snip of carpet. Just cut the fibers as close to the mat as possible or try pulling them out with tweezers. Put some glue in the burn hole and add the fibers. Press them in, place a square of aluminum foil and a book on the spot. Let it dry for several days before walking on them or vacuuming. The book serves 2 purposes, keeps the fibers in place and marks the spot to stay off of.

5. 
   Tar spot GONE!

   Tar Removal from Carpet
   
   If tar has managed to find it's way to your carpet, don't panic. There is an unbelievable remedy that will remove it and it only takes minutes. Spray WD-40 directly onto the tar. Leave it for about ten or fifteen minutes then wipe off with a clean cloth. If it doesn't all come off the first time you may have to repeat this a couple of times, but don't worry, it works and your carpet will look the same as it did before tar was ever on it. Saves the money you would pay a professional carpet cleaning company.

Tips & Warnings

• These tips can save the money of buying a new carpet.

[unclet53]

on 5/14/2009 Great article. Now this is 5 star information I can use at home and in my business as well.

[jenng]

on 4/25/2009 Great I have always wondered how to remove a burn from a carpet 5*

[jcrush]

on 4/6/2009 THIS IS GOLD!! How to fix a carpet burn and remove a tar spot is INGENIOUS!! Thanks so much for sharing this with the rest of us. Yes! /*****