How to Clean Soot from Carpet
- 1). Vacuum the carpet thoroughly to remove as much of the soot as possible.
- 2). Sprinkle baking soda or cornstarch over any soot remaining in the carpet. Wait one hour and vacuum the carpet again.
- 3). Dampen a paper towel with rubbing alcohol. Gently blot the remaining soot with the paper towel. The soot stain should begin to transfer from the carpet to the paper towel. Continue to wet the paper towel with rubbing alcohol as necessary and blot the stain.
- 4). Mix 1/4 tsp. dish soap into 1 quart of water. Read the label of the dish soap to ensure that it does not contain bleach or lanolin. Bleach could discolor your carpet, and lanolin is a moisturizing ingredient that could make the stain more difficult to remove.
- 5). Pour a small amount of the dish soap mixture directly onto the soot. Quickly blot the area with a clean towel repeatedly to remove the stain.
- 6). Spray the carpet with clean water from a spray bottle to rinse away the dish soap. Place a thick towel on top of the wet carpet and weigh the towel down with several books or a brick to dry the carpet quickly.
- 7). Apply hydrogen peroxide to the carpet with a cotton ball if soot stains persist. Wait one hour and check your results. The hydrogen peroxide will evaporate, so you do not need to rinse it away. Repeat application as necessary to remove the soot stains.
