Children love to make crafts out of Play Dough. Parents often have to take the play dough mass out of the most unexpected places during the cleaning process. The younger the child, the more often they have to do it. It is especially unpleasant if the bright color paste was glued to the carpet or carpeting. Remove it from there without trace – a difficult task. However, a solution can be found. Let’s find out how to get playdough out of carpet quickly and without traces.
Peculiarities of Play Dough Mass
Play Dough consists of finely ground and purified clay, petroleum jelly and wax. In addition, animal fats, ceresin, ozokerite, rubbers, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, etc. are added to different types of carpet. For example, the traditional domestic plastic mass was made on the basis of paraffin, later wax varieties appeared.
We began with the composition, because before washing play dough from the carpet, it is advisable to determine its type. For example, mastic made of natural ingredients can be cleaned with a soapy solution, but wax mastic will not wash off. Difficult stains leave pastes with dyes of bright colors, as well as with fluorescent and pearlescent additives. In some cases, only professional dry cleaning will help. But before calling in professionals, you can try to remove the nasty dirt yourself.
Tools That Dissolve Play Doh
Special solvents will also help to remove the substance.
- You need to soak a sponge in gasoline, acetone or “White spirit”. They are suitable for fighting tough dirt, and will also cope with a play dough stain. Next, wipe the desired area, moving from the outer edge inward. After a while, repeat again. In the end, to completely clean the carpet, it is wiped with a clean rag.
- Will help remove play dough and means, which is used to clean the car interior. It is applied to the affected area for a couple of hours, during this time the substance should dissolve. You can remove the residue with a damp cloth.
- You can try to remove dirt with any cleaning cream and hydrogen peroxide for other surfaces. A small amount is applied to the dry carpet. Then the sponge should be wet and rub the desired location. After that, the foam is washed away with clean water, from the cream will not be much.
Cleaning Rules
Carpeting can also be different. Much depends on the composition of the fibers. A distinction is made between natural carpets, synthetic carpets and mixed carpets, where the threads contain natural and man-made fibers. They all react differently to chemical preparations.
Therefore, before you remove play dough from the carpet with a chemical agent, it is necessary to apply the selected chemistry to the contamination to test it on a little-noticeable area. Otherwise, there is a great risk of ruining the carpet.
The technology of cleaning is chosen depending on the height of pile. Long-woven coverings are cleaned with dry napkin, performing “twisting” movements, directed to the ends of the hairs. The mass is as if pulled. Rubbing is categorically impossible, as soft mastic will be rubbed into the base, clean it after that will be extremely difficult. Very long hairs can be brushed with a brush or comb.
Short pile floors are cleaned differently. They are scraped off with a plastic knife, and a modeling stack will do. Work carefully so as not to damage the coating. Try not to rub mastic into the base.
Products with medium pile length are cleaned as conveniently and efficiently as possible. You can try both the first and the second method. In the process of mechanical cleaning, the bulk of the dirt is removed. After that, the remaining traces are removed.
How to Clean Play Dough from The Carpet in Different Ways
Here are effective ways to remove play dough residue from carpeting.
High Temperature Exposure
The base of any play dough paste melts from high temperature. This property is the basis for the known to many method of removal with an iron. Clean paper is placed on the dirt, and a heated iron is brought up. The mastic melts and soaks into the paper.
The technique is effective if used correctly. Do not take shiny paper, it will not absorb the liquid. In addition, the sheets will have to be changed frequently, because the melted paste is quickly absorbed. If this is not done, the melted play dough mastic will be absorbed into the fibers of the coating, and it will be almost impossible to remove it. Another point. A hot iron can melt the lint, so you need to watch the heat temperature.
Ice
Most modeling mastics contain paraffin or wax. These substances lose plasticity and crumble when frozen. Therefore, to remove the stain it is necessary to freeze it. To do this is simple. Take pieces of ice, pour it into a plastic bag and put it on the dirt. Wait until it freezes, then remove the crumbs. Instead of ice, you can use any frozen food from the freezer.
Vegetable Oil
The product dissolves the ingredients of the plastic mastic. Treat the dirt with a carpet swab soaked in oil. Clean it from the edges to the center, so as not to smear it. After removing the play dough, a greasy residue remains and should be removed immediately.
You can apply shaving foam to it, hold it for five minutes and remove it with a damp rag. Or prepare a soap solution of a glass of water and two teaspoons of any liquid detergent or grated soap. Such a solution should be rubbed with a sponge into the base until the foam appears, hold a little and rinse.
Solvent And Hydrogen Peroxide
Choose a suitable remedy from the construction preparations: white spirit, 646 thinner, hydrogen peroxide. Similarly acts and rubbing alcohol. All of them dissolve the base of the mass for molding. The composition is applied to the contaminated area from the edges to the center. Carefully remove the dissolved mass. Wash off solvent rubbing alcohol residue with a soapy solution.
Important warning: solvents can ruin carpeting, a safety test in a low-visibility corner is mandatory.
Chemicals
Special home cleaners are used to remove play dough marks. They are used after the bulk of the dirt has been removed by mechanical or low-temperature methods. Preparations such as powder or liquid “Vanish” will help.
Prepare a foam of them according to the instructions, conduct her treatment. After drying, wipe off the remains of the drug. Spray stain removers work similarly, but it’s easier to work with them. The product is sprayed on the problem area without any preparation.
Tools with Their Own Hands
We suggest you learn how to clean the carpet from play dough at home by folk simple methods.
- Effective remove play dough mass can be a universal substance – ordinary baking soda. Prepare a thick solution, warm it up a little, and then apply it to the surface. Allow it to dry completely, then vacuum to get rid of the remains of the baking soda. Then finish the wet cleaning by rinsing off the stain with clean water.
- A cleansing paste of salt, 6% vinegar and hydrogen peroxide can also be used. You can easily make it yourself. Pour 1 tsp. of each ingredient into a bowl, pour a little water and mix well. Next, apply the detergent mixture to the soiled areas, wait for it to harden completely, and then remove the mass with a damp cloth. Rinse off the mixture with clean water.
In a home with children, it’s hard to be surprised by the appearance of various stains in the most unexpected places. It is unpleasant, but fortunately, most dirt can be successfully removed, including play dough traces from the carpet. In the same way it will be possible to clean and upholstered furniture. Just do not put off cleaning for too long: fresh dirt is always easier to remove than stale.
How Do You Remove Stale Play Dough
Old stains are more difficult to remove. Over time, the plastic mass becomes so ingrained in the coating that it is almost impossible to remove it. Soapy solutions and powders are useless here. Hydrogen peroxide or White spirit are used.
You can try to melt the substance under the hot air of a hair dryer. A stream of air is directed to the stain and the consistency of the substance becomes liquid. When softened, collect the mass with a paper towel. The remaining dirt is removed with alcohol or cologne.
How to Get Playdough Out of Carpet
Play-Dough loses its plasticity over time – it simply dries out. To soften it, you need a water environment. This property works great if the material suddenly happened to be on the carpet in the living room or children’s room.
You need to wait until it dries completely. This process is accelerated by applying a jet of warm air with a hair dryer to the stain. Those pieces that have hardened, well come away from the pile. They can now be picked up with a vacuum cleaner or broom.
It is worth noting that manufacturers offer a lot of variations of the classic play dough, which makes it difficult to select means in the future. For example, the well-known “play-do” dries up on its own after a while and needs to be refreshed with water in order to continue modeling.
Therefore, to remove this play dough from the carpet, you should just wait until it dries (the process can be accelerated by using non-hot air blow dryer). Next, the hardened pieces of Play DOH can simply be swept away with a brush and then thoroughly vacuumed up.
If there are too many pieces, you can remove the carpet and vacuum it outside. This is important to do to avoid spreading micro-particles of play dough all over the house. You should also not try to wash the play dough from the carpet, because when soaked, it becomes malleable and can be absorbed into the pile of the product itself. Also, do not use any solvents or stain removers to prevent the product from fading from this type of play dough.
After the dirt is removed, the carpet is washed with Vanish or another shampoo. Products containing surfactants are excellent at restoring the product to its original appearance.
Useful Tips: How to Get Playdough Out of Carpet?
You can also watch a helpful video to see the whole process in action. You will learn how you can remove Playdough from carpets, how you can soften hardened Playdough again, and other important tips for mess-free Playdough sprees!
To avoid having to spend time and effort to combat play dough stains, it is better to prevent them in advance. To do this, you need to follow some recommendations:
- When choosing a substance, be sure to pay attention to the composition.
- You should not buy play dough based on natural wax.
- Do not leave the child playing with the plastic mass without supervision, even for a short time.
- You need to explain to your child how to use play dough. It is better not at all allowed to play with play dough on the carpet, but if you cannot, you need the constant presence of a parent.
These recommendations will help avoid unpleasant consequences.
Conclusion
We found out how to remove play dough from the carpet and how to do it correctly. It is important to choose a technique that suits the type of carpet and use it correctly. If there are doubts about the method of cleaning, it is better not to take the risk. For example, if the composition of the carpet fibers is unknown, it is better not to try to clean it with an iron. Some synthetics melt even at relatively low temperatures.
