I have started the monumental task of refreshing my entire house. Most walls need to be painted and floors freshened or outright replaced. The first task that I took on was repainting my bathroom. My two boys, 7 and 8 years old, graciously offered to help me. I thought it was a great learning opportunity for them. Of course that turned into a bit of a fiasco which included paint getting on the hall carpet!
There were some valuable lessons learned in how to get pant out of carpet. Here is a bit of the wisdom that I learned:
Act quickly to get the paint up. Place a paper towel or rag over as soon as possible to pull up the wet paint. Dab at the wet paint to get as much as possible out of the surface of the carpet. Do not push down with much pressure otherwise you will embed the paint within the carpet fibers.
Soak a rag in warm water. Lay the wet rag on the paint for approximately 90 seconds before gently rubbing with a circular motion. Keep shifting the rag so you are using clean areas of the cloth. Replace the rag when there are no clean surfaces left or every time you are starting to smear rather than pull up paint.
This technique takes some patience, but will remove most fresh paint spills.
For very stubborn paint
Sometimes a paint spill is a bit more stubborn. When that happens, take a small bowl with warm water and 1/2 tsp of dish detergent. Again, lay the rag on top of the paint spill. Allow it to soak for approximately 90 seconds. Gently rub in a circular motion, shifting the cloth so the paint meets clean parts of the rag until all areas are cleaned up. Replace the rag as necessary.
Good luck!