The interior of my home is important to me and I like to keep it looking like new. Three months ago we spent $3000 on carpeting for our living room, but I found myself in a quandary when it needed some special cleaning.
We have a baby in our home, and my husband didn’t like the way his slippers squeaked when he walked on the hard wood floors in our dining room. His answer was to cover the bottoms of his expensive LL Bean slippers with Duck brand tape.
Of course the tape only lasted a few days before it started to peel back, leaving a sticky mess behind. The adhesive residue from this tape stuck to our hard wood floors, and it stuck to our carpeting. The area in front of his easy chair was particularly dirty. The adhesive was collecting dirt and dust, which in turn was soiling our brand new carpet. There was a large area of about one square foot that needed attention, and I was determined to clean it!
After speaking with a helpful customer service representative at ShurTech, (the makers of Duck Tape), I knew there were a few things I could try. They suggested using an iron on low heat with a paper bag placed between the iron and the carpet. They thought the iron might melt the adhesive and allow it to either stick to the bag, or allow me to pick it off. That attempt was a colossal failure.
It was recommended I try rubbing alcohol, but that didn’t work either, it just made my carpet smell like a hospital, even though I applied very little to the carpet fibers. I was told that Goof Off or WD-40 might work, but that since they were oil based products they might leave stains on our rug.
I was now in a quandary and wasn’t sure how to proceed. I remembered that citrus oil based cleansers are often successful at removing stuck on gum, so I got out my bottle of CitraSolv Natural Cleaner & Degreaser and read the label to see how it could be used. It Claims to remove “chewing gum, ink, tar, grease, oil, lipstick, paint, adhesives, permanent marker, pet stains & odors and more!”
Next I checked to see if it could be used on carpeting, and sure enough it listed carpets as one of the surfaces I could use it on. Bingo!! I was a happy camper. I did not follow the directions listed on the peel back label, which said to use a general purpose dilution of 1 ounce CitraSolv to 16 ounces of water in a spray bottle. Instead, I dampened a clean white hand towel with near boiling water and poured some CitraSolv directly onto this cloth.
Cleaning carpets can be delicate work, but as I gently dabbed the cleaner over the tops of the carpet fibers, the adhesive started to come off of the carpet and onto the rag! I worked on the rug for 30 minutes, and when I was done I let it dry well before cleaning the area with a foam carpet cleaner.
I really need to repeat this entire process because not all of the adhesive came off of my carpet, but most of it did, and my carpet looks 80%! I will never be without a bottle of CitraSolv. It is a multi-purpose cleaner that I picked up for removing laundry stains, but it does so much more. In my opinion, CitraSolv is less toxic than mineral or oil based cleaners, and it left my living room smelling like oranges.
If you find yourself in this predicament, I know how frustrating it can be. I had great success cleaning my carpet with CitraSolv, and I highly recommend it to anyone needing to remove adhesive. Please do follow all warnings and read instructions about color fastness and safety before starting your work.