How to Get Clay Out of Carpet – 7 Foolproof Steps

Modeling clay or plasticine, pottery clay, or just the regular mucky clay that waltzes into the house on your outsoles – all have one thing in common.

They look TERRIBLE on your carpet.

And that’s where I come in to help!

To get clay out of your carpet, you first need to wipe off any excess smudge, let the mud dry before you vacuum, and finally, clean it with some liquid dish soap.

But what are the tools and steps you need to follow to get the job done?

Let’s dive in and find out.

Things You’ll Need

Before you jump into the actual cleaning, you’d first want to confirm that you have the following important things in your possession:

• A spoon or butter knife
• Water
• Cleaning paste
• Vacuum cleaner
• Steam cleaner
• Cleaning rag (or a common white cloth)
• Liquid dish soap
• Silica gel

👉You can rent a steam cleaner if you don’t already own one. There are tons of steam cleaning businesses in virtually any area! It’s cheaper and more budget-friendly.

How to Clean Up Clay Off Carpet

Once you get all the above items in place, you just have to follow the steps below:

1. Remove excess clay off the carpet

I want to bet that you’re looking at a recent stain that’s probably still wet or muddy.

If that is the case, then your first goal should be to remove the excess muck off the top of your carpet using either a scooping spoon or a butter knife.

Doing this gives you easy access to the carpet fibers for a smooth cleaning process later on. 

2. Let the carpet dry

Allow the carpet between 8 – 10 hours to dry and form some kind of stain flakes.

Afterward, break the hardened clay stain with your spoon or butterknife and use a vacuum to suck all the loose dirt and clay particles.

This should give you a much cleaner surface to work with.

3. Apply a cleaning solution onto the clay stain

You can either use white distilled vinegar or OxiClean paste in this step. But first, you’ll need to soften up the stained fibers by sprinkling a bit of water and letting it sit for 2-3 minutes.

After that, spread a paste of OxiClean or a solution of vinegar and liquid dishwashing soap onto the wet area. For the best cleaning action, use a clean cloth to rub the paste/solution into the stained spot.

4. Rinse the cleaning paste

Leave the paste for 10 – 15 minutes to allow the stain to come to the top of the carpet pile then rinse it off with cool water.

To avoid making a mess, start outside and rinse your way towards the center. Also, do not apply too much water as the stain can seep into the cleaner parts of the carpet.

Rinse the cloth when it becomes too dirty and repeat the rinse until the soap residue and clay stain fade away.

5. Spray some liquid dishwashing soap on the carpet

This is pretty important, especially if you used OxiClean cleaning paste. Spraying on some extra layer of liquid dishwashing soap helps to completely get rid of any left clay or OxiClean residue.

After 3 minutes, use a clean cloth to wipe the soap off. Rinse the carpet and repeat till the soap is removed from the fibers.

6. Steam clean the cleaned spot

Steam cleaning should help you get rid of any residual stain that may still be lurking within the carpet fibers. It’s also important to get rid of any odor that may have come with the clay mud.

For the best results, clean back-and-forth in straight lines over the affected spot.

Steam cleaning will also restore your carpet’s luster and vibrance in one shot.

7. Dry the carpet

The best way is to allow air to move through the room by opening your windows or turning your house fans on.

Another great way of fastening the drying phase is by putting silica gel in the carpet fibers. Silica gels are wonderful absorbents that will suck up all the water off your carpet’s pile with great efficiency.

Just let them sit in for a few hours and your carpet will be as dry as you like it! 

How Do You Get Plasticine Out of Your Carpet?

For plasticine or modelling clay, you may use the following quick tips to prevent or clean the oily stains:

1. Get any scoopable plasticine off the top of your carpet fibers first.
2. Put ice cubes in thin plastic bag and place it on top of the stain. Leave it for about 10 to 15 minutes to allow it to freeze the plasticine. Frozen plasticine solidifies and easily crumbles when scrapped with a knife or spoon.
3. You should repeat this process until you get all of the intertwined plasticine/modelling clay off the carpet fibers.
4. After you’ve removed all the solid goo, you may then use rubbing alcohol or a carpet cleaner of your choice to blot the oily patch from your carpet.

Too easy, right!?

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I use hot water to remove clay stains?

It is not a good idea to use hot water when removing clay stains from your carpet.

Hot water tends to set the clay components deep into most fabrics and carpet fibers. Eventually, it only makes it harder for you to remove the stains. You should use cold water instead, especially if the stain is fresh or wet.

2. How do you remove sticky clay from your carpet?

You can use a thin-edged spoon or knife to remove sticky clay from your carpet.

You can also use a cloth to dab out the extra moisture that may be present in some cases. Doing so prevents the dirty clay water from spreading throughout the rest of the carpet.

Afterward, you should let it dry before cleaning it using the steps highlighted above.

3. Can vinegar remove clay from your carpet?

You can use vinegar to clean clay from your carpet but you need to mix it with other soaps.

Vinegar by itself is not powerful enough to remove set in clay stains. You’ll have to mix it with dishwashing liquids or detergents to get the best results.