How to Get Oatmeal Out of Carpet With Household Items (6-Step Guide)

There’s hardly anything as frustrating as watching your warm and cozy oatmeal breakfast seeping into the carpet.

But don’t worry – there’s nothing to lose (except for your breakfast)! 

Cleaning your carpet will not cost you hundreds of dollars (surprisingly!) and everything you need is in your kitchen already. The most important ingredient you need is one that should be in every kitchen for how versatile and effective it is, vinegar.

What You Will Need:

• Spoon
• Bowl
• Water
• White vinegar
• Fabric softener
• Hard bristle brush
• Vacuum
• Toothbrush (if oatmeal has dried)
• Steam cleaner (optional)

Here’s How to Clean Oatmeal Out of Carpet

First things first: don’t let the oatmeal dry on the carpet. 

This would make the clean up process significantly harder as the oatmeal will bind the fibers together. Achieving the stain-free softness of yore will take a lot more time and energy, so you must act fast. 

Once you have everything you need to clean your carpet, follow these steps:

1. Pick up as much of the oatmeal as you can. You can use a piece of cardboard, but a spoon is even better! The more you scoop now, the better your chances are of restoring your carpet back to its original condition.
2. Grab a bowl and mix white vinegar, room temperature water and a laundry detergent (or dish soap). Its cleaning majesty white vinegar will act as the main cleaning agent. But you can also add some fabric softener to restore the affected areas’ suppleness and mask the smell of the vinegar. The water will dilute the solution, ensuring neither the vinegar nor the fabric softener is too strong, so it doesn’t damage your carpet. It is super important that all three ingredients are of equal measure. For example, if you use 150 millimeters (mm) of vinegar then you use 150 mm of fabric softener and 150 mm of water.
3. Once you have your solution, mix it using a hard bristle brush and apply it to the stain. Brush the area from left to right vigorously. Keep scrubbing until you see the stains starting to fade. Repeat this process until the stains have mostly disappeared. The time it takes will depend on the strength of the stains.
4. If you made your oatmeal with milk, a steam cleaner will do a great job at breaking down the tiniest particles of grease and pushing them out! It also works wonders with stains on furniture and upholstery.
5. Let the carpet dry. (If you’re short on time, a hairdryer will help!)
6. Finally, vacuum the carpet and the affected area thoroughly to suck up any remaining oatmeal particles. 

Steam cleaning your carpet is not always necessary to remove small stains. However, it is a great way to keep your carpet clean and fresh every once in a while. This especially would work well if you have a young family, as kids spill foods and drinks all the time. 

A once in a while steam clean, however, can do wonders for your carpet. Lifting the room’s appearance and removing bacteria, dirt and possible mold from deep inside the fibers of the carpet. It is also an effective way to prolong your carpet’s life, saving you time and money on replacing it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to get dried oatmeal out of your carpet?

When or if oatmeal dries, it binds the wool fibers of the carpet together. It essentially becomes super glue and this makes restoring the carpet a big challenge. The longer the oatmeal remains, the stiffer the fibers become and longer it takes to get it out.

To get it out, whip up a solution of vinegar, warm water and fabric softener. The deeper and nastier the stain, the more vinegar and softener you’ll need!   Apply this solution to the stain and scrub with a stiff bristle brush, then an old toothbrush.

Can oatmeal cause permanent damage to your carpet?

Oatmeal can cause permanent damage to your carpet. But that doesn’t mean it will!  It all comes down to how much oatmeal you spilled and more importantly, how long you left it there. 

The chances of oatmeal actually causing permanent damage to your carpet, however, are quite slim. If you were to drop an entire bowl and then leave your carpet as it was for a couple of years, then even a good steam clean may not retract all of the oatmeal. 

But if you clean it ASAP oatmeal should not cause permanent damage to your carpet.