How To Get Tire Marks & Rubber Stains Out Of Carpet | 5 steps for a clean floor
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When we think of stains on our carpet we don’t often think of tire marks. However, tire marks can easily get onto your carpet, especially if you bring your bike into the house.
While they look pretty unsightly, they’re far from permanent. You can easily get tire stains out of your carpet with some simple home tools and ingredients.
How to get tire marks out of carpet, you’ll need a spool, a vacuum, rubbing alcohol, and some warm water.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
How To Get Tire Marks Out of Carpet
Tire marks on the carpet can be a frustrating sight, especially when you’ve worked hard to keep your home clean and pristine. Whether it’s from a bike or an office chair, those stubborn black streaks seem impossible to get rid of. Say goodbye to unsightly tire marks and hello to a spotless and fresh-looking carpet.
Step 1: Get Up the Excess Rubber
Tire tracks on your carpet are usually caused by rubber. You’ll need to get this rubber out of the carpet in order to remove the stain.
In other words, even though what you see on your carpet are tire marks, what you’re actually seeing is rubber that’s been burned onto your carpet.
Since the rubber has been heated and melted onto your carpet, this can make it much more difficult for you to get out of your carpet. As such, you’ll need to start by scraping up the rubber on the floor.
You can do this with:
- A kitchen knife
- A paint scraper
- A spoon
No matter which method you use, be careful. You don’t want to injure yourself in the process.
Step 2: Remove the Rubber Residue and Soak the Stain
After you’ve got as much of the rubber marks off the carpet as you can by scraping, vacuum the excess rubber that you’ve scraped off. You can also use a paper towel to pick it up, although this is harder.
Once you’ve got all the excess rubber off the carpet, grab a clean rag. Soak the rag in one of the following:
- Rubbing alcohol
- Dry-cleaning solvent
- Hydrogen peroxide
Carefully dab at the carpet with the rag, making sure that you don’t scrub at the carpet. You want to be pressing the liquid into the stain and then slowly releasing it.
Although it will take a while, over time you’ll notice that the stain starts to loosen. Keep repeating until the tire stain is fully loosened from the carpet.
DIY Tip: If you don’t have any of these chemicals on hand, you can always mix two cups of warm water with a teaspoon of dish soap. Just note that this will be much harder than the other liquids, and will take a bit more time.
Step 3: Rinse the Carpet With Fresh Water
After you’ve applied your chosen cleaner to the carpet you’ll need to rinse the carpet. You can do this by applying a small amount of warm water to the stain.
During this step the carpet should be damp but not soaked. Once you’ve finished, use a shop vac to pull the excess water and cleaning solution out of the carpet’s fibers.
In some cases, the tire marks may be gone. If not, don’t panic! You can just repeat the above steps until you notice that the rubber stain comes out.
Step 4: Steam Clean
The last step of the carpet cleaning process for getting rid of tire marks on your floor is to steam clean the entire carpet. This is important for getting any harsh chemicals out of the fibers in the carpet.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your steam cleaner. Then, allow the carpet to fully dry. If it’s taking too long for your carpet to dry and your busting to get back in the room, try setting up an upright fan in the doorway to dry out the floor faster.
Step 5: Dry!
When you steam the entire carpet, it is important to avoid any walking and stepping on it until it is thoroughly dry, which, unfortunately, can take a while. Luckily, there are few strategies to fast track carpet drying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Tire Stains Be Removed From Carpet?
Even though they might look intimidating, it’s fairly easy to remove tire stains from the carpet. Just pick off the worst of the stain with a paint scraper before applying a bit of rubbing alcohol to the stain. This should make it relatively easy to get the stains out of your carpeting.
How Do You Remove Rubber Stains?
Tire marks are essentially rubber stains. As such, to get them out of your carpet you’ll need to remove them by scraping off the worst of the rubber. From there you can use hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol to remove the worst of the stain. Finally, rinse the carpet and steam clean it.
