Paint Removal From Carpets: By TLC Carpet Care

Paint in the carpet happens fast in Castle Rock.

One tip of the ladder during a living room repaint, one kid with a craft project in the basement, and you have latex or acrylic dried into the fibers. Homeowners try to pick it out or pour nail polish remover on it, and that makes it worse. It spreads the paint and bleeds the carpet color.

The approach depends on what kind of paint it is.

If it is still wet stop. Blot, don't scrub.Use a clean white towel and blot from the outside in. Scoop up as much as you can with a spoon edge. Do not add heat and do not pour cleaner on it yet. If you can get 80% up while wet, we can get the rest without a trace.

Then call. Wet latex is an easy save for our truck-mount system.

If it is dried latex or acrylic — the most common in Castle Rock:

This is what we see after DIY remodels in The Meadows, Founders Village, and Castle Pines.

We do not use harsh strippers. We use a three-step softening process. First, we identify the carpet fiber — nylon, polyester, wool — because each reacts differently. Second, we apply a professional-grade latex break-down solution that softens the paint without dissolving the carpet backing.

It dwells for 10 to 15 minutes.

Third, we gently agitate with a carpet-safe brush and extract with our truck-mount at over 200 degrees. The heat lifts the softened paint from the base of the fiber, not just the top.

For big spots, we repeat. Patience beats pressure here.If it is oil-based paint, enamel, or spray paint:This is different. Oil-based paint bonds to synthetic fiber.

Do not use Goof Off, acetone, or paint thinner on your own. In Castle Rock homes, we have seen those products melt polyester carpet and permanently bleach the color out of beige nylon.

For oil-based, we test in a closet first. We use a controlled, wool-safe solvent on a towel — never poured directly — and we extract immediately. If the paint has cured for more than a week, we will tell you honestly if it is a cleaning or a small patch repair. We would rather tell you the truth than make it worse.

What we need from you before we come:

What kind of paint — check the can. Latex says "water cleanup."

Oil says "mineral spirits cleanup."How long it has been there.

What you already put on it.

That saves us an hour and saves your carpet.Castle Rock homeowners — quick tip after we leave:Keep leftover carpet from your install. Even a 1-foot square in the garage lets us do an invisible patch if a future paint spill is too far gone.If you have paint in the carpet right now, don't scrub it.

Take a photo and text it to us.TLC Carpet Care — (720) 314-0178 Locally owned, 5 AM to 11 PM, 7 days a week. Visit us at tlccarpetcare.net. we also offer carpet cleaning for Parker and carpet cleaning for Highlands Ranch.