How To Remove Makeup Stains From Your Carpet?

We’ve all been there – a splodge of red nail varnish or a drop of foundation lands, almost in slow motion, onto your carpet. And now you’re left wondering what on earth to do next. But just because you’ve spilled a little makeup, doesn’t mean you have to rip up carpets or get rid of your favourite rug. By following our cleaning hacks for removing makeup from your carpet, you won’t have to worry any about long lasting damage!

So, to discover how to get everything from nail varnish to foundation safely out of your carpet, read below.

Before we get into the nitty gritty of how to get certain cosmetic items up, let’s first look at some general top tips to remove makeup from your carpet.

While there are universal makeup removers, knowing the base of the cosmetic that’s spilled on your carpet can make getting rid of it that bit easier.

By the ‘base’ we mean is it made of oil, silicone, water, or powder? For example, foundations can have any of those bases, while mascara is typically oil-based or water-based. Compacts, bronzer, or blush are usually a powder, and most lipsticks have an oil base.

To find out exactly what base your makeup has, take a look at the ingredients listed on the back.  Don’t worry if you can’t find the ingredients or aren’t sure what base your makeup has, as it’s still possible to remove it regardless. 

To improve the chances of removing makeup from your carpet, it’s best to always be prepared for accidental makeup spillages by having the following items to hand:

• Cleaning solution
• White cloth
• Paper towels
• Clean water
• Plastic spoon or knife
• Towel

TOP TIP: You’ll likely have these in your kitchen anyway, but if you don’t, then it’s a good idea to create a spillage pack that you can have ready to go at any moment. 

One of the best ways to remove makeup from your carpet is to act fast!

No matter how big or small, delaying your makeup removal is more likely to leave you with permanent stains than if you deal with it straight away. So, as soon as you spot the spill, get to work on removing it. 

It’s important not to rub at the stain when you’re removing it, as you actually run the risk of damaging the carpet, spreading the spill, or pushing it further into the carpet fibres.

Instead, first try carefully removing excess makeup from the carpet with your plastic spoon. Scooping the makeup off of the carpet, gently, before you go in with blotting a damp cloth lightly over the stain – repeating as necessary.

TOP TIP: Our spot cleaners are designed to remove all sorts of stains from carpet, hardwood floor and laminate tiles too. They’re super simple to use and make light work of getting makeup out of your carpet. While a damp cloth will do, why not check out our wet and dry vacuums to make this task even easier?

Once you have removed the makeup from your carpet, cover the spot with a dry towel or paper towel to soak up any excess moisture, leaving it to dry completely. And when the area has dried, use one of our cordless vacuum cleaners to clean the area of any residue left behind, leaving you with a sparkling clean carpet. 

Now you’ve got the basics, let’s look at some cleaning hacks to easily remove specific cosmetics from your carpet.

Wondering how to get lipstick out of your carpet? Well, rubbing alcohol will do the trick!

1.      First, take a white cloth – this is important to prevent colour transfer from the cloth to your carpet – and dab on some rubbing alcohol.

2.      Once the cloth is adequately saturated, gently dab the cloth over the stain, being careful not to be too heavy handed to avoid the stain getting deeper into the carpet.

3.      Once done, leave a dry towel or paper towel over the stain to help it dry quicker. 

And that’s all! You can keep repeating this method until the lipstick is out of the carpet.

Getting nail polish out of your carpet is super simple - just use nail polish remover!

1.      Once you have your non-acetone nail varnish remover, you can take a cotton pad and pop some remover onto it.

2.      Then, lightly dab the remover-soaked pad onto the nail varnish in your carpet, being careful not to press too hard and push the varnish further in.

3.      When the varnish starts to lift, keep going until you can’t notice the stain anymore, repeating these steps as many times as required.  

TOP TIP: Be sure to use a non-acetone remover only for this trick, as the acetone chemical can not only bleach or lift colour from your carpet, but it can damage the glue if allowed to soak in.

You can get foundation out of carpet with a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution. While not every supermarket will stock this, you can usually grab a bottle from a pharmacy or high street drug store, as it is more commonly used to treat small cuts and burns.

1.      Pop a bit of this pre-mixed solution – and the 3% is important as anything more could bleach your carpet – into a sprayable bottle.

2.      Spray a few times over the stain and let the solution soak into the carpet for 30 minutes to an hour, adjusting depending on how stubborn the stain is.

3.      Once the solution has had time to work its magic, spray some plain, cold water over the area. Then, lightly dab the stain with a clean cloth to remove any excess.

Et voila - you’re done! This should help get any foundation out of your carpet.

Want to know how to get mascara out of your carpet using one eco-friendly household essential? Well, grab your dishwashing liquid and let’s get started.

1.      Simply combine a squeeze (or a ¼ tea spoon to be specific) of washing-up liquid with a cup of warm water.

2.      Then, take a fresh cloth and soak up some of the liquid, before carefully dabbing over the mascara in the carpet until the stain is gone – it’s that simple!

Want to know the best part? This trick will work for get both waterproof and regular mascara out of your carpet!

And we have another household essential stepping up! This time we’re looking to mild laundry detergent to get eyeshadow out of your carpet.

1.      Mix together some cold water and a bit of detergent – ¼ teaspoon of detergent to a cup of water.

2.      Lightly blot the mixture onto the stain with a clean towel, being careful to press lightly so the powder doesn’t end up being pushed deeper into the carpet fibre.

3.      Once done, place a dry towel over the stain to help lift the eyeshadow out of the carpet.

4.      If you used powder detergent, give it a little once over with one of our cordless hoovers to get rid of any lingering bits of detergent.

Finished! You should now have a sparkling clean carpet. And guess what? This method is ideal for getting blusher, eyeshadow, power foundation, bronzer, and any other powder-based makeups out of your carpet as well!

With your carpet now clean of pesky cosmetic spills, you might be on the lookout for tips to remove other nuisance stains from your flooring too. From how to get coffee out of your carpet to how to get rid of red wine stains, head over to our blog.