How To Get Hair Glue Out Of Carpet (Quickly & Easily!)
If you’re up-to-date with the latest and greatest hairstyles, you might find yourself using hair glue quite frequently. While it’s a fantastic styling aid, it’s not so amazing when some happens to get into your carpet. Depending on the type of hair glue, it will either dry and flake throughout your carpet or dry and stick your carpet fibers together. Regardless of what it does, you need to get it out.
The best way to get hair glue out of your carpet is to set a hand towel on it for 15 minutes that’s been soaked in white vinegar. The vinegar will then do its job of dissolving the glue. Take a paper towel and dab the spot until all the glue is removed. This should eradicate hair the glue.
This article will provide several methods for you to remove the hair glue on your carpet. Try these in the order they are written, as vinegar on its own is usually enough. However, if it’s not, continue down the list until the glue is completely removed.
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Before You Begin
As always, a word of warning before you begin: Always check an inconspicuous section of your carpet. Specific material has been known to stain regardless of what you use. In this case, you may need to hire a professional to get the glue out without messing up your carpet.
However, if your spot test has passed, or if you are not worried about causing discoloration to your carpet, then feel free to continue and try the methods below.
Distilled White Vinegar
Vinegar is acidic, which means that it breaks down all types of glue, including hair glue. Try the steps below to remove the hair adhesive from your carpet.
- Dab up as much glue as you can. Before the glue has had time to harden, you must get up as much of it as you can. It will be much easier to absorb the glue while it is fresh and sticky.
- Apply water. If the glue has dried, you will need to soak a hand towel in some warm water. The warmth of the water will help to dissolve the dry layer so that you can easily remove it.
- Dab the area with distilled white vinegar. Once the glue has started to soften, take a clean cotton cloth or heavy-duty kitchen towel, and soak it in the vinegar to dab it onto the glue.
- Leave it alone for 15 minutes. After you’ve worked the vinegar into the glue, let it stive for about 15 minutes. The adhesive should have been halfway dissolved before doing this. If it’s not, then this method may not work for you. You can try pouring vinegar directly onto the spot for larger stains.
- Dab the remaining glue. After sitting with a vinegar-soaked towel on it, dab the area with a clean, dry towel. This should remove the remaining glue.
- Dry the area. Since this is vinegar, there is no need to wash it after applying. Let the spot dry thoroughly, and then run your hand over the carpet fibers. If you feel hair glue, you can repeat these steps until it’s gone or move onto another method.
Try a Solvent
In some instances, hair glue can be dissolved using a solvent. However, the method of choice should be using vinegar, which can also be used for regular craft glues and glue for outdoor carpets. If vinegar hasn’t done the trick, try this way.
- Apply the solvent. Carefully pour a small amount of solvent, such as the ones suggested below, onto the glue stain and place a dry rag or cloth over the area.
- Use your iron. Using the medium-heat steam setting on your iron, place it on the cloth to soften and loosen the glue. Carefully work it loose by rubbing. Repeat these steps until the glue is completely gone.
- Clean the area. Once the glue is completely gone, use 2 tbsp of dish soap and 2 cups of water to clean the solvent out of the carpet.
- Dry the carpet. You can take a dry cloth and rub the area to soak up any excess water. Then, you can either air dry or place a fan on high aimed at the spot to quicken the drying process.
Alternative Ways To Remove Hair Glue From Your Carpet
Dish Soap
As an alternative, if you don’t like the idea or the odor of vinegar, it may be possible to dissolve the stain using dish soap and water. Dish soap is a gentle and effective treatment for all kinds of carpet stains.
- Mix the solution. Put a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid (such as Dawn Dish Soap) into some tepid water.
- Apply the mixture. Take a clean cloth and soak it in the soapy water. After, you will want to tamp it onto the adhesive. Make sure you use different clean areas of the cloth as you go until the stain is gone.
- Soak up the excess moisture. Use some paper towels or a clean, dry cloth to soak up the remaining water, and let your carpet dry.
Acetone
While acetone works well at dissolving hair glue, caution is required as it can damage the backing of the carpet. If you’re planning to use acetone, take great care, use as little as you possibly can, and always carry out a spot test on a tiny portion of the carpet.
An alternative would be to use a specialized solvent such as Goo Gone, as this claims to be safe to use on rugs and carpets.
- Absorb as much glue as you can. It’s always a good idea to absorb as much of the hair glue as you can before applying any other product. This is so that you don’t end up smearing the hair glue further into your carpet.
- Apply the acetone. Take your nail polish remover and apply it onto a cotton cloth. You can use a makeup removing cloth if you wish. Just make sure it doesn’t have any chemicals in it already. Tap it onto the hair glue, and this should break the hair glue down.
- Blot the area. Once the nail polish remover has dissolved the glue, use a clean, wet cloth or paper towel and blot the area to remove any residual traces.
- Continuously change the cotton pads. If the pads start to break down before the hair glue does, then make sure you change the pad out for a new one and restart the process.
- Scrape the spots. If the glue leaves hardened, granular debris on your carpet, attempt to remove them by scraping gently with a butter knife or a spoon.
- Apply a dry-cleaning solvent. Next, you will need to remove the acetone from the carpet. Tamp the dry-cleaning solvent onto the stained part of the carpet. Keep dabbing with a clean part of the cloth or kitchen towel to remove all traces of acetone.
What If The Stains Still Don’t Come Out?
It may happen that despite all your efforts, stains refuse to come out. At this point, it’s natural to give up and assume that your carpet is stained for life. The only solution may be to contact a professional carpet cleaning service for assistance. They will undoubtedly have experience of dealing with stains such as yours and can probably provide a solution.
While this may involve some additional expense you could do without, compared to the cost of replacing an entire carpet due to one stained area or letting it spoil the look of your room, it can be a worthwhile investment.
Related Questions
What is the best hair glue remover to use on your carpet if vinegar doesn’t work?
If you’re looking for a particular product recommendation, you can try SureCrete’s Glue Remover. This is a carpet glue remover, but it’s safe to use on hair glue that is stuck in your carpet.
Will Goo Gone remove hair glue from my carpet?
Goo Gone is great for removing all types of glues. It wouldn’t hurt to try Goo Gone on your hair glue stain; however, make sure you test your carpet. Place some Goo Gone in an inconspicuous area for 15 minutes to make sure it doesn’t cause more damage.
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Our Takeaway
Getting hair glue stuck in your carpet can be extremely frustrating because it’s so sticky, and it dries relatively quickly. However, by acting immediately to remove most of it, it will be easier to use the methods listed above.
If the vinegar doesn’t work, you can try using acetone or soapy water. Also, Goo Gone is an option. There may be a chance that the stain won’t budge. In this case, you will need to hire a professional to do the job for you.
Heather is a passionate writer who loves anything DIY. Growing up, she learned everything from home repairs to design, and wants to share her tips with you. When she's not writing, she's usually hiking or searching for her next DIY project.
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