How to Get Glue Out of Carpet? | 5 Different Methods

Remember the school’s art and craft class where most of us have had our first encounter with that slimy sticky substance called Glue. Among the best memories of glue in the school days was creating a mess out of it on the floors, benches and even our hands. Well, in those days we mostly used the white craft glue which was quite easy to remove and clean even if it created a mess. On the contrary, glues like the superglue and hot glue happen to be the most stubborn of all the adhesives. Once they cling to a substance or a surface, getting them off can be a challenging task.

Every household uses adhesives regularly to fix broken items, bond materials as well as in children’s art and project works. With such a magnitude of usage, it is more likely that the glue stains your rugs and carpets more than it serves its real purpose of fixing things together.

This is how to remove glue from carpeting.

Video Explainer

How to remove carpet glue? Scrape it/ Wipe it out

If the adhesive that you just spilled on your sleek carpet is a water-based craft glue or a yellow wood glue, no need to worry. Water-based glues are not very tough to deal with and can be easily scraped out. Even in cases where you find out the glue stain becomes old, all you need to apply is a little heat. This is how to get glue out of carpet.

Removal of freshly spilled water-based/ white craft glue

1. Take a wet piece of cloth and put it over the spilled glue.
2. Wipe the area thoroughly until there is no glue visible.
3. Rinse the affected area with water and let it dry.

Removal of dried glue - White Craft Glue

1. Take a hairdryer or a compact heater and aim it on the glue stain.
2. The glue will begin to liquefy/melt.
3. Take a scraping tool like a knife or a spoon and scrape the glue off the carpet.
4. Rinse the affected area with a regular cleanser and let it dry.

How to remove super glue from carpet? Nail Paint Remover/acetone

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Superglue, as the name suggests is literally the powerful glue. Once applied or spilled accidentally, it’s removal is not as easy as the water-based glue. You might have heard of instances where the super glue got accidentally stuck to a person’s finger and peeled off a layer of the skin while removing. Well yes, using it requires a lot of caution. If you accidentally spill it on your carpet there’s a magic solution for you. Most ladies have a nail-paint remover in their nail art kits. This solution contains acetone which softens and eventually dissolves the unwanted deposits of the super glue. This is how to get glue out of carpet.

1. Put some acetone/nail paint remover on the glue stain.
2. Let it get soaked in the carpet for about 5 minutes. If the solution damages the carpet, wash it off immediately.
3. If the solution causes no harm to the carpet, allow the super glue to dissolve in it.
4. As the glue starts coming off, scrape it out with a knife.
5. Wash the affected area and let it dry.

How to remove Elmer's glue from the carpet? - DPSC (Dabbing, Pressing, Scraping, Cutting)

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Elmer’s glue is a PVA based glue usually available in different forms of adhesives. If you happen to spill Elmer’s glue on your carpet, you need to act fast as it dries up quickly. Its removal includes 4 methods. This is how to get glue out of carpet.

Dabbing

1. Take a wet towel and dab it on the glue stain to pick up as much adhesive as possible.
2. Repeat this process multiple times until most of the glue comes off.
3. Make sure to get down into the fibers of the carpet to pull out even the small traces of glue.
4. An alternative for this process would be using Vinegar instead of water in the same way.
5. Once there’s no stain, rinse the affected area with lukewarm water and let it dry.

Pressing

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This is applicable in cases where Elmer’s glue dries up.

1. Grab some brown paper or a thin piece of cloth and an iron.
2. Place the paper or the cloth on the glue stain and heat up your iron.
3. When the iron is warm enough, press it on the paper/cloth. Turn off the steam function for better results.
4. Repeat this several times over the paper/cloth.
5. The heat will melt the hardened glue and it will turn into a liquid state.
6. Use a wet cloth to take it off the carpet.
7. Rinse the affected area well and let it dry.

Scraping

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This applies to both wet as well as dried glue.

• Take a blunt tool like a butter knife or a spoon.
• Scrape the glue out by rubbing the tool against the glue stain.
• This method works best if the glue is still wet, however, it can also be applied on dry glue.
• Once the stain comes off, wash the affected area with lukewarm water.

Cutting

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This method applies to cases where the glue affected area is very small.

1. Take a pair of scissors.
2. Cut the small traces of glue off the carpet.
3. This method needs to be done carefully so that only the thin fibers come off and one does not end up shearing the carpet.
4. Press or blow-dry the affected area with iron and your carpet is all new as before.

How to get remove glued down carpet? Sand Paper

We all have seen sandpaper or glasspaper being used to make wooden and glass furnishings. However, sandpaper has a much wider range of utilities than we can think of. In our case, it is amongst the best tools to take dried glue off the carpet. This is how to get glue out of carpet.

1. Take a small sheet of sandpaper and rub it directly on the glue stain.
2. Be careful as we only want to rub the glue off and not damage the carpet fibers.
3. Continue rubbing until there’s no stain visible.
4. Wash the affected area with lukewarm water and let it dry.

How to get gorilla glue out of carpet?

Gorilla glue is a popular adhesive, known to create strong bonds on any surface. It is both heat resistant and cold resistant and is waterproof which makes it a tough adhesive. Hence it’s removal is a challenging task.

1. If you happen to spill gorilla glue on your carpet, you need to act fast.
2. Take a damp cloth and wipe the glue off the carpet.
3. Keep wiping until a major portion of the glue has come off the carpet fibers.
4. For the rest of the residue, use a laundry cleanser and wash the affected area.
5. Blow-dry the area with a hairdryer and your carpet is good to be used again.

How to remove adhesive from carpet? Carpet Glue Remover

You must have heard of a stain remover or a spot remover but did you know there’s something called a glue remover as well? Glue removers are very common these days and one can easily get them from a stationary store or order them online. This is one of the most convenient methods to take the glue off the carpet.

1. Take a glue remover, and pour it directly over the glue stain. The quantity of glue remover depends on how big the stain is.
2. Do not rub it on the stain rather allow it to rest for 5 to 7 minutes. The glue remover’s formula will break up the glue fibers rendering it to loose and brittle.
3. Take a damp cloth and wipe the stain off the carpet.

How to get hot glue out of carpet? Ice

If you are a crafter or a DIYer, there are high chances of hot glue spilling at the most undesirable places. If you happen to spill hot glue on your carpet you need to use the effect of low temperature against the glue. This is how to get glue out of carpet.

1. Do not touch the hot glue drop on the carpet as it may smear and cling to the carpet fibers.
2. Take some ice cubes in a zip lock bag and seal it tightly.
3. Place the bag directly on the spilled glue for 15 minutes.
4. This will allow the glue to dry fast as well as will harden it.
5. Once the glue hardens it will become brittle.
6. Peel the glue off the carpet carefully as you do not want to take off the thin carpet fibers.

How to remove old carpet glue? 

This is how to get glue out of carpet.

1. Take a blow drier and aim it over the glue stain.
2. Once the glue starts melting, use a cloth soaked in vinegar to wipe the stain off.
3. Do not rub vinegar on the stain as it may smear the melted glue.
4. Wash the area with lukewarm water and let it dry.