How To Remove Carpet Glue

Carpets are meant to look beautiful and add class, colour and décor to your room and that’s exactly what they do until... How would it feel if you’re told that you need to renovate your home or just move that perfectly placed carpet to another location? Seems like an easy thing to do but, in fact, is quite a nightmare for most homemakers. Why? Due to the fact that the adhesive that glues your carpet to the floor is a hard task to remove. It is a very tedious and back straining job to get this glue off the floors or concrete walls. Several chemicals are available in the market for removing this kind of glue. But along with the chemicals, you also need the correct technique to remove the carpet glue off the polished ground underneath – be it a vinyl covered floor, marbled floor, mosaic, tiles or even wooden floors. To learn more about how you can remove the carpet glue by yourself, read the next section and follow it stepwise.

Tips On Removing Carpet Glue

From The Carpet

You need:

Paper Towels
White Vinegar
Warm Water
Sharp Scissors
Small, Blunt Knife

Instructions:

If the glue is still fresh, blot the excess with paper towels immediately.
If not, use the blunt knife or sharp scissors (whichever seems necessary to lightly scrape away the excess glue stuck onto the top of the carpet.
Make sure you are lifting the glue right off the carpet and not getting it stuck elsewhere.
Add a few drops of white vinegar on a paper towel and rub it on the area of damage.
Soak the affected carpet area with warm water and continue rubbing with the paper towel till you see the glue peeling off.

From The Floor

You need:

Dishwashing Liquid
Scraper
Heat Gun
Iron
Newspaper
Ammonia
Cloth
Rubber Gloves

Instructions:

Wear rubber gloves before you begin the process, as you know how sticky the glue can get!
Immediately after the carpet has been removed, soften the glue on the stone floor by pouring boiling water over it. Pour the water on the area and wait until the glue softens.
A good tip is, not to wait too long after you pour the hot water as the glue hardens quickly.
Using the scraper, try removing the softened glue off the floor. Make sure you rub off the excess glue on a towel or else it will create a mess.
For tiled and mosaic flooring, use the heat gun to warm the affected section of the floor. Do not use this method for wooden and marbled floors for they are more delicate.
After about half a minute, the glue gets even more vulnerable to the heat and becomes easily removable. Using boiling water is a little messier than this process but is faster. With a heat gun, you need to point the gun at all regions of the glue.
If you don’t have a heat gun, then put a newspaper over the floor and run an iron over it. Be careful that the iron is kept at a medium heat and just for about 10sec. Scrape up the newspaper and hence, glue from the floor making sure not to get any glue on the iron.
Finally, fill a bucket of hot water and dissolve ammonia and dishwashing liquid in it. Take a cloth, dip it in the liquid and scrub the floor to fully make the glue stains and dirt vanish.
Rinse the area with warm water and let it dry.

This is a DIY on how to remove carpet glue from the carpet and floors and this will help you save time and money – all the while ensuring that the room looks as good as new!

How to Cite

Related Articles

See also

More in 'Home & Living'