Kayla Young
Lipstick has a fascinating history, and has been used since ancient times.
It is one of the most important part of the basic makeup kit, and often gets applied multiple times per day.
So what happens if lipstick gets on the carpet? Bright red lipstick can really stain!
In this article, we will discuss how to get lipstick out of carpet!
Contents
Lipstick Stains
A lipstick stain can occur in different ways. Hued lipstick stains are mixed stains with a slick/waxy part and color. Lip balm and chapstick stains are more straightforward to eliminate because many don’t have added variety.
While both make our lips look great, they’re not so appealing on clothes, carpets, or upholsteries!
If you have ever had your clothes or carpet stained by lipstick, you already know a tough stain to deal with.
It happens to everyone: you’re refreshing your lips, and before you know it, your lipstick has ended up on the rug.
There’s no need to panic. The stain can be removed! Although lipstick is not an easy stain to remove, the process is not complicated.
There’s no need to panic. The stain can be removed! Although lipstick is not an easy stain to remove, the process is not complicated.
How Tough Are Lipstick Stains?
Lipstick stains are tough to remove because they are oily and dyed. It is also a permanent stain, meaning that once it’s dried onto fabric, it will likely stay there for good.
Lipstick can be hard to remove because the color varies from person to person—each person’s natural undertones will affect how much their lip color rubs off on clothing, upholstered furniture, glasses, mirrors, or carpets.
These stains are oil-based, and it is what makes them so difficult to remove. In contrast, nail polish remover is water-based and can break down the oils in lipstick that cause it to stick around for days on end.
These stains are oil-based, and it is what makes them so difficult to remove
While some people have found that using a non-acetone nail polish remover successfully removes lipstick stains, it’s important to remember that acetone is very harsh on your skin and may not be good for you over time.
Most lipsticks are made of oil and pigment. These are both substances that can be used to color your lips, but they also have functional properties that make them ideal for the job.
The oils in lipstick act as a carrier for the dye and pigment while also helping keep them on your lips (instead of drinking away with water or eating off with food).
Lipstick is a solvent for both dyes and pigments, which means it helps spread their color onto your lips quicker than if you were just applying them straight to your skin.
Why Is Lipstick So Hard To Remove?
The answer is simple: the oil in lipstick softens the fabric if it is left on for a longer time. This is why you can sometimes get a stain out by simply rubbing it with an old towel or shirt, even after washing and drying.
If you have a big ol’ greasy spot on your favorite top, blotting with paper towels will almost always do the trick—but don’t forget that there’s still some oil in there that could cause bleeding if the stain isn’t completely gone!
Lipstick stains are especially tricky because they tend to penetrate deeper into fibers than other types of makeup products (which are usually water-based).
The dye in lipstick compounds the stain problem because it becomes permanently fixed to the fabric.
When you’re shopping for a new dress, try not to make any wrong moves!
In fact, whenever you’re wearing lipstick (or eating anything that may transfer), remember that some of this stuff is pretty hard to get off!
In the world of lipstick stains, time is of the essence. The longer you wait to deal with a stain, the more difficult it will be to remove.
This is because lipstick tends to set in and become harder over time. A fresh tube of lipstick looks like something out of an oil painting; it’s soft and sheer with little color payoff on your lips (or anything else).
But after being applied several times, that same tube becomes stiffer and darker—and consequently much more difficult to get off your clothes or furniture! Eventually, it will expire, and you should toss it out.
In the world of lipstick stains, time is of the essence. The longer you wait to deal with a stain, the more difficult it will be to remove.
How To Get Lipstick Out Of Carpet
If you want to remove lipstick stains from your carpet or clothes, you need to act fast. The longer lipstick is left on the fabric, the harder it will be to remove and the more permanent it may become.
Note: Check your tag for cleaning instructions. Follow these instructions at your own risk, and spot test for stain.
1. Laundry Pods
Lift away any strong bits of lipstick from cover filaments utilizing a dull blade. Try not to rub since it will just push the stain further into the carpet and can make the stain bigger.
Adhering to the item guidelines, smear the mess with a laundry pod. Use a white material or paper towel to wipe it up Continue to smudge until no more color is moved from the carpet to the towel.
On the off chance that you don’t have a laundry pod or cover cleaning item, blend one tablespoon of dishwashing cleaner (that amazing color remover) in two cups of heated water. Add one tablespoon of Barkeeper’s Friend or Comet.
Smear the stain with a wipe or delicate soft brush plunged in the cleaning arrangement and afterward with a dry paper towel until the stain is taken out.
Make certain to “flush” the region with a fabric dunked in plain water to eliminate any lathery buildup that will really draw in more soil. Rehash the cleaning ventures until no more stain remains.
2. Ice Ice Baby!
The basics of this technique are as follows:
- Use ice to harden the lipstick.
- Scrape off as much lipstick as you can with a spoon or butter knife.
- Blot the area with mineral spirits to remove any remaining stain, wax, and oils from your carpet’s fibers.
Ice the Stain
The first thing you need to do is get a bag of ice and cover the stain with it. Leave the ice on the stain for 30 minutes. Afterward, remove the bag of ice and use a spoon or butter knife to scrape off as much lipstick as you can.
- Make sure the ice is hard. If you place a bag of ice on your carpet and leave it there for 30 minutes, the bag will get warm and melt through your carpet.
- Scrape up as much of the stain as possible with a plastic card or spoon. You can use your fingernails to help scrape up lipstick if you don’t have plastic cards or spoons handy, but try not to make extra damage by ripping through fibers in this area—it’s already been done by whoever left the lipstick behind!
- Blot any remaining stain with paper towels until it’s gone completely (this isn’t always necessary). If need be, use rubbing alcohol on another piece of paper towel (or two) and blot again until gone again!
Then…
Use a spoon or butter knife to scrape off as much lipstick as you can, being careful not to damage the carpet.
Then use a vacuum cleaner to remove any remaining lipstick.
Blot The Area With Mineral Spirits
Once you have removed as much of the lipstick from the carpet as you can, blot it with mineral spirits. This will remove any remaining stain and help to prevent discoloration.
The mineral spirits should come in a bottle with a pump dispenser. The bottle will have an open cap, and on top of that, there should be a removable nozzle that looks like a small plastic funnel with holes in it.
You want to take this nozzle off and get it wet so that when you apply mineral spirits to your carpet, they will come out easily without getting too much on other areas of your house.
Once you’ve gotten everything ready and taken off the top part of your pump dispensers (keep this somewhere safe!), squirt some mineral spirits onto a clean white cloth or rag—not directly onto anything else!
Use enough solvent so that when you blot at your carpet with it, there are no streaks left behind after rinsing away the excess liquid with water (but not too much).
Conclusion
When it comes to lipstick removal, the general idea is to get the lipstick as hard as possible, then scrape up as much as you can. Then use a detergent to clean the last little bits.
If you’re a lipstick wearer, don’t feel too guilty when it gets on your carpet or clothes.
You might not be able to remove every trace of it, and that’s often okay. Embrace the dye job—it might look like something out of a carpet store, depending on how much you paid for your lipstick.
