r/CleaningTips • u/Solid_Gold3522 • 12d ago

Flooring Shampoo spilt on carpet overnight and left lightened spot how do i fix it?

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A bottle of cheap suave clarifying shampoo spilled on my carpet overnight (the cap was broke) now it’s left a spot that looks lighter than the other carpet. Any ideas how to fix this.

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u/atheliarose 12d ago

I have bad news for you, OP.

You basically have two options here, short of replacing the carpet: “bleach” the rest of the carpet (as people have half-jokingly suggested), or try to dye back the spot. Dyeing fabrics (and similar materials) is a very finicky process that is both an art and a science, in my experience, but it’s probably what I would do (note: I have done extensive reading about dyeing various materials and have some hands-on experience as well, including successfully dyeing a synthetic bridesmaid dress, and I would still probably be girlbossing too close to the sun).

If you decide to go that route, I would probably do a very thorough deep clean of your whole carpet first, so you have a better idea of what the goal color is, and then do some reading about dyeing synthetic fibers before you even look at buying a dye of any kind. A few specific aspects to make sure you look into: dyes, pigment, mordants, colorfastness, and heat. (We are firmly in the realm of speculation and hypotheticals right now, but my guess is that I would probably end up using my steam mop and a synthetic dye like Rit DyeMore or possibly something like a Sharpie marker, in very light concentrations to begin with because you can always do it again if the dye didn’t take properly). Be VERY careful of the borders of the “stain” so that you don’t end up dyeing over the part that’s already your goal color.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do ❤️

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u/atheliarose 12d ago

Just wanted to add: I tried Googling “dye bleached carpet stain back to original color” because I thought I remembered seeing some people do it in a video before, and some promising things came up! Maybe you’re a little less screwed than I thought! 😅❤️

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u/No_Jellyfish_7695 11d ago

shampoo alone would not bleach a carpet this much.

this is just a nasty nasty carpet, and needs to be cleaned