Knowing how to remove a chocolate stain is a major part of adulting. While our sweet tooth may stick around for years to come, the evidence doesn’t have to!
Let us paint two pictures for you…
Number 1: you decided to let the kids loose with some scrumptious Tony's Chocolonely. Off they go and suddenly melted chocolate is all over the carpet. Hang on, didn’t you say the rule was to eat it at the kitchen table?
Number 2: you and the other half are cuddling up on the couch after a long day with some silky Divine. Yet, suddenly the lights come back on, there’s chocolate on the floor and you don’t remember what happened in the movie you were watching.
Do either of these sound familiar? Are you now looking down at your toes cosied into the carpet pile beside the evidence? Well, we’ve got you covered with our sweet treat of how to get chocolate out of carpet.
- Act Fast
As with most stains, the longer it’s left, the harder it will be to remove. And chocolate is like a fine wine; completely stubborn as a stain. So, be sure to act as quickly as possible. Hence our “how to remove a chocolate stain” article using normal household items instead of telling you to head out for something new. Chocolate stains don’t wait for traffic you know!
- Ice the Area
Even though you have to act fast on the stain, the excess chocolate on the top shouldn’t be warm or runny. Grab some ice out of the freezer (a pack of frozen peas will do if you don’t have any cubes) and gently place it onto the chocolate to help it set and harden.
- Butterknife the Excess Away
That’s right; grab a butter knife (nothing too sharp or you’ll have a chunk of carpet shorter than the rest). Then, using the blunt side, carefully scrape away the top layer of chocolate in an upwards motion. A tip is to have a cloth ready to wipe the knife after each scrape. This way you won’t end up with more chocolate smushed into the carpet pile.
- Hoover Any Crumbs
As the chocolate has been hardened and scraped, you may be left with chocolate shavings around the spillage. So, the next step in our journey of how to get chocolate out of carpet is to grab your vacuum to suck up the chocolatey goodness that doesn’t need to be there.
- Pre-Heat Your Iron
Next, you’ll need to dig out your iron and turn it on to a medium-low heat setting. No need to fill up the reservoir as we don’t want to use the steam setting this time; we’re not straightening the stain.
- Make a White Vinegar Solution
Everyone has vinegar at home (right?). Using that white vinegar that you definitely already have, make a watered-down solution. In a ramekin or bowl, mix together a 1:1 ratio of around 100ml white vinegar and 100ml cold water. This will be great for both removing and neutralising the stain in the carpet so it doesn’t begin to smell funky or leave a residue that hardens the carpet pile.
- Dab Vinegar onto the Stain
Dampen a cloth with your vinegar solution and gently blot the stain. This should help the water “emulsify” (“connect” in non-science terms) with the chocolate’s oils to make them easier to lift. Don’t scrub, though; it’ll only make it worse. If you’ve already scrubbed the stain or some tiny hands decided they wanted to “help out”, head back on up to step one.
- Apply Heat
Finally, we’re at the last step of how to remove a chocolate stain. Grab your pre-heated iron and a clean dishcloth. Place the dishcloth over the stain and iron it. After about 10 seconds, the stain should have lifted from the carpet and into the cloth. When it does, move the cloth so a clean area is now covering the stains and repeat!
And that’s it. You should have a lovely, soft and chocolate-free carpet. But being honest, we could have added another 5 steps but the sweet taste of chocolate would still be worth it. Either way, 8 steps for how to remove a chocolate stain later and here we are.
If you want to learn more about how to remove stubborn stains with sustainable cleaning, check in to our Seep Tips. We have all sorts to get through the Spring clean and more. For example, we’ve got “Don’t Whine: Get Red Wine Out of Your Clothes” and “Tut Tut Soot: How to Get Soot Out of Carpet and Walls”.
