The Simplest DIY Steps to Repair Cigarette Burn in Carpet

by Parry Joeperia Health & Fitness Trainer

Cigarette burns, however small, are easily noticeable because they leave an ugly black spot or hole on the beautiful carpet. No one would deliberately do anything that would cause burn on their carpet but if it happens, there are simple DIY steps to repair cigarette burn in carpet that you can follow and have that mess sorted out as soon as possible.

The issues:

There are two main issues that you want to fix when you want to fix cigarette burns in carpet. You either want to replace the burnt fibers, or you want to get rid of the ugly stains form the burned area.

The tools required:

In any process of repairing cigarette burns you must be equipped with some tools, and in our case, you need to have the following –

Scissors.
Sand paper.
Handheld vacuum.
Paper.
Wide-toothed comb.
Heavy book.
Tweezers.
Carpet cement.
Cleaning solution. This is a solution specially prepared for cleaning the scorch marks on the carpet and is basically comprised of hydrogen peroxide and water at the ratio of 1:10. Avoid using the traditional detergents or dishwashing liquids as some may contain chlorine or acids which may cause the carpet to fade.

The procedure of removing:

The exact procedure to adopt depends on the size of the cigarette burn in carpet. For instance, if the burn has just caused light change of color of the carpet and only the fibers are affected, you just need to use sand paper to sand away the affected fibers, or you can use scissors to carefully cut off the burned fibers. By use of handheld vacuum, vacuum away the debris.

It there are remnants of the scorch marks, use a clean piece of cloth soaked in the cleaning solution to blot the stain.

In doing this, ensure you blot but do not rub. Also, work from the outside heading towards the middle. After cleaning, spray with clean water and then blot to ensure it dries well. Allow the affected area of the carpet to dry well. If the hole that remains is very small and not noticeable, you can stop and this point and consider it done. If the hole left is a bit large and noticeable, you need to do either of the following

Fill the hole with fibers:

Snip away some fibers from hidden portion of the carpet such as under the furniture, behind the closet or from a portion of the carpet that remained during installation. Ensure the fibers removed are very similar to the larger carpet in terms of color and pattern. These can then be affixed to the hole, sealing it completely, by use of double sided tape or glue.

Cutting out burned portion of carpet and then replacing it:

Sometimes, cigarette burns may be so severe that sanding away the burned fibers and replacing the hole with fibers from some other part of the carpet cannot solve the problem. In that case, the only alternative is to cut out the entire portion of the affected area and then replacing it with a nice portion of carpet.

The trick here is that you need to ensure the portion to replace the cut out part is of the same color and pattern and that the fibers run in one direction. It is advised that you cut slightly larger portion and then trim it to size when placed on the area it is to be affixed. When cutting out, car should be done to ensure you do not cut all the way to the carpet padding. When the replacement portion is in its place, you should lift it and then apply carpet cement.