How to Get Playdough out of Carpet? Complete Guide!

Today may just be your lucky day as you will be adding a valuable skill to your arsenal, you get to know how to get playdough out of carpet effectively without mutilating your carpet.

Kids, those little angels can be such a joy.

They have their cute little ways to bring laughter and happiness into your life and make you flash smiles involuntarily with their silly little, nonsensical talks from time to time.

They should never grow up, should they?

From time to time those sweet little minis can be like little demons, scuttering all over the place, causing mayhem, churning out a lot of filth and dirt (how they can effectively turn upside down a once clean house should be studied critically).

A trusted weapon of mass dirtiness has to be playdough.

To get playdough out of carpet, you need to get the antidote, allow the remnant to dry up, break it up, use a vacuum cleaner, then use soap and water to get rid of stubborn stains.

Playdough Vs Carpets

Playdough is a basic necessity for most kids. Parents love to encourage their wards to be creative and use their imagination.

But in exploring how creative they can be, our sweet little angels can leave a trail of playdough all over your carpet.

Playdough and carpets have had an age-long feud that is yet unsettled.

Whilst playdough on many occasions has been able to keep the kids busy and engaged for hours long.

While they try to create amazing stuff (and some not-so-good ones too), there have been those countless moments when playdough smashed into the carpet all over, then ends up looking like a crazy party was thrown the night before.

 How to Get Playdough Out of Carpet in 7 Steps

I decided to check out solutions a maker of playdough offered in trying to get rid of mess from their product and I found this awesome one by Hasbro.

Fact: When you find a mess of playdough on your carpet, instincts kick in and you want to vacuum immediately – that never ends well as oftentimes more problems ensue as the playdough is further driven into the carpet.

Here Are My Foolproof Steps on How to Get Playdough Out of the Carpet:

Step #1: Get the Antidote – Use Playdough first

A major ingredient in the antidote is the venom itself, this is similar to playdough as playdough will always be attracted to playdough.

The first thing you should do is to use a soft piece of playdough to pick up as much of the mess as you can from the carpet.

At this point gentleness, patience and calm are the answer, resist the urge to rub or push hard as the only progress you will make is squishing the dough further into the carpet.

The only response playdough knows in such a situation is violence and where you are impatient and try to use force, you will meet only brute force.

It is best if you use playdough of a different color and do not expect the kids to be able to use that piece anymore as it will surely pick up dust, lint, and other debris not appealing to playdough.

Keywords: gentleness and patience (consider yourself warned)

Step #2: Let the Remnant Dry Up Completely

After you have picked up all the playdough you could, it is time to play the waiting game as oftentimes there are usually stubborn bits of playdough that would refuse to budge or give in without a fight.

Not to worry, I have a strategy on how to deal with those.

Remember the keyword is patience? Yes, you need to wait for the remnants to dry up completely, this can take a day or two for all the moisture to get off.

Takeaway: Ensure you do not use liquid cleaners or water in your bid to get rid of the playdough. The longer you keep trying to use different cleaners or water, the longer it takes to dry up – Patience Amigo, patience.

Is There No Other Way?

I understand a little impatience is bound to kick in. To speed up this process, if you happen to have cans of cold air just lying around your residence then you should consider freezing the remnant dough.

Freezing will give the same hardening effect as drying.

If you do not have a can of cold air just lying around, you can purchase one from an auto parts store around you.

Here’s how to apply cold air:

1. Hold 2-3 inches away from the carpet and the playdough
2. Spray over the playdough stain for 10-15 minutes
3. It should look frosted over and frozen when you are done.

Remember to keep your fingers away from the cold air as you spray to avoid freeze burns. Also, keep the kids away at this point.

Fact: you may also get the feeling that hardening will make it more difficult to remove. That's wrong, and do not try to use heat to melt the playdough or hot water, you will only make things harder and succeed in staining the carpet.

Once you are certain that the playdough is completely dried, use a blunt knife, a stiff brush, or the edge of a metal spoon to break up the dough.

Step #3: Break it Up (The dried Playdough)

Work for your hands over the playdough back and forth continuously until its grip on the carpet is loosened.

Step #4: Now Bring out the Vacuum Cleaner

Congratulations on successfully breaking the playdough’s grip on your carpet, you have scored a very important point in this game between playdough and carpet.

There are loose bits of playdough on the carpet, the vacuum will help rid of these bits effectively. I strongly recommend you use the vacuum hose for this task.

Remember: the vacuum only comes out when the playdough is completely dried and broken, not before this – once again be warned (lol).

Step #5: Back off a little (I mean go back to step 3)

I don’t expect you to get every bit of playdough in steps 3 and 4 so you need to repeat the process.

Use any of the tools mentioned in step 3 to break up the playdough and vacuum the bits again. Simple huh?

Step #6: Bring in Soap and Cold Water

At this point, if you have done correctly the previous steps and achieved desired results, what you should be dealing with is the discoloration caused by the playdough.

In addition to showing you how to get dry playdough out of the carpet, I will show you how to get rid of the stains – call me generous. We will need to bring out soap and cold water for this.

Notice that until this step I have not encouraged bringing water or soap anywhere close to the mess.

Simply blot the stained area with the soap and a wet piece of cloth, and make the piece of cloth damp and not dripping wet to keep out extra moisture.

When done, use a piece of dry white cloth to pat the surface dry.

Note: Coldwater is best for this, do not use hot water as you will only set the stain further into your carpet.

Step #7: Some Stains Can Be Stubborn – Getting Rid of Them

I understand perfectly that getting rid of playdough stains is never a walk in the park as some stains can be so stubborn they won’t budge even after the hardest treatment.

You can bring in a little hydrogen peroxide or isopropyl alcohol.

Simply use a piece of white dishcloth, apply a little of the alcohol or hydrogen peroxide on the cloth, and blot across the stained area.

Remember: Don’t soak the cloth, just make it damp enough for use so as not to ruin your carpet’s padding.

A white piece of cloth is advised so you know if it has indeed absorbed any color.

You can rinse the area after blotting with diluted vinegar (however, this is not advised if your carpet is white)

Takeaway/caution: use sparingly the hydrogen peroxide or isopropyl alcohol so you don’t end up damaging the latex backing of your carpet. This is also to prevent bleaching if the carpet is colored or patterned.

Conclusion

Remember to remain calm, and attack this problem with gentleness and patience.

These steps have worked for me numerous times with impeccable results too.

Now you can rest easy and let the kids explore just how creative they can be as you got the weapon on how to get playdough out of the carpet.