Home Improvement : Replacing Stained Carpet Spots

Replacing wall-to-wall carpeting is often one of the largest single expenditures for a homeowner. If your carpet is completely worn out or if a color change is in order, then then replacement is the only answer. But if you’re considering replacement because of a few minor--but seemingly irreparable--flaws, you have some other options.

If you have a fireplace, a very common problem arises when sparks or burning embers pop from the fire and leave small, singed areas in the carpet. Dropped cigarettes can cause similar damage, as can splattered cooking grease or even candle wax. Deep stains in the carpet, small but resistant to removal by conventional spot cleaners, are another common problem.

Damage of this type is unsightly, but with a piece of spare carpet, an hour’s worth of time and a handy device called a cookie cutter, you can easily take care of the repairs yourself.

A cookie cutter is a small carpet-repair device used specifically for cutting damaged carpeting. It is round, usually 3 to 6 inches in diameter, and has a number of small, sharp teeth. A padded area on top of the tool fits into the palm of your hand. You should be able to rent one from most well-equipped rental yards, or you might try renting one from a carpet store.

To use the cookie cutter, simply place it on the carpet so that it’s centered over the damaged area. Using a back and forth twisting motion on the tool while applying downward pressure at the same time, cut through the carpet fibers and down through the carpet backing. It’s not necessary to cut through the padding underneath the carpet unless you wish to repair it, also.

Remove the tool, and you’ll find that you have cut out a neat round hole in the carpeting. Use the cookie cutter to cut a round piece out of scrap carpeting, and you’ll have a perfect-fitting patch with which to repair the carpet.

To secure the patch, the easiest method is to use double-faced carpet tape, available from most hardware and carpet stores. Cut a piece of tape about 6 inches longer than the diameter of the hole, slip it through the opening in the carpet, sticky side down, and adhere it firmly to the carpet padding so that it extends about 3 inches past the hole in each direction. If the width of the tape is less than the diameter of the hole, use two or more pieces to be certain the entire opening is covered.

Remove the protective paper from the face of the tape, exposing the other sticky side. Carefully place the carpet patch in the hole, aligning the “grain” of the carpet so that the fibers lie in the same direction as the rest of the carpeting. Press down firmly on the patch to adhere it to the face of the carpet tape below, and you’ll find you have a virtually invisible patch.