Chocolate stains can be completely removed from carpet, but it will take a few steps:
Step 1: Take a non-serrated knife and scrape what chocolate stains you can from the carpet fibers. If the chocolate is fresh, wipe the knife frequently with a paper towel. If the chocolate is too melted to scrape up, put some ice on the stain to let it harden so that the majority of it can be scraped out if the pile of the carpet. Make sure to use a gentle, lifting sort of motion when removing this part of the chocolate carpet stain. Scraping too hard will push the stain further into the carpet.
Step 2: Try to figure out what the carpet is made of. If the carpet is old or you are not sure, test any liquid cleaner that you might be using on a part of the carpet that is inconspicuous. This is because many liquid cleaners can remove the color of the carpet along with the chocolate, or otherwise damage the pile of the carpet.
Step 3: Take rubbing alcohol and apply it to a soft white cloth. Then put the alcohol-soaked cloth on top of the stain and use the back of a teaspoon to rub it gently. The goal here is to distribute the rubbing alcohol throughout the chocolate stain so that the alcohol can break up the chocolate. Do not rub the spoon onto the cloth and the carpet too hard or you will push the stain further down into the pile.
Step 4: Mix a squirt of colorless dish detergent with a quart of water and do another patch test with the solution to make sure that the detergent doesn’t discolor the carpet. If it doesn’t, blot the stain with another towel that is soaked in the detergent solution until the stain disappears.
Step 5: If the stain doesn’t completely go away, you can repeat step 3, but this time use ammonia. Mix one teaspoon of ammonia to once cup of water and soak a cloth in it. Do another patch test on the carpet and then work the solution into the carpet with the back of the spoon as you did in step 3. Keep working the spoon until as much of the stain is gone as possible.
Step 6: Neutralize the ammonia with some white vinegar. Mix one teaspoon vinegar with one cup of water and do a patch test on the carpet. Then apply it to the stain, using another cloth or towel. Work through the stain, blotting up any excess liquid. The key here is to blot, not to rub. Rubbing or scrubbing the stain will only push it deeper into the carpet.
By this point, the stain should be gone completely. If not, feel free to repeat any of the steps until the stain is gone or minimized. As long as the stain is lightening – the process is working – so keep at it until the stain is gone. Many people ask if chocolate stains can ever be completely removed from carpets – and the answer is yes – as long as you are willing to take the time and effort to do so.
