Help! How to get red food coloring stain out of light tan carpet?

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I dropped a bottle of red food coloring on accident and didn't notice then when I walked in my living room it was broken opended and all over. My puppy must have got it. Does anyone know how to get the red stains out of my light tan/white apartment carpet??

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  1. chuck says:
    June 2, 2009 at 11:14 am

    You've got a real mess on your hands, and unless you do it correctly the first time, you will have pink/red carpets forever, and your landlord may make you pay for their replacement. This is no time to be lazy. Act quickly, as if this stuff dries, it may not come out.

    These are instructions on removing red food coloring from Cornell University's extension. I'm going to adapt them for carpet use. You're going to need some equipment. You could get a lot of this at the dollar store (I don't know where you live, so I don't know what's available). The ammonia is important, as it denatures (chemically destroys) the dye. Most of the other products listed here will only lighten them.

    Ideally, you will get the following supplies:

    A bottle of sudsy ammonia
    A small container of Oxi-Clean (OC) or Sun Oxygen Bleach
    Laundry detergent
    2 spray bottles
    A bucket
    About 4-5 dish or hand towels

    A carpet shampooer is excellent, but not required. I do suggest you do it later (see instructions)

    Make solutions in the bottles:

    1/3 cup ammonia to 2 cups cool water
    2 tsp OC to 2 cups warm water
    Fill bucket with warm water, and add 1/3 cup ammonia, 1 tablespoon OC, and 1 teaspoon laundry detergent.
    If using the carpet cleaner, fill the reservoir with hot water, and add 1/3 cup ammonia, 1 tablespoon OC, and 1 tsp laundry detergent.

    Ammonia mixes with OC and with detergent, but never mix it with anything containing chlorine (bleach).

    Spray the spots with ammonia solution. Blot with towel. Repeat until you've removed as much stain as you can. The ammonia will turn the spots purple at first–that's good.
    Spray with OC solution, and blot again. Blot by pressing down hard with a folded towel. The towel should be damp (wrung out in the bucket solution). Rinse the towel frequently, and change the bucket water if it gets too colorful. You can make extra blotting power by stomping on the towel.

    This will take some time. Be patient. Be thorough.

    When everything looks good, spray with the OC solution again, and rub and blot until it looks OK. Now let it dry. If you see more spots later, spray them with the OC solution. Let it dry a day or 2.

    What I'm afraid will happen, is all this excellent cleaning work will cause your carpet to be lighter where you cleaned. No worries. Get the carpet shampooer, and fill it with the solution above. Shampoo all your carpets, or just the area where the spots are. The ammonia + OC combo will remove dirt you didn't know you had.

    Some final thoughts. If there's a dollar tree store near you, you can get spray bottles and their store brand of oxygen cleaner, which works better than oxi-clean in my personal experience. Why does dollar tree brand work better? Because it doesn't have all the dyes, fillers and perfumes that are in OC. It has only the active ingredient in it. The same goes for Sun Oxygen Bleach, which is available at more stores, and is a better product than overrated OC. The cheaper versions are basically powdered hydrogen peroxide. I don't recommend buying OC unless you can't find the other products.

    Ammonia is available at most grocery stores, and it's about a dollar a bottle. Any kind will do, but preferably get one that's not colored if you can.

    Good luck! Glad I'm not you!

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