With the holidays quickly approaching, you may find that chocolate is playing a more prominent part in your home life.
Whether it’s baking chocolate chip cookies, enjoying a memorable holiday candy, or making a treat for a holiday meal, you are likely enjoying the wonders of chocolate as part of your festivities.
That also means that you are more likely to have chocolate fall onto your carpet or upholstery fabric.
Getting chocolate stains out of upholstery or carpet can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to ruin your holidays.
We’ve done some research, and learning how to get chocolate out of carpet and upholstery fabric is easy.
You need a few everyday cleaning items to remove the chocolate from your upholstery or carpet, and then you can get back to celebrating the holiday season.
What You’ll Need
You’ll need a few common household items to get chocolate out of your upholstery fabric and carpet.
- Plastic spoon or knife
- Water
- Liquid dish soap
- Cleaning cloths
- Dry cleaning solvent or enzyme cleaner
- Cornstarch
Now that you have everything you need, read on to learn how to remove chocolate from your carpet and upholstery.
1. Scrape up as much chocolate as possible
Using a plastic spoon or knife, scrape as much of the chocolate off as possible.
While you will need to be firm, don’t use any more downward force than necessary to avoid grinding the chocolate into your upholstery or carpet.
Scraping up the chocolate will make it easier for you to get to the stain.
Pro tip: You can also use a vacuum to remove as much of the chocolate as possible from your carpet or upholstery.
We recommend using the accessories hose on your vacuum to avoid accidentally smashing the chocolate into your carpet with the vacuum’s wheels and creating a more significant stain.
2. Mix water + dish soap, blot the chocolate stain
In a bowl, mix two cups of cool water with one tablespoon of liquid dish soap.
Grab a fresh cleaning cloth and begin to blot the chocolate stain.
Start from the outside of the stain and work towards the center; this will prevent any stain from accidentally spreading.
Blot and allow the water and dish soap mixture to sit on the stain for 5-10 minutes or until the mixture is absorbed.
Pro tip: Be careful not to scrub as you apply the soap and water mixture because scrubbing could work the chocolate deeper into the carpet or upholstery fabric or could cause the stain to spread. Instead, blot gently with determination.
3. Rinse the area
Rinse the area with a damp cleaning cloth.
The goal is to remove all of the soap residues from the carpet or upholstery fabric.
Once you have removed the soap residue, pat the area dry with another cleaning cloth.
You can also use a paper towel to blot the affected area dry if you prefer.
4. Apply dry-cleaning solvent to remaining stain
If you find the chocolate stain is not entirely gone after completing step three, you can repeat steps two and three several times.
If you find that it is not working, reach for your favorite dry-cleaning solvent or enzyme cleaner.
Following the instructions on the packaging, apply the solvent or cleaner to the chocolate stain and allow it to absorb completely.
Then, remove the solvent or cleaner according to the instructions to lift the chocolate stain from your carpet or upholstery.
5. Sprinkle cornstarch on stain and allow it to sit
If the chocolate stain is still visible on your carpet or upholstery, liberally sprinkle the affected area with cornstarch.
The cornstarch will bind with the remaining chocolate residue and pull it out of the upholstery fabric or the carpet.
Allow the cornstarch to sit for a few minutes and then vacuum it up to reveal unstained upholstery or carpet.
You can repeat this step several times if you find your chocolate stain is particularly stubborn.
Here is a video demonstrating how to remove chocolate from your upholstery.
0:05—Use a plastic spoon to scrape up as much of the chocolate as possible.
0:16—Mix 2 cups of cold water and one tablespoon of liquid dish soap.
0:22—Use a fresh cleaning cloth to apply the soap and water to the chocolate stains.
0:33—Pat the area with a damp cloth to rinse the area.
0:37—Spray the area with dry cleaning solvent and blot the area dry.
0:49—If the chocolate has not entirely vanished, sprinkle cornstarch on the affected area. Allow it to sit for a few minutes.
1:01—Vacuum away the cornstarch. Repeat as needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of stain is chocolate?
Chocolate is a challenging stain.
The cocoa powder, responsible for the dark stains that chocolate leaves behind, is a plant-based stain.
The cocoa butter, though, is an oil-based stain.
Both of these types of stains have to be treated appropriately to remove the chocolate stain altogether.
This is why eliminating chocolate stains is often difficult. You aren’t trying to remove one type of stain—you are trying to remove two types of stains at once.
Can I use other household cleaning supplies to remove chocolate stains?
If you find you are out of liquid dish soap (or you want to try a couple of other methods of persistent chocolate stains), you can also use vinegar.
Distilled white vinegar is good at removing several different stains.
You have to dilute the vinegar with some water and apply it to the stain thoroughly.
If you need something a little more substantial, you can mix one part dish soap with two parts hydrogen peroxide.
Make sure your hydrogen peroxide is diluted to a 3% mixture with water before adding the soap.
Then, apply to the chocolate stain. You may want to test the hydrogen peroxide mixture on a hidden area of the carpet or upholstery first to make sure the hydrogen peroxide will not bleach it.
If you have found this article to be helpful and are planning a party that involves chocolate fountains, check out our related article on how to clean a chocolate fountain.
