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Rose asked: My child spilled dishwasher liquid all over rug and floor. How can I clean this up?
Cleaning 
up a soap spill can be a real headache. Our first thought is to mop it up, but adding water only makes the problem worse. Here are the steps and a helpful tips to tackle this mess and clean it up as quickly as possible, whether it is on a hard floor or on a rug.
Cleaning Up Soap Spills on Solid Flooring
You Will Need:
- Kitty litter
- Salt
- Soft cloths
- Paper towels
- Bucket
- Water
- Mop
- Dustpan
Steps to Clean Up the Spill:
- For an old spill where the soap has dried, scrape off as much as possible with a plastic scraper first, then rub a small amount of cooking oil over the soap to freshen it and treat it as a fresh spill using the following steps.
- When a spill happens on a hard floor, there are several ways to absorb it. Kitty litter makes a great absorbent, and so does salt. Cover the soap spill with either the litter or salt and allow it to sit and absorb the moisture. It may take just a few minutes for the litter/salt to soak up the soap, or it may take several hours.
- Use paper towels to push the moistened litter/salt into a dustpan and dispose of it.
- Repeat if needed.
- When a majority of the soap is removed, you are ready to tackle the remaining film. Soap is concentrated and suds up greatly when water is added.
- Fill a bucket with plain water.
- Use a mop to clean the remaining soap off of the floor. Rinse the mop frequently and change the water as needed to keep lifting the soap from the floor.
- If excessive suds begin to form, vegetable oil can be used to reduce them. Both will be removed during the cleaning process.
- Once the floor is clean, dry it with a soft cloth.
- Allow it to air dry completely.
- If there is residue or a sticky film remaining, the floor needs to be mopped again.
Cleaning Up Soap Spills on Carpet
You Will Need:
- Kitty litter
- Salt
- Soft cloths
- Paper towels
- Water
- Spray bottle
- Dustpan
- Wet vac
Steps to Clean Up the Spill:
- Carpets can be a real pain to get clean when soap or detergent spills on them. Soaking up as much as possible with absorbent kitty litter or salt is an important first step.
- Pour either item on top of the spill and allow it to soak up the liquid for several minutes.
- Use soft cloths to scrape the moistened absorbent from the surface of the carpet into a dustpan.
- Repeat until no more soap is absorbed.
- Next, lay paper towels or soft cloths on top of the area and press firmly.
- Repeat until no more soap is absorbed into the towels or cloths.
- At this point, there should be a minimal amount of soap in the carpet that can be removed with moisture and a wet vac or carpet cleaner. If you don’t have one of these, you can rent a wet vac at some major hardware stores or rent a Rug Doctor at some major grocery stores, though the price to buy a small wet vac is about the same as the rental fees.
- Spray the surface with water and suction it back out with the wet vac.
- Repeat until the soap is removed.
- It may take some time to remove all of the soap, depending on how much remains in the carpet.
- Once all of the soap is removed, allow the carpet to air dry completely.
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Additional Tips and Advice
- Old spills that have dried can be scraped up with a plastic scraper.
- If the soap spills on a rug that can be machine washed, that will be the easiest way to remove it. Simply place it in the washing machine (no additional detergent is necessary). If needed, add vinegar to the water to minimize the suds. Wash as normal.
- If using a wet vac, monitor it carefully. Most soaps and detergents will produce a good amount of suds that will be multiplied by the suctioned removal. Empty the tank frequently to avoid suds being released onto other surfaces.
- Cold water tends to create less suds and may work better to remove the soapy residue.
- If any residue remains, clean the floor with white vinegar. The acid in the vinegar will cut through the remaining soap film.
- Many detergents have brightly colored dyes that can leave a stain. If you find that is the case, put “dye stain” in the search box at the top of the page to see all the guides we have for removing dye stains from various surfaces (linoleum, wood, bathtubs, etc.).
The way I cleaned a large laundry detergent spill up on our tile floor was that I figured that to my knowledge, soaps/detergents are (usually) alkaline. Therefore, I made a large bucket of water with vinegar to neutralize the soap. I saturated an old-style rag mop with the mix and slopped it all over the spill area; I noticed a slight sudsing in the area of the worst of the spill, but even that disappeared. I then dry mopped the floor and it seemed to have gotten all the detergent up. I wasn’t sure my wife would appreciate the vinegar aroma, so I the repeated with a lemon juice/water mix and mopped that up – the floor is perfect; it shines like it hasn’t in a while and smells great!
What’s that old saying about trying the the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Well that was me with water, trying to get the soap out of my car mats (by the way – scrubbing with a towel just makes it worse). After a half an hour of that not working, I decided to google it and the salt/vegetable oil trick worked great!!! I think I may have to try it one more time once it dries, but for the most part the soap is gone! Thank you!
Our cat knocked a two gallon un-opened container of detergent all over the laundry room. It exploded. Used the kitty litter (worlds best kitty litter brand – expensive, but all we had – fresh sent) on my linoleum, scraped it up with a dustpan, mopped with vinegar, swept and swiffered and it’s like it never happened. Other than my floors are cleaner than ever now. THANKS; the kitty litter saved us.
I had a spill in the laundry room. I got it up with bath towels and cotton clothes. Still a bit of “soap,” but it’s not slick or sticky. I did this without even looking for instructions. I think I’ll have to run the wash at least three times to get all the soap out. I’m doing white vinegar and baking soda! Hope it’s not soapy when I check on it again; I’m also using cold/ cold water! Thanks for the other ideas! I will probably implement it to see how it’s doing!
I have a question. Detergent spilled over my hardwood floors and it penetrated into it. What stuff can I use to fix that up?
I didn’t have enough kitty litter to mop up this particular spill, so I grabbed a dog pee pad and placed it on top of the liquid detergent. It worked VERY well, and I would recommend this over kitty litter as you can simply fold up the pee pad and toss it.
It may actually be the chemicals in the detergent damaging your carpet and not the kitty litter or salt put down afterwards to absorb it. Just a thought to those who are saying the litter/ salt remedy damaged their carpets.
Dawn was used to get up a chocolate stain on a rug and now there is what looks like a bleached spot. Any help?
Henry,
Bleached spots usually mean that the dye on the item (in this case, the rug) has been removed. Unfortunately, the only real remedy in that case is to replace the dye. Take a look at the How to Fix Bleached Clothes article for some ideas.
I had a huge spill on my tile floor and I am incompetent at house cleaning. I used the salt – it worked great!
Thanks mate!
Help! My 2-year-old dumped an entire huge bottle of Tide on my carpet! I wish I read this when it happened. Instead, I first soaked up what I could with towels. There was just so much soap! I then tried to wet vac it up. It took days of effort. I would dump buckets of water on the carpet and then wet vac it up. It took over a week to dry completely and I could still feel a soap residue. Now, a month later, my home smells of detergent and possibly a mildew smell. Please help, I cannot afford new carpeting! What can I do?
Kristina,
For the detergent smell, you can try using an odor absorber. This can be either a store-bought one like Nature’s Air Sponge, or a DIY like a bowl of white vinegar, charcoal briquettes (plain ones, without lighter fluid) or fresh coffee grounds set in the area overnight.
Since the carpet was so soaked, and you mentioned a mildew smell, it’s possible that you have mildew in the carpet padding underneath. You may want to pull up the carpet to check. If you do have mildew, you can try steam cleaning to kill it. Depending on the climate where you live, you can also try dehimidifying the room since mildew needs moisture to live, which can be done with either a dehumidifier machine, a store-bought option like DampRid, or a homemade option like a bucket of charcoal bricquettes.
If you do end up having a mildew problem though and are unable to remove it with the methods above, the best option is to replace the carpet. You can drastically cut costs by going with a different flooring style though. The cheapest carpets are about $2 per square foot whereas you can get a nice tile for about $0.70 per square foot, or there are some wood laminates available for $0.50-$0.60. Then, if you were really partial to carpeting, you can just put down an area rug.
Depending on the type of carpet you have, you may be able to simply replace the carpet in that area to cut costs as well. With high-pile carpets, you can’t tell where an area is cut out and replaced as long as the color matches. That way you wouldn’t have to replace an entire room of carpet, just a small section.
You should also know that if you can still feel the soap residue, the residue will start to attract dirt, which will require you to clean that area more often. You can try getting the carpets cleaned (or doing it yourself) with an extraction cleaner, but it may take several cleanings to remove all of the soap residue. Adding vinegar to the cleaning water can also help to remove the soap residue. (However, you may want to wait on this since it would put more moisture in the area, feeding any mildew that may be trying to take hold.)
Also, until you get the area fully cleaned, it might be a good idea to cover the area to prevent your little one from sitting there. Tide detergent has several carcinogenic ingredients.
Source: HowToCleanStuff.net – How to Remove Rotten Food Odors from House
Source: HowToCleanStuff.net – How to Remove Mold from Car Carpeting
Source: HowToCleanStuff.net – How to Remove Mold from your Home
Source: Repurposeful – Don’t buy it, make it: Charcoal briquette dehumidifier
Source: Fixr – Carpet Installation Cost
Source: Mom’s Clean Air Force – Mom Detective: My Hunt for Non-toxic Flooring
Source: SF Gate – How to Get Soapy Water Out of Carpeting
Source: Healthy Wild and Free – Here’sWhy You Should Avoid Toxic Tide Laundry Detergent Like the Plague
Source: Mother Nature Network – Tide Detergent Found to Contain High Levels of Carcinogenic Contaminant
BAD ADVICE! I used the salt… what a terrible idea! I have horrible stains on my carpet and this is a rental unit. We now have to pay for a professional to come out and clean up the stains. Thanks a lot!
I have a question…Laundry soap spilled into an open lid washing machine…the jug fell in when the dryer was running, but I never notice it till this morning. The jug broke and all the soap absorbed in washing machine under the drum…any suggestions besides a repair man?
Thank you. 🙁
Ruined my carpet, ruined my carpet cleaner, ruined two vacuums, and the professional cleaner laughed and said, “why are you listening to idiots on the internet; if they knew how to do it, they would be doing it and making money.” He also charged me an extra 200 because the kitty litter messed up his machines.
Thank you. I will try the kitty litter method and see if I can get the whole bottle of sticky stuff up.
An even easier way to get the soap cleaned up in a snap is to grab your squeegee and scoop the soap right into a dustpan!
I have a large laundry detergent spill on my carpet. A few minutes ago, I gave the spot a heavy coating of Carpet Fresh and then placed a towel over it. The Carpet Fresh starting absorbing the spill even before I placed the towel there. Once it dries, I’ll either vacuum it up or use the broom. Wish me luck!
My soap bottle fell from the washing machine; there was a LOT of soap. I did not have enough salt so I decided to try a squeegee with a dustpan to collect the soap, then thereafter a moist mop to collect what was left. Then, I cleaned the mop with plenty of water two or three times and it worked!
Thank you so much for posting this information. I have had a terrible spill in the laundry room and the detergent is all over the floor.
What a mess! I refilled the soap dispenser on my kitchen sink – I thought it was filling too smoothly without the funnel backing up so I stopped and checked it out under the sink. The bottle reservoir was laying on its side on the bottom of the cabinet and all the Soft Soap I had filled from the top was all over cabinet. I took everything out of the cabinet and have spent the last hour and a half and two and a half rolls of paper towel cleaning the mess up and took a break to write this. I’m exhausted and not gaining too much on the problem. I’ve read the posts and am not inclined to go buy kitty litter as I feel this will make a bigger mess. My plan is to continue mopping it up with paper towels and then to use wet paper towels to mop up as the first pass to bring up the film and then follow up with vinegar water. Then mop that up with paper towels. In the future I’ll definitely purchase the tubing to run a line to the original soap bottle kept on the bottom of the cabinet per the videos I saw here.
I would place a thin cloth or a couple paper towels over the spill, then add the kitty litter on top of the cloth or paper towels.That way the kitty litter soaks up the spill without getting on the actual carpet.
We used the kitty litter method and it did NOT mess up our carpet at all. Maybe the person above used a kind with chemicals in it. This was just a plain as you can get kitty litter. We had to run to the store to get some. Maybe do a test on the carpet to make sure it doesn’t ruin yours. We had a major laundry detergent spill yesterday and this made the clean up easy (and maybe if you have a squeegee, that would work, but we don’t have one).
These are the most AWFUL instructions EVER! The kitty litter RUINED the carpet. I called a professional out after I couldn’t get it up and he was SHOCKED that I even put kitty litter on the soap to soak it up.
THIS ADVISE IS WRONG. BEWARE! DON”T FOLLOW IT. I DID AND MY CARPET IS DAMAGED WORSE THAN WITH JUST SOAP.
We have had a uniformed group using soap to make sculptures in our church hall. They have got bits of it ALL over the floor and it has been trodden in before they brushed it up. In daylight, the result is terrible and despite another leader spending three HOURS trying to remove it, it won’t come off. The floor is unsealed floor boards. An area was mopped to see if that helped, but it became slippery and VERY dangerous so we daren’t do any more. The soap gets onto shoe soles so they are then dangerous on the tile floor of the corridor. Any suggestions of what we should do would be welcome. Just to say the floor is a large area and I don’t fancy trying to scrape it off with wire wool/knives or a sharp blade!!!