How To Remove Pine Needles And Sap From Your Carpet After The Holidays

The holidays are a joyous time to spend with family, but when they're over, you sometimes feel like you're left to clean up a huge mess. Your carpet, in particular, may be in a sorry state if you had a real tree in your home. Don't go on dealing with stray pine needles and spots of sap until next December. Here are some tips for removing both of these pests.

Pine Needles

The problem with pine needles is that their ends are sharp, causing them to latch into the carpet and resist being vacuumed up. There are a few ways to make vacuuming more effective:

  • Sprinkle baking soda over the carpet a few times before you plan to vacuum. The baking soda will absorb some moisture from the needles, shrinking them so that they free themselves from the carpet.

  • Vacuum with the brush on the highest setting. Setting the brush too low will just grind the needles further into the carpet. Positioning the brush further above them gives you a greater chance of actually sucking them up.

  • Go over the area several times in each direction. For instance, you can vacuum from right to left and then from top to bottom. Depending on the direction a needle is facing, it will be easier to pick up from a certain direction.

Pine Sap

Having sap leak onto the carpet from the tree can make the breath catch in your throat. But getting rid of sap is not as hard as you might think. Start by applying a generous amount of degreasing dish soap -- the concentrated kind -- dissolved in an equal portion of water. Let this sit on the carpet for about 5 minutes. Then, use a damp washcloth to rub the sap spot in a circle. Avoid running back and forth as this may make the sappy area larger.

When the sap stain no longer looks distinct, rinse your cloth out. Then, use it to blot up the sappy area. Rinse the rag and repeat this step until you've absorbed all of the soap and dissolved sap.

If there are a lot of sappy spots or pine needles in your carpet, you may want to take this opportunity to hire a professional carpet cleaner. They'll restore your carpet to pristine condition so you're not reminded of your pine tree all year long. Next year when the holidays roll around, make sure you keep the tree on a sheet or tree skirt to prevent the stains and needles from re-appearing.


Share