How to Handle Chocolate Stains on Clothes, Upholstery and Carpets

Festive occasions and day-to-day events can cause chocolate stains on your costly clothes, furniture & upholstery, or carpets.

Chocolate stain is not an easy customer! It’s called a combination stain. With a variety of ingredients such as proteins, sugar, fats and oil, and tannins, chocolates easily get absorbed into clothe fabrics and become very difficult to remove. If not handled properly, these stubborn stains can spoil your upholstery, clothes and carpets.

Chocolate Stains on Clothing

For clothes with ‘dry wash only’ labels, never attempt to try DIY tips to clean chocolate stains - you’ll have to call a professional cleaning company to do the stain removal in such cases.  

Use the following chocolate stain removal method on washable clothes:

Put the cloth in a polythene bag and place it inside the fridge for 20 minutes. The polythene or plastic bag is used to avoid the cloth getting stained by other substances in the refrigerator. Once the cloth is cold enough, take it out and gently scrape away maximum amount of the chocolate stain with a scraping tool or steel ruler. Wipe as much of the excess chocolate as you can, but always make sure that you’re not pushing the stain deeper into the fibres.  

Next, apply some dishwashing detergent on the chocolate stain and wait for 10 minutes. Now put the cloth in the washing machine and run a normal washing cycle. You may repeat the process two or three times till all the traces of chocolate is removed.

Chocolate Stains on Furniture & Upholstery

Using a small plastic spoon, you can scrape off any sticking chocolate flakes from the upholstery.

Take a container and add 2 cups of water. Mix it with one tablespoon of liquid dishwashing powder. Dip a clean cloth in the detergent liquid you just made. Use this dampened cloth to slowly remove the chocolate stain on the upholstery or furniture starting from the outer edge of the stain. Repeat the dampening of the stain and removal processes till the stain is removed fully.

Next, dip a cloth piece in clean water and then use it to sponge the stain affected area. And finally dry the area by wiping with a dry cloth. 

If the stain is very tough, you may also try putting 2-3 drops of a dry-cleaning solvent directly onto the stained area. After a few minutes, blot the affected area using a dry cloth several times to see that the stain has been fully removed. 

Chocolate Stains on Carpets

If your carpet is stained from a bar of chocolate, it can be termed as dry stain because there is not much liquid involved. In this situation, we can first vacuum the stained area to remove maximum amount of chocolate. But while vacuuming, ensure not to use the beater brush on your carpet because it may grind the stain into your carpet. Instead, use the upholstery attachment to the vacuum cleaner and just make use of the suction of the vacuum to pick up loose chocolate specks and bits.

However, if the stain is caused by wet chocolate, never use the vacuum method.

Next step is to use a towel dipped in cold water to sponge and blot the stain, starting from the outside of the stain and moving towards its centre area. And finally, use a laundry detergent and repeat the sponge and blot processes to completely remove all traces of chocolate stain from your carpet.

So, the chocolate stain removal from the carpet, furniture & upholstery or your clothes is not that crazy difficult to deal with. It can be done in simple easy steps. And let there be Easter, Christmas or any other party time, you can have the last laugh as you know how to remove the chocolate stains now!

The Benefit of Calling Experienced Home Cleaning Professionals

Use effective, naturally-derived, non-toxic home cleaning products as much as possible for home cleaning. The house cleaning charges vary from $15 to $25 per hour in Australia/New Zealand. However, never believe the cheap home cleaning services as they may compromise on quality.

Do you find it difficult to clean your house and the premises because of busy work schedule? Don’t worry; we have many years of experience in dedicated house cleaning in New Zealand and Australia, and can help you out. Book a home cleaning task online today or call us now on 0800 000 907 for a free quote.