Most make-up — foundation, lipstick, mascara — is oil- and wax-based, so it behaves like a grease stain with strong colour added. The real before-and-after photo below shows how well it can come up. A little surgical spirit handles the colour.
Lift any excess with the edge of a spoon — don't smear it wider. Powder make-up should be vacuumed, never wiped (wiping pushes it in).
👆 A real make-up stain we lifted from a carpet — drag to see the before & after.
- Clean white cloths
- Washing-up liquid
- Surgical spirit (rubbing alcohol)
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Cool water
Step by step (carpet)
- Lift the excess with a spoon; vacuum any loose powder.
- Loosen the grease with a squirt of washing-up liquid in a little cool water; dab and blot.
- Tackle the colour by dabbing a cloth lightly dampened with surgical spirit onto stubborn pigment — blot, don't rub. Surgical spirit is flammable — open a window and keep it away from naked flames.
- Rinse with a clean damp cloth and press dry.
- Absorb the last with bicarbonate of soda if a greasy shadow remains, then vacuum.
Surgical spirit is great on lipstick and mascara, but it's a solvent — always test a hidden patch first, especially on coloured or delicate fibres.
By surface
🛋️ Sofas & upholstery
Make-up loves a sofa arm. Check the cushion's cleaning code first: W or W/S means the method above is fine used sparingly; S means solvent-clean only, so leave that to a professional. Use less water than on carpet and blot, don't soak.
🧶 Wool & delicate rugs
Most make-up is oil-based, and oil bonds tightly to wool — so on a good rug, lift off what you can dry and keep any liquid treatment to a minimum. Use cool water and a gentle touch — wool can ‘brown’ if over-wet and some rug dyes run. Test a hidden corner first, and for an antique, hand-knotted or silk rug, don't gamble — leave it to us.
🛏️ Mattresses
Foundation is oil and pigment together, so on a mattress resist reaching for water first — a dry scrape and a dusting of bicarbonate of soda shift more than soaking ever will. You can't rinse a mattress, so go light: blot, treat sparingly, then use bicarbonate of soda to absorb the rest. Never soak it — trapped moisture leads to mould and smells.
✅ Do
- Lift/vacuum the excess first
- Test surgical spirit on a hidden patch
- Blot, don't rub
- Work from the outside in
🚫 Don't
- Wipe powder make-up (it pushes in)
- Soak solvent into the backing
- Use bleach
- Over-wet the area
Tried it and the make-up mark is still there — or it's a wool rug, a mattress or something you'd hate to ruin? Don't keep scrubbing; that's how a stain turns permanent. We can often draw out what's left with professional hot-water extraction, and we'll tell you honestly what we expect to get up before we start. We usually reply within 15 minutes, prices are fixed with no VAT (rooms from £20, £50 minimum call-out), and we can normally fit you in within two to three days — worth sending that photo sooner rather than later, as the longer a stain sits, the harder it is to lift. Watford family business — 25 years' experience, fully insured — and if you're not happy with the result, we re-clean free. That's our 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Get my free quote 💬 WhatsApp us a photo of the stainCommon questions
Does micellar water get foundation out of carpet?
It can help on a fresh foundation mark — it's designed to dissolve make-up, after all — but use it sparingly on a cloth, blot rather than rub, and test a hidden patch first. It won't rinse itself out, so follow with a clean damp cloth and press dry, or the residue can leave a dull patch that attracts dirt.
Will surgical spirit bleach or damage my carpet?
It shouldn't bleach it, but it is a solvent, and on some coloured or delicate fibres it can shift the carpet's own dye. Always test a hidden patch first, apply it lightly on a cloth rather than pouring it on, and don't let it soak through to the backing. If it's a wool rug or something you'd hate to ruin, we'd rather you sent us a WhatsApp photo than risked it.
Can dried-in lipstick or mascara still come out of carpet?
Often most of it will, but we'll be honest: heavily pigmented make-up that has dried into the pile can leave a faint shadow. Professional hot-water extraction usually pulls out far more than home methods, and we'll tell you before we start what we realistically expect to lift. Sofa arms are the classic casualty, and the same honesty applies to our upholstery cleaning.
More stain guides
- ← Back to the full Stain Removal Guide
- How to remove cooking oil & grease
- How to remove fake tan
- How to remove sun cream
Last updated July 2026