As people return to the office and they are reorganised after Covid, facilities managers have needed to remove glue and adhesives from carpets.
Glue on carpets can be dangerous and unsightly. During the Covid 19 pandemic many offices, buildings and workplaces undertook measures to prevent the spread of the virus. These measures often involved sticking things onto carpets and floor coverings.
Adhesives and Glue Marks on Carpets
Often signage and markings were used to enable social distancing. Glues and adhesives were used to affix these signs and demarcate areas. Carpets have to endure high volumes of activity and as such the glues used were often very strong – and designed not to be removed!
Once it has dried and solidified, glue is meant to permanently join items together. So what should you do with glue on carpets and flooring that is no longer desired?
As signage and markings are removed, floor coverings have been left stained or marked by the glue.
Removing Glue from Carpets
RFM Group as Facilities Management experts has been called upon to help remove these adhesives and stains to restore carpets to their former glory. Alongside conventional cleaning, specialist carpet cleaners have delivered fantastic results.

Steps for Removing Glue and Adhesive Remnants
The following tips can help you get glue and adhesive remnants out of carpets:
- Scrape – Remove as much glue or adhesive as you can by scraping.
- Freezing – There’s also the option of freezing the gum and “chipping” it off.
- Heat – A sticky residue typically remains after removing the debris from the carpet. A hot-water carpet extraction or steam vapour applied to an absorbent towel can frequently remove this (the residue transfers to the towel).
- Chemicals – Any leftover residue can be eliminated using either a non-volatile dry solvent, a volatile dry solvent, or a gel solvent. Give the area some dwell time before agitating it with a scraper. In doing so, the solvent penetrates the residue. Rinse in hot water with dish soap.
When using chemicals it is best to call in specialist carpet cleaners. We know which chemicals to use, how to use them safely and also to avoid damaging floor coverings.
Before Cleaning – Adhesive Glue Remnants
Here we have an example of glue remnants left on carpets from adhesive tape that had been placed to mark out social distancing. It is clear to see where the tape was before it was removed.

After Cleaning – Adhesive Glue Removal
Combining specialist cleaning chemicals and agents with our industrial carpet cleaning machines has removed all adhesive markings from our client’s carpets.

Floor Cleaning from Cleaning Experts
The client was extremely happy with the results. As you can see the difference is dramatic. Flooring is an important area for all buildings and should be looked after by professionals. We’ve discussed how best to clean different flooring types in our blog post School Floor Cleaning and Maintenance Best Practice
THE RFM CLEANING PROMISE
Our flexible cleaning solutions let you cherry-pick the specialist service you need, or choose an integrated package carefully shaped around your people, buildings and everyday operations.
Our cleaners have been carefully selected and trained by RFM. It means we can guarantee brilliant quality cleaning as well as providing staff wherever and whenever you need us.
A full glossary of cleaning terms can be found in RFM Group’s Industry Terms in Cleaning Glossary.