How can I get red "Irwin Straight-Line Chalk"  out of brand new,
inexpensive (cheap), light brown
and tan berber carpet? This is builders marking chalk, manufactured by
the Irwiin Company, used for marking (snapping) lines. Approximately
four tablespoons spilled onto the carpet. I did NOT rub or wipe. I
immediately vacuumed (with the vacuum hose, not by rolling over the
stain) up all that I could. There is still quite a stain left,
approximately half the color, but no
more chalk will vacuum out. I have not done anymore to try to remove the
stain. The stain is approximately 5 inches by 1.5 inches.

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Request for Question Clarification by cynthia-ga on 03 Dec 2005 15:24 PST

Normally, red dyes are difficult if not impossible to remove, but
there IS a method called "heat transfer" that sometimes takes out red
dyes.

Have you touched it yet? If so, what have you done? 

If not, go to the store and get "Windex with Ammonia-D" --gather an
iron and white cotton (very absorbent) cloth.  (old cloth/cotton
diapers are best, white terry-cloth towel will work ok)

Then, report back and I'll tell you the method.

My qualifications is this regard:
I owned a carpet and upholstery cleaning company for 7 years.

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Request for Question Clarification by cynthia-ga on 03 Dec 2005 15:26 PST

Also, if it's still untouched and dry, I highly recommend you follow
carpetbuyershandbook's recommendations prior to trying the heat
transfer method --which will add liquid and change the chemistry of
the spot.

scootera...

This looks like a toughie, and hard to find specific info about,
but I did run across a sewing message board where a woman used
a wool dabber to remove tailor's marking chalk from a fabric
she was working on:
http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/sewingclasses/board.pl?t=2966

I hope someone else can find more, but you might want to consider
polling carpet cleaning professionals by phone to see if anyone
has specific and successful experience with this substance.

sublime1-ga

Hi scootera,

Unfortunately red oxide chalk stain is permanent.  By mistake, my
tileman had used red instead of white or blue when snapping the first
line on a concrete floor, when setting up lines for laying my Mexican
Saltillo tile in one of my rooms.  It will not come out.  I highly
doubt if it will come out of carpet.

Here's some information for you.

Carpenters like to snap lines for walls with red oxide chalk - make
them switch to blue chalk dust - red is permanent.

http://www.concretefloorstaining.com/hints.html

=========

When tiling large floor areas the chalk lines easily get brushed away
while clearing and sweeping each area ready to tile. Replace the chalk
with red oxide and as it leaves a permanent mark, it doesn't sweep
away. This takes the guess work out of trying to see where a line was
and saves remarking lines again.

Steven advocates having a normal stringline as well, for those jobs
where extra care needs to be exercised because of the possibility of
staining carpet or furniture with the oxide loaded stringline.

http://www.beaumont-tiles.com.au/rtangles/issue21.html

=========

Best regards,
tlspiegel

You might try using some sticky tape.

Gee... I do feel sorry for you.  I found more that might be helpful:

http://www.stainmaster.com/carpet-care/stain_removal_guide_detail.jsp?stain_code=CHALK&stain_text=Chalk

http://www.howtocleananything.com/tipdetails.asp?tid=1257

http://www.baneclene.com/prof-spot-chalk.html

More!

Pastel Chalk 
http://members.tripod.com/~Barefoot_Lass/carpet.html

"Pastel chalk stains are really tough to get out. My tip to get out
pastel chalk stains from your carpet is to use Neutrogena Shampoo.
Works like a charm!"

=========

Oxy-Powered Carpet Spotter 
http://www.cleanreport.com/new_detail.cfm?item=45-740

I've had success with the following spots on a berber carpet in my
office/studio/pet area (all the same small room): Mud, ink, vomit
(grass), pastels (artist's chalk one of my cat's used as a toy), and
acrylic paint. L. Velluti, Boise, ID

=========

Stain Removal Procedure  
http://carpetbuyershandbook.com/u.htm

(http://carpetbuyershandbook.com/spotchart.htm)

========

If any of these solutions work for you - give a shout at me to post in
the answer box.

Good Luck!
tlspiegel

For many stains, if unknown, it is best to start on the "dry" side. 
This does not mean vacuuming.  It simply means use a dry solvent. 
Rubbing Alcohol is readily available, but do not pour any dry solvent
onto the carpet (breaks down latex).  Pour onto a cloth and blot. 
Allow 3-5 minutes dwelll time to begin breaking down the spill.  If
this (and patience) does not work, try sodium metabisulfite (found at
janitorial supply).  This chemical is a mild bleach and works well on
bleaching stains without affecting carpet color-also works great on
betadine used in hospitals.
http://carpetbuyershandbook.com

Great advice carpetbuyershandbook, You know your stuff!

First off, thanks for everyones concern even though it was sher
stupidity to take my bags off on brand new carpet. I'm such a bonehead
sometimes.

Ok, here's an update. On Friday I went to the company who we purchased
the carpet from and told them the problem. They told me that this
particular carpet is made of polypropylene, Olefin. They said that I
could be a little more aggressive than if I had another type of fiber.
One method they suggested was a 50% solution of bleach. I went to Home
Depot to see what they had for carpet stains and I got two different
spot cleaners. I went back home and I took a big square of extra
carpet and made four new stains to use as experiments. I tried very
warm eater and bleach first, spraying the spot, not saturating, and
blotting. It took approximately two hours for the spot to be almost
gone. I rinsed it after I thought it wasn't going to get any better.
It didn't get all of it though. I let it dry for six hours with a fan
and checked it. It was still pink enough to see from the doorway.
The next was a spot cleaner with something called butyl cellosolve
(?). Again, spray on and blot. Rinse and let dry for six hours. This
product took about two hours also to where the white paper towels
didn't come back pink. When it had dried I found that apparently I had
wetted too much with the solvent and the backing of the carpet had
separated for the top but the stain was about 99% gone. I repeated the
process but used very little spray at a time. This took about an hour
longer but when it was dry the backing was still iintact and the spot
was again 99% gone. The other spot remover on the last test stain
didn't doo much at all.
On Saturday night I started on the real spot in the bedroom using the
light spray of the first spot cleaner and let it dry overnight. In the
morning I vacuumed over the area and and checked the spot in different
light throughout the day. Because I know where the spot was I still
can see a very slight pink shade but my neighbors, 3 - one at a time,
couldn't find it. In the future there is one thing that I will
do.........KEEP THE HELL OFF CARPET WITH CHALK IN MY BAGS.

Thanks again for your help and concern.