How to Remove Sunscreen Stains from Furniture and Carpet

Sunscreen is a summertime necessity, but sometimes it can end up on places other than your skin. Whether you squeeze the bottle too hard — resulting in lotion exploding all over your favourite carpet — or someone in your household sits down on the couch covered in a fresh coat of head-to-toe sunblock, sunscreen stains can happen.

Fortunately, they’re also relatively simple to remove — especially if you act quickly. Here’s what to know about getting sunscreen stains out of furniture and carpet.

How to get sunscreen out of upholstered furniture and carpet

In most situations, you should be able to remove sunscreen strains from upholstered furniture and carpet without putting in too much effort. Here’s how to do that, courtesy of Leah Goulis at Kidspot Australia:

1. Scrape off as much of the sunscreen as possible, using something like a dull knife or spatula. Don’t rub the upholstery or fabric to get the excess lotion off.
2. Pour a decent amount of either baking soda, cornflour, or talcum powder, and let it sit overnight.
3. The following day, vacuum up the powdery mess.
4. If that didn’t do the trick, you can try doing it again, before turning to professionals.

How to treat sunscreen stains on leather

Sunscreen is not kind to leather, so dealing with the stain in a timely manner is even more important in this situation. Here are the steps to removing it, courtesy of Jessica Kielman at Hunker:

1. Using a cloth or paper towel, blot the sunscreen stain. Do not rub it.
2. Make a solution of one cup of water with two or three drops of dish liquid (Kielman recommends Dawn).
3. Using a clean, white cloth, “dab the mixture into the stain and work in a circular motion.”
4. Wipe the affected area and allow it to dry.
5. Apply leather conditioner to the piece of furniture.

And whether you’re dealing with leather or upholstered furniture, or carpet, if the stain continues to linger, you may want to get a professional in to finish the job.