How to Get Glass Out of Carpet

The sound of glass breaking can be scary, especially on a carpet. Not only is broken glass on your carpet a threat to your feet, but your carpet. It can injure you when you walk barefoot or cause tears and rips in your carpeting. Stay safe and extend the life of your carpet by learning how to get glass out of carpet safely.

Wearing thick rubber gloves, pick up the big pieces and dispose of them in a bucket or a carton. Sweep across the carpet's fibers to remove the small pieces of glass.

Use a slice of bread (or raw potato) or heavy-duty duct tape for the tiny shards, then vacuum the area around it to ensure no more shards are left behind.

Read on.

How to Get Broken Glass Out of Carpet

One of the most daunting household tasks isn't cleaning cat vomit from the carpet (though that's definitely unpleasant!)—it's removing broken glass from deep within the carpet fibers.

The real danger lies in the tiny, hidden shards that can go unnoticed, posing a serious safety risk to anyone nearby.

Here's the safest and most effective way to remove glass from your carpet immediately!

Let Everyone Vacate the Area

The first thing is to have everyone safely back away from the area as you grab a pair of heavy rubber gloves, closed-toed shoes, and goggles to get the pieces of glass out of the carpet. The good news is that getting glass particles out of carpet doesn't require a vacuum (though you can still use the shop vac, as we shall see later in this write-up).

Here's how to get glass out of carpet without vacuum!

Pick Up the Large Pieces

Wearing thick rubber gloves, pick up the large pieces of glass and put them in a carton, bucket, or thick paper, not a single-layered plastic bag. Use kitchen tongs to pick up the pieces if you don't have rubber gloves.

Be careful where you step as you work; you don't want any glass shards holding onto your shoes and transferring to other carpet areas as you move around.

Never kneel on the carpet when picking up pieces of glass; they could injure your knees. Sit on a small stool if you have trouble bending while doing the task.

I like to be extra careful when disposing of broken glass because it is a safety hazard for everyone, including the garbage collectors. I prefer wrapping the glass with a newspaper or several tissues to prevent cuts in the trash can. You can do the same.

Sweep up the Glass

Use a stiff-bristled scrub brush to dislodge the glass trapped in the carpet fibers, being extra careful not to scatter it into other areas of the carpet, and then sweep it into a dustpan using a stiff-bristled broom.

Use short strokes when sweeping to prevent scattering pieces of glass into other carpet areas.

Use Potato or Fresh Bread to Pick Shards

The tiny shards are difficult to pick using a broom. Raw potato slices or slices of fresh bread can pick up glass shards out of carpet well.

Press a raw potato or fresh bread slice onto the carpet to pick up the glass shards. You may sacrifice several bread or potato slices until you've picked all the shards. If you choose to use a potato, cut it into two and repeatedly press the cut side onto the shards of glass.

Toss the slices of bread or potato into the garbage bin. They're dangerous, especially if your pets eat them.

Heavy Duty Duct Tape

Use a flashlight, and at floor height, shine a light parallel to the carpet. If there are any shards, they'll catch light. Capture them using heavy-duty duct tape.

With the sticky side out, wrap the tape around your hand and press it on the glass shards. Repeat if necessary, and then toss the tape in the garbage tin.

Use Wet Paper Towels

Fold the towels into a square and press onto the glass shards. The wet paper towels should pick up the remaining shards. When the shards stick to the paper towels, carefully dispose of them in the garbage tin.

Finalize

Before leaving the working area, check the bottom of your shoes for any glass shards. Use paper towels or duct tape to remove them before walking away to avoid transferring them to other areas.

Take your dustpan and broom outside, and use a garden hose to rinse them thoroughly over a bucket. Dispose of the water in your bucket down a utility drain.

Can Vacuuming Remove Broken Glass on Carpet?

Yes, vacuuming removes broken glass on the carpet, but vacuuming glass regularly could damage your regular vacuum in the long term, and you should also avoid vacuuming pieces larger than grains of sand.

Large shards or pieces of glass can damage your vacuum's internal components, including the roller brush.

To be safe, use a shop vacuum, not a regular home vacuum. Shop vacs pick up large debris in the industrial and construction work sites without getting damaged so they're suitable for picking up small pieces of glass out of carpet.

Even with a shop vac, I recommend using heavy-duty plastic gloves or kitchen tongs to pick up the big pieces of glass and then sweeping the smaller pieces before vacuuming.

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