How to get stains and spills out of artificial turf

Start with hot water and detergent

Try the gentlest method first. It handles most stains. The Synthetic Turf Council’s 2013 maintenance guidelines say most stains come out with hot, but not boiling, water and a household detergent your turf’s builder approves.

1. Clear the surface. Scrape off food and blot up liquid before you add water.
2. Scrub with hot, soapy water. Use a stiff brush with synthetic bristles. The same guidelines rule out metal or wire bristles.
3. Rinse with clean water until the soap is gone.
4. Pat the spot dry.

Don’t wait. Penn State’s Center for Sports Surface Research advises using a cleaning product as soon as possible after a stain happens. Spilled food, drinks and sunscreen smears are the everyday marks to start on with soap and water.

Most detailed guidance on this was written for sports fields. Use it as a starting point, and let the care sheet for your own turf have the last word. Penn State notes that some turf makers sell their own cleaning products, from gum remover to treatments for oil and organic stains. If you don’t have the care sheet, ask whoever installed the turf for the product name before you try anything stronger.

Urine and dog waste need a different routine. Our guide to cleaning pet turf covers it.

What to keep off the fibers

The quick fixes in the garage are often the ones the guidelines warn against. Keep these off your turf:

• Alcohol or acetone solvents. The Synthetic Turf Council says not to clean with chemicals that contain them. Nail polish remover is one product that can contain acetone, according to the ATSDR.
• Petroleum-based liquids, including fuel. The council warns that petroleum spills can damage synthetic turf.
• Dry cleaning fluids. They’re on the council’s list of things that may damage turf.
• Wire brushes and high-pressure sprays over 500 psi. Both are on the same list.
• Boiling water. Hot is fine. Boiling isn’t.

The council also says no chemical should go on the turf without checking with the builder first. Before you use a degreaser, spot remover or paint thinner, read the ingredients. If the label lists alcohol, acetone or a petroleum distillate, ask your turf maker before it touches the fibers.

Grill grease and food spills

Grease from a grill or a dropped plate is a food stain. Blot up as much as you can, then use the hot water and detergent method above. Give it a second scrub if a mark is left.

If a greasy film stays in the fibers after that, don’t switch to a solvent. Ask your turf maker which oil-stain treatment its fibers can take.

Motor oil, hydraulic fluid and fuel

These are a different problem, because they’re petroleum-based. The Synthetic Turf Council gives these steps for a hydraulic fluid or motor oil leak:

1. Stop the leak and catch what you can. Get the mower or machine off the turf, or put a pan under the drip.
2. Soak it up. Lay absorbent towels on the spill to take up most of the fluid.
3. Vacuum out the infill in the affected area.
4. Wash the fibers with household dishwashing liquid and water to break down what’s left.
5. Put in new infill once the turf is clean.

Fuel falls under the same petroleum warning, so prevention matters most. The council says not to fill equipment while it sits on the turf, not to overfill, and to use a catch pan while filling. At home, that means topping up the mower, blower or generator on the driveway.

Oily towels and oil-soaked infill need care when you get rid of them. The EPA says products such as paints and oils need special care at disposal, and counts pouring them on the ground or into storm sewers as improper disposal. So don’t hose a spill into the street. Contact your local solid waste agency about household hazardous waste collection. The EPA also notes that some local garages accept used motor oil for recycling.

Chewing gum

Freeze gum before you try to remove it. The Synthetic Turf Council’s method:

• Freeze it with ice or a freezing aerosol, then chip or break it off the fibers.
• If it’s smeared across the fibers, work in a little peanut butter. That softens the gum and breaks it down so you can wipe it off.

Peanut butter leaves its own oily mark. Finish with the hot water and detergent wash, and rinse well.

Paint

Paint can get past the fibers and into the infill. That’s what makes it hard to fix. Penn State explains that paint building up in the infill can make the surface harder, and that if it accumulates, the infill may need to be removed and replaced.

For a fresh spill:

• Blot up wet paint before it dries.
• Don’t reach for thinner unless your turf maker approves it, for the solvent reasons above.
• Ask for the removal method your turf can take. Penn State advises checking with the turf maker for the right paint-removal technique.

If you mark lines on a backyard play area, use paint made for synthetic turf. The council and Penn State both say so.

When the infill has to be replaced

Clean fibers aren’t always the end of it. The infill between the blades has to come out when:

• A petroleum spill has soaked in. The council’s oil steps end with vacuuming out the affected infill and putting new infill in.
• Paint has built up. Penn State says accumulated paint can mean removing and replacing infill.
• Something has contaminated it deep down. The council lists partial removal and reinstallation of infill to get rid of embedded foreign matter.

Match the new infill to what’s there. The council says replacement infill should meet the builder’s specifications. Penn State advises using the same size and type that was originally installed. On a backyard green, see our putting green care article for the rest of the routine.

If the fibers themselves are damaged, a section of turf can be cut out and replaced. Penn State warns that the color is hard to match, because sun ages the fibers and the green shifts over time. Its suggestion is to keep leftover turf outdoors, so it weathers the same way as the rest.

When a spill or years of wear leave you weighing new residential turf, we’ll measure and check the ground on a free visit, then draw a custom layout for you to approve. Call 303-349-2368.

Stain checklist

• Scrape or blot the mess off right away.
• Scrub with hot, not boiling, water, an approved detergent and a stiff synthetic brush. Rinse and pat dry.
• Freeze gum and chip it off. Use peanut butter on smears, then wash the spot.
• Soak up motor oil, vacuum the affected infill, wash with dish soap and add matching infill.
• Fill mowers and other equipment off the turf, over a catch pan.
• Keep alcohol, acetone, petroleum liquids, dry cleaning fluid, wire brushes and sprays over 500 psi away from the fibers.
• Take oily towels and paint waste to a household hazardous waste collection.
• Ask your turf maker before using any other chemical.