Can I Put Carpet In A Skip?

If you are renovating your home or office, one of the bulkiest and most awkward materials to get rid of is carpet. Rolls and rolls of carpet are thrown away every year, with nearly half a million tonnes being sent to landfill.

Removing carpet is awkward enough, the added difficulty of transporting it for disposal means people often start to wonder, “can you put carpet in a skip?”. In this article, we’ll help you find the answer to that question, find out more about carpet disposal in general and what skip hire options are best.

Can Carpets Be Recycled?

Most carpets are made from either wool or a mixture of nylon and other synthetic fibres, carpets can be recycled in some parts of the country at specialist facilities. If you are thinking about carpet disposal then it’s worth considering if any of the carpet can be reused elsewhere, perhaps for animal bedding, in an outbuilding or as a weed suppressant in the garden.

Although you can’t dispose of carpet in your household rubbish, you can place it in a skip to be taken away by a licensed waste management company. Not only does this save you the hassle of trying to fit huge rolls of carpet into your car, it also allows you to collect all of the carpet together in one place for easy removal once your project is finished, or once the skip is full.

Which Skip Size Do I Need For Carpet Disposal?

The skip size you need will depend on the volume of waste you need to get rid of, and whether it’s just for carpet disposal or if there will be other materials too. When placing carpet in a skip it is important to try and use the space as efficiently as possible. Make sure you roll or fold the carpet to help reduce the amount of space it takes up.

If you are disposing of old furniture at the same time, try layering the waste in your skip so it compacts everything down. This will reduce the size of any voids left in the skip and will help you to make the most of the space available.

You might want to cut a very large section of waste carpet into smaller pieces so it doesn’t stick out of your skip or hang over the maximum fill line. Don’t chop it into really tiny pieces though, as larger sections of carpet can be sorted easily for recycling when the waste is processed, which helps to reduce the amount of carpet being sent to landfill.

Tips For Removing Carpet Safely

Removing carpet can be quite an awkward and heavy job, but it’s definitely one of those jobs you can do yourself with the right preparation. Start by removing all furniture from the room, it’s also important to take the correct safety precautions and wear protective clothing. Gloves and sturdy shoes are a must as carpets are held down with sharp tack strips (you don’t want those sticking into your hands or feet!). If the carpet or environment is particularly dirty, you might want to consider wearing a mask as well.

• First, you’ll need to detach the carpet from the tack strips. It’ll be easiest to do this in a corner of the room, alternatively an edge or doorway where you can remove the threshold.
• Pull the carpet back, working around the edges of the room to detach it from all of the tack strips, folding or rolling the carpet away from the walls as you go.
• Roll the carpet towards the centre of the room, usually into a long sausage shape which you can then bend in half if needed to make it easier to carry.
• Ideally, you’ll need another person to help carry the carpet out to your skip. Make sure you lift the carpet carefully and don’t try to lift more than you can manage. If necessary, cut the carpet into more manageable sections.
• Once the carpet is removed, you’ll probably also want to remove the tack strips, however if they are in good condition and you are refitting new carpet you should be able to reuse them. Just make sure you wear shoes until the sharp tacks are covered again!
• If you haven’t arranged for skip hire yet, try to make sure the carpet is covered and kept dry whilst waiting for carpet disposal – lifting wet carpet into a skip is incredibly unpleasant and needlessly difficult. Better still, get in touch with us before you start your project so you can have a skip delivered at a time to suit you.

Putting carpet in a skip is a great way to ensure it is taken away to be disposed of safely and responsibly.