How To Remove Staples: 9 Steps (with Pictures) - WikiHow

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1 Choose a staple remover. After removing carpeting, it's a common sight to find many leftover staples stuck in the subfloor. It can be aggravating, but necessary, to take the time to go around and remove them quickly to make your new install as clean and secure as possible. A few tools are helpful at getting this done as quickly as possible:[4] X Research source
- Flathead screwdriver and pliers make a good tandem if you want to go primitive. You can use the screwdriver to pry up or separate the screws and the pliers to pull them loose. If you'd rather, you can just go for the pliers. [5]
- Office-style staple removers can be effective at removing certain varieties of staples. If the staples are small enough to work in a trigger-style staple remover like you might use to remove staples from paper, feel free to give it a shot. Better yet would be a flat prybar-style staple remover, which are common at office supply stores.
- Knee pads are extremely valuable while you're undertaking this project. After fifteen minutes crawling around on your knees on a hard floor covered in carpet adhesive and staples, you'll be wishing you had some.
2 Pull as many up with carpeting as you can. If you’re removing carpet, lots of floor staples will come up with the carpet as you remove it. Discarding the staples will mostly be a matter of sweeping them up from the floor. Many, however, will remain stuck and will need to be removed, but getting as many as you can while you’re removing the carpet in the first place will make it a lot easier.[6] X Research source
- Go slowly, using your pry bar underneath to loose the carpet as you're pulling it loose to help bring up as many staples with the carpet as possible. Don’t take too much carpet at once, or go too quickly. You'll make the job much easier on yourself if you leave fewer staples.
3 Pry up the staples using the staple remover. Whether you want to use your staple remover or go primitive with a screwdriver, there's little science to the job. Just get down there and start prying them loose. If you've got a partner, it can be effective to have one person doing the loosening and another pinching them loose with pliers. Get coordinating to see what works best for you and the tools you've got at hand.[7]
4 Sweep up loose staples thoroughly. It's important that you don't leave any staples laying around. Sweep them up, or use a Shop-Vac to suck them up from the floor when you're done, especially if you're going to be installing new carpet relatively soon. Try to get all of them.