“Out, damned spot! Out, I say!”
-Lady MacBeth (Shakespeare)
Well, yes, we aren’t quite saying that stains can drive us insane or into a guilt induced washing frenzy like Lady MacB, but they certainly can be irritating. In fact I have been known to lose it as Nicky throws food on our carpet, creating more marks that will be a problem to remove.
So what are we to do with stains? Remove them, of course.
1. Carpet stains
It never fails to amaze me why the previous owner of our home would purposely choose the colour white to carpet the lounge and bedrooms.
Not long ago I came across this post (from One Good Thing by Jillee) where you take hot water and ammonia, spray it on your carpet, take a towel and iron it out. The woman was so excited about this I thought I had to give it a try. It worked really well on the large area stains (such as dog pee), but not on those old stubborn little ones.
In fact, my two carpet problems can be summed up as follows: 1) I have a dog who likes to mark his territory next to furniture, and 2) I have a toddler who likes to throw food. The sad fact is there is no magic cure for problems like these. There is just no replacement for a good carpet cleaner and a lot of good old fashioned elbow grease.
So let’s look at how I cleaned up these two problem areas:
1) Dog marking territory:
Before
After
2) Toddler food marks:
Before:
Food marks on carpet
After:
Clean carpet (from food marks)
As you can see (if you look really carefully) I didn’t get every last stain out (for the second one) but it is a huge improvement. And I used Vanish carpet cleaner. You kind of make a froth with it and use the foam.
2. Tea stains
I think everyone has their ways of dealing with their ups and downs in a day, and for me, when Nicky won’t sleep for the third time, I have been known to say, “I NEED a cup of tea, NOW!” It is just unfortunate that I am a bit clumsy and there are a lot of toys all over the show to trip on.
The key with tea is not to let it dry. You can blot it with paper towels as well.
To get rid of the stain I used Vanish Liquid directly on the stain, waited five minutes and then added it to the wash together with 100ml of the liquid (plus normal detergent).
If the stain is old you should soak it with the liquid: coloured fabrics one hour maximum, for whites maximum six hours.
Before:
Tea stain
After:
Tea stain removed
I think that was a pretty easy one because I caught it early.
3. Blood stains
I don’t have an example of a blood stain here but I think it is important to add because it is a pretty common one. I know that I used to pretty much deal with it every month with that monthly visitor. (The upside of pregnancy and breastfeeding: I don’t have to deal with that!)
I found that cold water on both sides worked wonders every time. (Hot water will cook blood). Blot the stain, don’t spread it! If the stain is old you might want to try Vanish Power O2 Powder.
Since I’ve learned so much from bloggers about one thing or another, I’d like to hear your tips and tricks for dealing with stains, or any bad experiences you have had.
This post on stain removal was underwritten by Vanish.
When we had old dogs and they had a pee accident, a friend had told us to just pour cold water over the spot and blot with a towel. I usually left the spot covered with a towel until it got up most of the moisture and so we wouldn’t step on the spot. It worked really well for pee and other pet stains. If the stain didn’t come out with water alone, then i’d take carpet cleaner to it. I do the same thing even for blood stains in the carpet.
I haven’t seen Vanish in our stores but now that we don’t have doggies 🙁 we don’t need carpet cleaner as often.
Wow it did a great job on the dog and food stains!
Just wanted to stop and say THANK YOU for the kind comments on my blog. I needed them so much! Thanks again!
oh, its a pleasure!
I’m so glad I came across this post. My mother is having stain issues in her house so I’m going to forward it to her.
Also, I can relate to the carpet issue. I moved into a house with very light grey carpet everywhere on the main floor, except the kitchen and bathroom and about 4 square feet by our front door. It was even under our dining table and in front of the deck door! We have two little boys who are in and out all day long. We knew it wouldn’t last. The added bonus is that we are farmers so the stuff they track in… it’s gross to think about! Spaghetti under the dinner table, potty training accidents, sand and dirt, and the wonderful “farm dirties.” Our carpet stain solution: rip it out and put in laminate lol!
That’s a brilliant plan!