Party Foul! And cleaning tips
September 4, 2008
One of my best buddies in the world invited me to his new house that he bought with his brother for a BBQ on Monday. I know he’s splitting the cost, and the house is in the boonies, but I’m so proud of him for having achieved my goal of buying a house first in the group. (Why would I have that goal? I don’t know. For having worked so hard for so long, I wanted something to show for it.)
Unfortunately, not 20 minutes after the grand tour, another guest was fixing a burger when the mustard bottle exploded all over the guest, the island, the new tile …. and the brand new cream-colored carpet.
*Oh. My. Lord.*
And can I tell you? Boys have the worst cleaning reaction time, ever. I was on my knees, dabbing up the mustard without rubbing it in within thirty seconds. Two of the boys were oblivious, and the other three were wringing their hands, in shock. And of course, of all the cleaning tips I could think of (listed below, I think courtesy of DebtHater), dealing with mustard stains in the carpet was not one.
I used plenty of water once I got the mass of mustard dabbed up and all that was left were the stained fibers, then used dish soap and more water. One of the three splotches disappeared completely, and the other stains became light enough to be mistaken for pee stains instead of mustard. Small favors, yes?
What should I really have done?
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Other useful cleaning tips, not applicable to the above situation:
Problem: Ink on clothes
Solution: Spray the ink stain with copious amounts of hairspray (the cheaper the better). Then take an ordinary bar of soap (no dye, no perfume) and rub it into the stain. Then hand rinse it in cold water.
Problem: Melted candle wax out on carpets.
Solution: Put a folded paper towel over the wax and then press down on it with a warm iron (no steam). After about 10 seconds, lift it up, turn the paper towel to a clean spot and repeat, over and over until the wax was absorbed. If the wax was colored and left a stain, pour rubbing alcohol on it (make sure the carpet is colorfast) and scrub it out with a toothbrush.
Problem: Ugly yellow water stains in the bathtub.
Solution: Hydrogen peroxide and cream of tartar. Mix them together into a thin paste, then pour it onto the stain and rub it in with a sponge or cloth.
[Click on image to enlarge]
