Oh yeah, it is that time of the year again – Christmas. Not that I have anything against this holiday per se, but all the cleaning and scrubbing after the festivities are over, is really something I am not looking forward to, not one bit. I cannot image a more busy time to be a housekeeper, voluntary housekeeper that is. And because everything is voluntary (cleaning for the family and whatnot) one must find sneaky shortcuts. So, how does one handle all the stains left from the big celebration? First we need to discern which are the most common holiday stains, and then we will move on to treating them separately.
1 – Red Wine Stains
Red wine goes well with almost every meal; but just the same it can soak through almost any material, especially the carpets, leaving us to deal with the consequences. Well, maybe the best action one could take is to take care of the problem as soon as it’s made. Here is what you do.
- Blot the spill – Using a clean microfibre towel (a regular one would work as well I suppose) very carefully blot the spill, trying not to push the wine any further into the fabric.
- Add a little water – Just a little bit; add too much water and what you are left with is one soggy carpet.
- Add detergent – After you have moisten your carpet a little bit, you can add just a tiny bit of washing detergent. If you add too much, you will get too much suds, which would be pretty difficult to get rid of later.
- Treat with baking soda – Baking soda is perfect for treating deep, saturated stains. The chemical properties of the soda would allow for easy, manual removal later on. Just add a little bit of water to powdered baking soda (just enough to make a paste). Spread the paste evenly on the troubled area and let it sit for about an hour. Scrub, vacuum and the strain should be gone.
2 – Greasy Food Stains
Nothing ruins your brand new shirt like a greasy chicken wing. It doesn’t matter what kind of stain it is, if it is oil-based you will have some trouble getting it out. Here are some useful suggestions:
- Salt the Stain – Salt is a perfect absorbent of fat. As soon as as the grease satin appears, sprinkle it generously with salt. This way you will keep the grease from seeping any further through the fabrics.
- Blot using fine laundry detergent – Just like we did with the wine spill, add a little bit of laundry detergent directly on the carpet itself. Blot the stain out using a moistened towel, until everything is gone.
- If that doesn’t help, try adding a little bit of pure, whine vinegar (always mixed with at least 2 parts water) in as well. Of course you can always use dry cleaner solvent, but if you have that, you probably have a dry cleaning machine as well. So just use that.
3 – Everything Else
Everything else you handle like any other cleaning disaster – using all purpose cleaners, bleach and maybe some Ajax. Bodily fluids can be treated using only that. Other spills (non-black tea, hard liquor, soda etc) can be treated just by blotting, no detergents needed.
Author Bio: July Minor is a passionate blogger, writer and a contributor. She currently works as a manager of Tenancy Cleaning Totteridge and has the time she needs to write for her readers.
