Cleaning up after the festivities

The Christmas and New Year festivities are over. We've cleaned up but there still may be some lingering evidence – stains and marks. Our Forum participants have lots of tips:

Tea stains on carpet:

• “Try a steam cleaner this usually works for me. First dampen, then mop off with a tea towel. It takes a long time to clean it.”
• “I find [proprietary name] Oxi action carpet and upholstery stain remover works well on cheaper ones - even gets red wine out - but can be a bit soapy and takes a fair bit of rinsing.”
• “On Axminster and better quality carpets I have been using a clear industrial liquid acquired from a car valeting firm following a large carton of milk that exploded over my husband's car. I have no idea what it is but it has worked very well even when a guest spilt curry on the carpet.”
• “I have used [proprietary name] 3 spray, obtainable for £9 a 500ml spray bottle. It is excellent, and has removed red wine, gravy, cat accidents, milk, all sorts of things! A friend bought some and used it on an old stain that had defied removal by many other things, and it worked…”

Red wine on carpet:

“A bottle of soda water and a roll of paper kitchen towelling.”

Hot chocolate on carpet:

“It was removed using my [proprietary name] Steam cleaner (£150 from [a DIY shop] - but a real steam machine). I use no chemical - just steam - and dab with paper towel. Chemicals, I find, just create foam which takes forever to rinse out.”

Black marks on wallpaper caused by suitcases:

“I use [proprietary name] liquid cream on a damp cloth but don't rub too hard. The other alternative is a thing that looks like a large sponge - you use it dry - and can remove stains on wallpaper, lampshades - even delicate ones. You can get one from [proprietary name] store. I think it's called a lampshade cleaner.”

Go to The Forum to read more or to offer your own advice.

Meanwhile I've researched a couple more common ones:

Blood on sheets:

Sponge fresh marks with cold salt water then soak in enzyme detergent solution; launder in cool suds; rinse well.

Candle wax on washable table cloth:

Carefully lift off surface deposit with your fingernail. Sandwich stained area in clean blotting paper, melt out remainder of deposit by pressing the paper with a warm iron. Keep moving the paper so the clear sections absorb the wax. Use a grease solvent to remove final traces; launder to clear any dye.

Article submitted by the editor.

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