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my people

What is it with the people in my family? They are either natural-born wife and mother torturers or honest-to-goodness klutzes!

nail polish

First, it was Marissa with the nail polish.

Now, it’s Dave with the red wine!

A few weeks ago, when I came home from Rancho la Puerta, Dave picked me up from the airport. On the drive home, he said, “Oh, I have to tell you, I had a little accident.”

In other words, “Welcome Home!”

a lot of red wine

The glass of red wine he spilled was next to the bed. It “somehow” fell off the nightstand.

I immediately asked, “What did you do to it, so far?”  Luckily, all he’d done was blot the hell out of it. Unluckily, by the time I got to it, it was completely dry.

There are a variety of remedies for red wine on carpets. All are for when the spill is new … and wet. You can use white wine to remove red wine, salt, baking soda, vinegar, or club soda. But all the remedies I found said something like this:

“There are several methods for removing red wine stains that work well, see which one works well for you. Just remember, whatever you do, don’t let the spill sit for long before taking action, the longer it sits the more difficult it will be to lift the stain from your carpet”

Great! Oh well, what could I do? This wine was dry as a bone, so I just let it be and ignored it for … two and a half weeks. I’d walk by it several times a day and feel defeated.

Dave was out-of-town for the last five days, so I decided it was time to tackle the stain. I figured I’d get after it day after day until it was gone. I thought if I was able to take up a little more each day, letting the carpet dry between, that would be the best solution.

Plus, with Dave away, it could dry without being trampled on and I’d be less mad each night since I wouldn’t see his face.

ouch

Just as I did with the nail polish, I used rubbing alcohol. I’d saturate a cotton ball and rub it back and forth and then in circles. I was pretty discouraged after the first attempt! Good thing Dave didn’t come home from work that night!

come on

But, I kept at it…

better

… day after day.

getting there

This is the current state of affairs.

ok

I’ll continue until it is invisible. At least I won’t be seething when I pick up Dave at the airport tomorrow night!

before and after

My advice? Drink red wine in non-carpeted areas and drink white wine over the carpet. Or vodka, or gin, or tequila…


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3 comments

1 Marissa { 09.22.14 at 12:46 PM }

You would not have liked living in our Sunset house… lots of red wine spilled.

2 Anne { 09.25.14 at 6:36 AM }

Oh no, good thing you attempted this when Dave was gone!! Looking sooo much better! Okay. Yes, a lot of good this does now, BUT should a wine spill EVER happen again…have you ever tried Oxi Clean stain remover? I find it very successful on red wine stains. 🙂

3 Linda Hopkins { 09.25.14 at 7:17 AM }

Thanks Anne, I happened to be at the store when you sent this, so I bought the Oxi and used it on the shadow of a stain that was still there – NO MORE – it is gone! You are the best! You should write a cleaning and household tip (and decorating and shopping!) blog! xoxo

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