Beginning to wish the holidays away already? Never fear, for those of you who haven’t already had a stain prevention treatment applied to your curtains and carpets, ServiceMaster Clean’s very own technical wizard Ian McCormack is here with a guide to removing the most common teenage holiday stains. (Note: please pre-test all treatments on an inconspicuous place first ie the back of your curtains or sofa)
1. Coke
Actually coke is very simple to remove. It’s water based so simply dab with a clean damp white cloth until there is no further transfer from stain to cloth. Then apply a mixture of soap flakes diluted in warm water and finally rinse with clean water. Keep drying as you can all the way through the treatment. On bigger spills (ie the whole bottle instead of just a can) use a hair dryer in between applications to keep it dry.
2. Pizza
Teenagers are notoriously easily distracted, pizza, mouth, gaming…whoops! The treatment method for tomato stains is similar to coke but you may need a little extra help to deal with any extra oily toppings.
As above. Start by dabbing the affected area with a clean damp white cloth until there is no further transfer from stain to cloth. Then apply a mixture of soap flakes diluted in warm water and finally rinse with clean water. Keep drying as you go all the way through the treatment. If the stain is oily (ie pepperoni/olive/tuna) start the process above but use vodka instead of water in your clean damp white cloth, then apply a weak solution of soap flakes and finally rinse as above.
3. Chocolate
Use Ian’s tried and tested method to remove chocolate and you’re practically a scientist. Harness the power of enzymes to eat away the chocolate for you!
Pop out and buy a small box of biological washing powder (must be fresh). Mix up a weak solution of hand hot water and powder, apply to the stain, leave damp and hey presto, the enzymes will chomp away on the chocolate until it’s gone! It doesn’t have to be an expensive brand; supermarket own will work just as well.
4. Mud
Has mummy’s little David Beckham walked mud in across the new carpet? Fear not; Ian says the key is to let the mud dry before attempting to remove the marks. Once the mud is completely dry just vacuum away, if any stubborn marks remain, apply soap flakes (around a teaspoonful to a mug of warm water) and gently dab. Rinse with water.
These stain removal tips were brought to you by ServiceMaster Clean.
