So, apart from the emotional stuff surrounding the gravy and the red wine, I now need practical suggestions about how to get the flipping red wine out of the pale blue carpet. I poured a whole bottle of carpet cleaner on it and its still there. Bear in mind its now been in the carpet for about 2 days....
I'd pull the whole thing up and throw it away, except its cold and I can't bear wooden floors in the cold...
Also, I'd quite like to go back and look at the old boards to see if my thoughts/comment/feelings have changed or even, perish the thought, improved, over the years. Can we go back to them or are they in la la land with all the WS's?
This message has been edited by sandy6957 on Mar 9, 2005 12:44 PM
>>Can we go back to them or are they in la la land with all the WS's?<<
The old boards and your old posts are still there, alive and kicking at http://www.network54.com/Forum/233779. These new boards (Affair Recovery and Discovery) were started up a couple of months ago and are being managed by a few oldtimers from the old boards [Chris, GT, RW, Cory, Mizmarie, Kat and Quinn aka Bart].
I'm not sure what to do about red wine in blue carpet. My new found knowledge of house cleaning hasn't reached carpets yet. I'm still struggling with the washing machine. But I bet Chris would might have some good ideas. I guess there's always steam cleaning. .... and BTW, since this is the open forum, let's be fair - all WS's don't remain stuck forever in lalaland
I'm not good with all these shortened words, like OMG, but I've figured out a few. I thought WS was Wayward Spouse, so if they're a wayward spouse, aint they in la la land? Cos I didn't say FWS which I assume is former wayward spouse, did I?
Its a bit like text messaging, this, you can get into all sorts of trouble for not explaining things properly.
So,
dpomcogcigaeaiww
xxxxx
Mix a little lukewarm (25C) water with a good dish detergent (Dawn) or Woolite and lather it in with a good stiff brush. Don't use a liquid laundry detergent; the pH is too high.
Then spritz or sprinkle a fair amount of distilled white vinegar over the stains (double strength, 10% concentration, if you can find it) and work that in by tamping the brush down on the spots. "Rinse" with water in a clean sponge.
(You will need a wet/dry vac or a carpet-cleaning machine to pull all this wet "stuff" out of the carpet. The best thing would be a steam-cleaner machine.)
If a lighter stain remains, repeat the process. The vinegar removes the tannins and sugar from the wine.
Once you get down to a light pink (or, given the blue hue of the carpet, lavender), apply some household ammonia, tamp, rinse, and extract again. When you add the ammonia, the stain may turn brownish immediately, but with a rinse and extract, it should lighten again. The ammonia works on the organics that the vinegar didn't handle.
Last try is with drugstore hydrogen peroxide, which is actually a mild bleach. Skip the lathering, just apply the peroxide directly and rinse/extract.
I offer no guarantees, because every textile yarn is different. This protocol works on some, and doesn't work on others.
Or you could get out the Yellow Pages and look under "Carpet Cleaning".
Here's my attempt at an American-English "amplification".
>>Mix a little lukewarm (25C) water with a good dish detergent (Dawn) or Woolite and lather it in with a good stiff brush. Don't use a liquid laundry detergent; the pH is too high.<<
Dish detergent (used in the sink) is a "neutral" liquid detergent. Liquid laundry detergent for washing machines is too alkaline. At least I did the temperature translation...lol.
>>Then spritz or sprinkle a fair amount of distilled white vinegar over the stains (double strength, 10% concentration, if you can find it) and work that in by tamping the brush down on the spots. "Rinse" with water in a clean sponge.<<
"Spritz" is American for "spray", for which you could use a household spray bottle. "Distilled white vinegar" is also called "acetic acid". Don't use the malt vinegar that you would use on food.
>>(You will need a wet/dry vac or a carpet-cleaning machine to pull all this wet "stuff" out of the carpet. The best thing would be a steam-cleaner machine.)<<
American home-centers commonly sell "wet-dry" canister vacuum cleaners, and most folks have one or have a neighbor who has one. American grocery and drugstores often have rental carpet-cleaning units that use either water or steam spray and also have a vacuum-extractor.
>>Once you get down to a light pink (or, given the blue hue of the carpet, lavender), apply some household ammonia, tamp, rinse, and extract again. When you add the ammonia, the stain may turn brownish immediately, but with a rinse and extract, it should lighten again. The ammonia works on the organics that the vinegar didn't handle.<<
"Household ammonia" is a common cleaning agent in the US, so I assumed you might have some in your cleaning-supplies closet.
>>Last try is with drugstore hydrogen peroxide, which is actually a mild bleach. Skip the lathering, just apply the peroxide directly and rinse/extract.<<
Peroxide is found in the US on the "first aid" aisle of the drugstore or grocery because it is often used to disinfect cuts/scrapes. It's cheap here, maybe $1 for a pint bottle.
This reminds me of the old saying about the US, Canada, England, Australia and NZ...we're people who share a common heritage but who are separated by a common language.
Don't know what Dawn or Woolite is. I don't have a dishwasher, I wash up in the sink using a liquid detergent called Fairy Liquid, in the washing machine (for clothes) I use a powder called Ariel.
Maybe I should just die the carpet red, huh?
Or claim on the insurance for accidental damage, I mean it was only an on purpose accident.....
xxxxx
Thanks to everyone, especially Chris, the stain has GONE!!!!!!
Only now the pale blue carpet where the red wine was is super clean and the rest of the carpet looks dirty!!!
We even had KFC again the other day, and I didn't get gravy poured over me and the red wine stayed in the glass and the bottle. Things are looking up!! We can even eat without hassle - at the moment!!
By the way, I found red wine splashes on the wall behind the door, but got that off with plain old bleach. Hope nobody ever needs that tip, but its there just in case. It's a painted wall, pale yellow. Guess I'm a pale colour person, huh?
Anyway, thanks for all the help - incidentally, I did it with Fairy Liquid and a whole bucket of water. So now the floorboards will probably rot!!!
You folks are like manna from heaven for me
xxxxxxxxxx
Help comes in many ways and forms, Sandy. I'm glad it worked...but remember, YOU did it. No one can take that away from you. In rebuilding a life, sometimes these small accomplishments are the most important building blocks.
So you did read it. You're all very articulate, so I'm going to add a little poem that I found in my Grandmother's autograph book. She was born in 1887 and I never met her, having been born in Australia, but I particularly like this one:
Whatever you are, be that
Whatever you do, be true
Straightforwardly act
Be honest
In fact, be nobody else but you
