Recently, I agreed to watch my friend’s three children for a few days while she and her husband flew to a convention in Las Vegas. Since she lives in a different city and two of her children are enrolled in school we figured it would be best if I stayed at their home. The days flew by and I thought that we had made it through the week just fine, until I felt my sock sticking to the kitchen floor. I turned, looked down and was able to follow my tracks back to the scene of the crime: grape jelly on her Oriental rug. UGH!
It’s not important how it got there (ok, the culprit turned out to be my friend’s 3-year-old son who took off from the kitchen table prior to his post-breakfast wipe down), the task of removing jelly stains proved to be more work than tending to a house full of children and juggling their individual schedules. I deduced that the jelly had “fallen” on the rug just after 6 a.m., but wasn’t discovered until after 3 p.m., which eliminated any chance I had of following the golden rule of stain removal: get to the stain before it sets. The jelly had not only set, it had been sufficiently squashed into the rug’s fibers.
I don’t own an Oriental rug. In fact, my experience cleaning rugs is limited to vacuuming the few throw rugs that dot my home. Occasionally, I will throw them into the washing machine and hang them over a shower door to dry. I ended up getting a crash course in cleaning Oriental rugs from a delightful man who owns the shop where the rug was purchased (it’s the only Oriental rug store in town).
Here’s what helped remove the jelly stain from the Oriental rug:
Mix dishwashing detergent and vinegar with warm water (a ratio of about one capful per quart). Dip a clean towel into the cleaning solution and blot (do not rub) gently on an inconspicuous area of the rug before tackling the stain. Once the stain is blotted, use another rag soaked in plain water to flush the treated area. Repeat as needed. (I was told that residual soap could discolor and harm the rug’s fibers.) Since the jelly had time to set, I needed to repeat the process a number of times. When the stain was finally out I used a blow dryer set on low and re-fluffed the rug.
If you don’t have an Oriental rug, but are battling protein or water based stains on Berber or cut pile carpet, the owner of the rug store suggests using shaving cream. Spray the shaving cream directly on the stain and let sit for about 20 to 30 minutes. After the cream sets, gently blot it away with a cloth soaked in the mixture of dishwashing detergent, vinegar and water. He swears that shaving cream will remove just about every type of stain.