Stain Removal Remedies For Common Household Stains
No matter how careful you are with your home, it's a fact that some of your valuable household surfaces are going to be damaged by household stains
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And sometimes it's the very things you love most about your home that make your home a magnet for household stains and splotches: the all white tile that looks so sleek and futuristic when you first install it in the kitchen shows every crack and every break, and the mulberry tree in the back yard, which brings back memories of growing up in the country, also clings to the heel of every shoe -- including those of the guests you invited over to sit on the back deck and enjoy the view.
Or maybe it's the all hard wood floors that make the place just the kind of home where you like to have some friends over for cocktail -- including those friends who don't realize how vulnerable a hard wood floor is to rings from a cocktail glass. Perhaps it's the gorgeous carpeting you've just put in, and which has just endured its rough first meeting with your wet, adventurous, outdoorsy, and overly affectionate pet dog. Houses are like people -- their great strength can also be their downfall as well.
Here, then, are some tips to homeowners for dealing with common household stains. Household stains lie on a continuum between small and serious, but they're always a pain in the neck, and so it's good to know some basic tactics for removing household stains. The following home remedies, of course, are guidelines only and should be used on a test area first!
Dealing with household stains that afflict wood is, perhaps, easier than most of us assume. At least, that's what anyone would conclude after walking through the average used furniture store. Even high end used furniture stores sell wooden coffee tables, and other wooden surface items, that have those annoying coffee rings we all eventually learn to prevent by using coasters.
Thoughtless guests will sometimes afflict you with these, as well. Old coffee rings add character to a table, some maintain; but they are, most definitely, a household stain. Luckily, all it takes to get rid of them is a mixture of equal parts white vinegar and cooking oil. Mix the vinegar and oil together, then wet a corner of a dry rag with the mixture. Wipe the ring, following the grain of the wood, until the stain disappears. That's one household stain gone!
All well and good, you might think -- but what about stains left on stone or marble? Stone and marble are expensive, and incredibly sightly, building materials, and if there's one place you do not want household stains, it's on the loveliest and most expensive surfaces in your home. But there is a little known method for dealing with stone surfaces. Mix flour -- common flour of the kind you probably have unused bags of sitting in your kitchen -- with some of the hydrogen peroxide you have in your medicine cabinet for treating knee scrapes and other abrasions.
Get enough of each to make a sort of thick paste, then apply this paste to the coffee stain, or other stain (whatever it is). Wait twenty four hours. Scrape your now long-dried flour-and-hydrogen-peroxide paste off of the floor, using a putty knife or a dinner knife you don't much care to use again (or another blunt edged thin wedge). When you've removed the dried blob of paste the stain should come right up with it. Household stain number two, all gone!
What about the spilled beer that threatens to mess up the perfectly beautiful upholstery of your couch or armchair? For one thing, try keeping that mess in the kitchen next time. For another, blot up the suds with a paper towel as quickly as possible (but don't press the paper towel against the liquid; simply drop it and let it touch). Then pour out a mixture of half vinegar to half water in a pail. Soak a sponge or washcloth in this mixture and press it against the stain, working it into the entire area of the stain. Use another paper towel to blot up the resulting gooey mess, and then repeat the process with water.
As for carpet stains -- well, these are the kinds of household stains that require a little more knowhow, and a much less heavy handed touch. If you're not careful in cleaning up a carpet stain, you can end up merely pressing the stain further into the carpet materials, and the plethora of stain removal cleaners on the market sometimes rely so much on harsh industrial chemicals that they can do as much damage to your carpet as would simply leaving the stain in place. Luckily, there are a larger number of all natural stain removers on the market today than ever before. Look for a stain remover that uses natural products to achieve its effect to deal with these last and most irritating kinds of household stains.
by: Kara Knapp
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