IN. MY. BED.
ON. MY. FACE.
Commence 25 minutes of heebie jeebies and shudders and flinging covers and sheets back to make sure there wasn't a big ol' mama spider and her herd of baby spiders doing a jig on my pillows. I mean, you can't be too sure, right?
It's probably a good thing my husband was out of town that night for work, because I don't think he would have taken well to my banshee ninja moves and screeches. I am happy to report though, no other spiders were found.
Ok, so what does all this have to do with carpet cleaner? Honestly? Nothing. HA. But come on, how do you segue into carpet cleaning?
In any event, this is a phenomenal little secret recipe I stumbled across. A few weeks ago, my 14 month old was eating one of those fruit squeezy pack thingies. No, that is not the technical term.
Enter Exhibit A:
Enter Exhibit B:
Enter Exhibit C:
So there, I was - feeling dismayed over this spot on my carpet - if you can even call it a "SPOT". It was big. And arching. Like a baby food puree rainbow. I was not impressed. Don't let that boy's cute face sway you. It was all his doing. I mean, sure, I lost my mind for a moment and thought it was a good idea to let him walk around with a squeezy packet of baby food but - I mean - I can hardly be held responsible. IT'S NOT LIKE I SQUEEZED THE PACKET FOR HIM. (Though if I would have, I probably could have avoided this...)
I am pretty freaky about chemicals in the house. I am kind of a nut about it really. It drives my husband crazy because he wants all our household cleaners to be labled 'TOXIC' or 'MAY BURN YOUR FACE OFF' and I'm all, let's buy cleaners that say 'CAN ALSO BE USED AS A BEVERAGE' or 'ANIMALS LOVE US' However this is one area where I win out. And so we have a cabinet full of earth friendly, baby friendly, lungs friendly cleaners. But y'all. When it comes to the carpet there doesn't seem to be many products that don't have a skull and crossbones on the front. And I NEEDED to get this stain out, so I put Beckett down for a nap, put on my gas mask and gloves and got to work. I scrubbed and scrubbed. I waited. I vacuumed. I did it again. And again. In fact, that picture above is actually after several applications of highly toxic and chemical filled carpet cleaner.
So I finally got smart and remembered I had seen a pin on Pinterest for a natural carpet cleaner using products from your cabinets. Enter this fun instructional blog post, from ElizabethBryant.blogspot.com
She uses baking soda, hot water, white vinegar and clear dish soap to remove OIL stains from her carpet. I figured if this magical concoction could remove oil, surely it must remove baby food.
So I gave it a go. Here it is after one application:
Can I be honest and tell you that my dramatic side almost got the best of me here? After rolling around on the floor wailing, "Noooo, nooooo" I realized that perhaps I should try one more application and see if that removed the stain in its entirety. And I'm happy to report that it is GONE!
Moral of the story? Don't let spiders crawl on your face. Don't let babies eat squeezy packs in the living room. And MAKE YOUR OWN CARPET CLEANER.
Truth.
Make sure to check out Elizabeth's post for her step by step instructions! You're welcome.
