The tarp was supposed to protect our new carpet. But when my husband, Dan, yanked it back, there, soaked into the beige textured shag, lay a dark Frisbee-sized splotch in the shape of Ohio. The splotch was from the cherry wood stain Dan had applied to some nearby wood trim.
Experience had taught me not to panic, though I did employ the deep breathing technique I learned in childbirth class.
What is it about new carpet that begs for a stain, like a new car going out of its way for its first door ding?
“I know a number,” I eventually said, and started dialing. Soon a carpet expert was talking me through how to remove oil-based stain from carpet. I wrote down the instructions, and handed them to Dan.
“How did you know who to call?” he asked. I shrugged. A woman has to keep some of her mystery. Truth was, I’d discovered this hotline years ago during another carpet catastrophe, an incident I never told him about.
See, there was this dog. Against his better judgment, Dan had promised the girls and me that we could get a dog when we moved into our last new home. We wasted no time finding our new love at the shelter. We rescued him and brought him to our new home a few hours before the movers arrived, and just 12 hours after the carpet installers had left. Next day our dearly adopted French sheepdog chose the middle of the living room to test our commitment.
Dan has many fine qualities, but animal lover isn’t one. That first morning in our new home, I walked down the staircase overlooking the living room and saw two paper-plate-sized mounds of wet dog excrement – one from each end – soaking into the new carpet. The dog looked nervous and guilty.
I glanced upstairs to see Dan knotting his tie and did what any woman who wanted to save both an animal and a marriage would do. I scooped what I could into a bowl, threw open the windows, and placed a large area rug over the offending patches – just as Dan came downstairs. Then I packed him off to work, and spent the next hour making desperate housewife calls.
The carpet installers told me about 800-4DUPONT, a number I’ve since tattooed on my left instep. At this Stainmaster crisis line, experts give remedies to remove just about any stain you can imagine and some you can’t. (You can also get the scoop at stainmaster.com.) I got a recipe and repeated it three times. Alas, the stains were still bad and spreading.
Next the neighborhood fix-it man came with his heavy-duty shop vacuum. He shook his head and called his buddy who owned a carpet cleaning service. The buddy was soon on scene. Then, a miracle. One chemical compound and one heavy-duty suction device saved a carpet, a dog, a marriage.
Which was why I kept my cool in the face of this new stain crisis. Dan thought my composure was so unusual that he kept pulling back my eyelids to check my pupils. We set to work applying mineral spirits to remove the stain. And, once again, a miracle.
Marni Jameson is a nationally syndicated columnist who lives in the Denver area. You may contact her through marnijameson.com.
Carpet-saving tips
Because I really want my new carpet to last, I asked Ryan Hughes, territory manager for Shaw Industries, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, for other ways to increase my new carpet’s mileage:
Put a doormat outside every exterior door, and an area rug inside.
Vacuum. A vacuum is a carpet’s best friend; the more you vacuum, the longer your carpet will last.
Wipe your feet. Or, you can remove your shoes before coming inside. But don’t go barefoot on your carpet. Over time, foot oils can be worse than dirty shoes.
Invest in a good pad.
Treat stains when fresh. The longer they sit, the greater chance they’ll penetrate the fibers. New carpet cleans better than old carpet.
Scoop up anything solid. Blot liquids with a clean towel. For basic stains, mix ¼ tsp. dishwashing detergent with one cup warm water. Wet the spot. Let sit five minutes, then blot more. Repeat. If this doesn’t work, call a pro – fast.
Always blot. Never rub. Rubbing carpet can permanently damage yarn.
Save scraps from installation. If your best stain-lifting methods fail, a good installer can make a patch from a large square of carpet and save the carpet, and perhaps a relationship.
