This is my most favorite time of the year. The colors outside are just beautiful here in the Northeast. You have reds, oranges, browns, yellow, when you combine those with a deep blue sky. Wow! is all I can say. The fall season along with the colorful trees, you have color from pumpkins, gourds and apples.

What got me motivated to write this weeks blog, is a client of mine is a teacher and she had a pumpkin sitting on her carpet inside. Without putting anything under the pumpkin, she noticed that fruit flies where gathering around it. That motivated her to take the pumpkin outside. When she lifted up the large pumpkin she got mad that it left a mold stain where it was sitting. This happened the morning I was arriving to clean her house. My first reaction when I saw the stain was vinegar. I poured pure white vinegar on it right from the bottle and let it sit for a while. I blotted the stained area a few times with a clean towel and it started removing the stain just a bit. I blotted the stain until it was dry. I didn’t have time to continue to work on it.

I began coaching my client through emails on how to remove the stain from her carpet. Below are some solutions that I came up for her. Haven’t heard yet if any of them have worked. The difficultly is this carpet is sisal that is a natural fiber but it is like working with braided rope.

Instructions

Medium bristle brush or toothbrush

3 percent hydrogen peroxide

Spray bottle

Clean cloth

Baking soda

1. Brush  dried mold that may still be present with a medium-bristle brush to lift it.



2. Vacuum up the residual mold; be sure to dispose of the bag or empty the canister and get the mold out of your home as soon as possible.



3. Mix one part 3 percent hydrogen peroxide with three parts water in a spray bottle.



4. Saturate the stained area with the solution.



5. Allow the area to dry and saturate it a second time.



6. Allow the area to soak for 15 minutes before scrubbing with a  medium bristle brush or tooth brush and blot with a clean cloth or sponge to remove the stain.



7. Cover the area with baking soda and allow it to sit overnight.



8. Vacuum the area in the morning to get rid of the baking soda and fluff the pile of the carpet back up.



Tips & Warnings

You might need to saturate, soak and scrub the area several times to get rid of the stain.

Instructions

Medium bristle brush or toothbrush

Detergent Solution (I use Dawn)

Vinegar

Spray bottle

Clean cloth

1. Detergent Solution – Mix one fourth (1/4) teaspoon of a liquid dishwashing detergent per one (1) cup of lukewarm water. NEVER USE A STRONGER CONCENTRATION! Thorough rinsing is necessary to remove detergent residues that may cause rapid soiling. It may be necessary to rinse with warm water several times to completely remove residues. (See Residue Precautions.) Care should be used in selecting a detergent. Never use a laundry detergent of any type, because laundry detergents may contain optical brighteners (flourescent dyes) that dye the fiber. Do not select an automatic dishwashing detergent because many contain bleaching agents that destroy dyes and some fibers.

2. Vinegar Solution – Mix one (1) cup of white vinegar per two (2) cups of water. White vinegar is a 5% acetic acid solution. It is used most often to lower the alkalinity caused by detergent solutions or alkaline spills.

3. Warm Water – Lukewarm tap water should be used in most cases to rinse the cleaning solutions from the fiber. Failure to completely rinse the solutions from the fiber may cause accelerated soiling.

   
   
   

   ” Happy Cleaning “