Is scraggy a word? Firefox isn’t flashing me the wiggly red line of doom…
When we moved into this house (the ‘omg mega debt’ house) there were carpets throughout. We made the decision to rip out the carpet in the front room and replace it with cheap vinyl; we did this for two reasons: 1) because the previous owners had a dog and the carpet was thick with dog fluff and 2) because with small children, the idea of scrubbing bodily fluids out of the carpet on a regular basis left me feeling a little nauseous.
Unfortunately we couldn’t afford to replace the carpets house-wide (see above: omg mega debt) so settled for cleaning those upstairs. Except that even borrowing Karl’s mum’s mega expensive Vax didn’t do much for the ancient, crusty carpet in Izzy’s room:
Mega stainage
Ominous stain of unidentified origin
(Clearly I have no shame, sharing these with you…)
So anyway, when I was asked if I wanted some Vanish spray for carpets & upholstery to review I figured I could give it a shot. Worst case scenario I have to do some cleaning (shudder) but best case I get rid of the dodgy stains for free (and free is my favourite price).
Back to the stains… I tried to use the stain removal advice that they’ve got on site (trying to do this properly, right?) but because I am not entirely sure of the origins of the stains I wasn’t sure what to pick (and for the record, I think they’re missing a trick not listing wee / poo / vomit on the guide as that’s what I spend most of my time cleaning up, I swear. ETA: they do! Under ‘body fluids’. Nice.) Enough brackets, where am I? Oh yes, stains.
So I don the rubber gloves and equip myself with the big squirty bottle & at this point I’m feeling all Kim and Aggie but I can’t find any feather boas to stick to my gloves :(
I applied the spray, waited about 1 minute (you’re supposed to wait 5 but I don’t have all day) and gave it a quick scrub:
No more carpet grot, no more ominous stain. Of course now the only problem is that the rest of the carpet is shown up by the clean patch. I’ll just have to make Karl finish it off, and then he can use the coffee stains guide to tackle the old sofa…
14 Nov at 12:48 pm
MAGIC.
14 Nov at 2:44 pm
Coincidentally I’ve just bought some Vanish (the foamy spray one) to clean the carpet (with a decade worth of stains) of what used to be a study and is now being converted into a mini workshop. I hope it works just as well! Luckily the room is only small so any difference won’t be as noticeable as your lounge. :P
14 Nov at 4:32 pm
I’ll have to get some of this. We just went to Asda 2 days ago and hired out a Rug Doctor. We did our muddy front door carpet (the new dog bertie like to do that digging thing on the lawn after peeing/pooing, then he makes paw prints) our bedroom carpet (which is cream, covered in black dog hair from the new dog) and two rugs (of which one is covered in dog wee, thanks to the new dog – I’m noticing a pattern here!) Anyway, Rug Doctor did the trick and I can recommend it. But I’ll certainly get myself some of this Vanish stuff to top up what the Rug Doctor has done – one of the mutts has already made a fresh footprint and so I was thinking of getting something to sort it out.
15 Nov at 12:19 pm
Could you please send your cleaning slave to my place as soon as he is done at yours? I have some serious cleaning up to do and cannot do myself. I would even make you a cuppa while you waited for him to finish. ;)
15 Nov at 8:01 pm
A post on carpet cleaning? Seriously? :S
15 Nov at 8:08 pm
A comment on a post on carpet cleaning? Seriously? :S
15 Nov at 8:53 pm
I came here to also make fun of you for your post on carpets but actually your carpets look amazing so…. good work.
17 Nov at 7:03 am
That’s pretty nifty. I wonder if that would work on my sofa…
18 Nov at 5:31 pm
Why do I feel the need to say that other products for cleaning carpets & upholstery are available.
Good on you for getting a free product that appears to have done the job.
29 Nov at 12:02 pm
Wowzers! How much is this spray and how many bottles for each room would you recommend?