Wednesday, July 12, 2006


This is my very first "Works for Me Wednesday" and I feel a little special. Thanks, Shannon!

One of my passions in life is removing stains! I get a little giddy just thinking about it, so I thought I would share some tips I have learned.

1. Crayon on the wall- You know, the kind that isn't washable. Take some Crisco shortening, yes, Crisco, and smear a little over the crayon. Rub it off with a dry paper towel. Remove as much as possible with the paper towel. Clean off the Crisco residue with warm water and dishwashing liquid. This really works. The oils in the Crisco bond with the oils in the crayon and it comes off! Make sure you use the shortening, not just cooking oil. Something about the shortening works best.

2. Carpet stains- Soak a light colored towel with water. Lay the towel over the entire stain. Then, on a the hottest setting (no steam), iron over the towel. The heat and water will steam the stain onto the towel. Be sure to test a hidden area of your carpet first. Some carpet colors will actually come off onto the towel. (This is why you use a light colored towel. You can see what is coming up off of the carpet.) Keep rinsing the towel and ironing. Just make sure you don't iron directly onto the carpet!!

3. Favorite products- Mr. Clean Eraser (careful, takes finish off furniture), Bleach, Swiffer wet jet, dishwashing liquid. Dishwashing liquid will get nearly any food stain out of clothes. Learned this from a lot of practice with a child that refused to wear a bib!

Those are just a few tips that have worked for me!

11 comments:

Mama Duck said...

Ah, we used #2 for the bottle of vegetable oil that ointed our carpet a while back. I almost made that my post for this week too, hee hee.

Susanne said...

I'm gonna give that Crisco a try!

Chilihead2 said...

Excellent! Thanks for posting today.

Casey said...

Thanks for the tips. I will be trying the iron tip at my house for sure!

Carol said...

I love the carpet stain idea. I'm all over that!

Gabriela said...

I needed that carpet tip! Thanks for sharing!

Overwhelmed! said...

Great tips! My little one, 18 months, has started to love to color. We're already learning that it's hard to keep his creativity on just paper. I'll keep the Crisco tip in mind!

I posted a WFMW tip as well. Stop by and take a peek. :)

Butterfly Mama said...

Thanks for the great tips. While cleaning the bathroom today I found pen writing on the toilet seat so I'm sure in time I'll need the Crisco tip.
This is my first visit here, great blog.

Shawna said...

Any ideas for black Sharpie on a wall? At last count I had tried 13 products with no luck at all.

Nancy Murphree Davis said...

I didn't know either of these tips, but the lady at this cute little boutique told me that she doesn't dryclean much anymore, but washes on the gentle cycle with one squirt of Ivory dish detergent. The part about removing the Crisco reminded me.

Anonymous said...

Very pretty design! Keep up the good work. Thanks.
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