my people

What is it with the people in my family? They are either natural-born wife and mother torturers or honest-to-goodness klutzes!

First, it was Marissa with the nail polish.

Now, it’s Dave with the red wine!

A few weeks ago, when I came home from Rancho la Puerta, Dave picked me up from the airport. On the drive home, he said, “Oh, I have to tell you, I had a little accident.”

In other words, “Welcome Home!”

The glass of red wine he spilled was next to the bed. It “somehow” fell off the nightstand.

I immediately asked, “What did you do to it, so far?”  Luckily, all he’d done was blot the hell out of it. Unluckily, by the time I got to it, it was completely dry.

There are a variety of remedies for red wine on carpets. All are for when the spill is new … and wet. You can use white wine to remove red wine, salt, baking soda, vinegar, or club soda. But all the remedies I found said something like this:

“There are several methods for removing red wine stains that work well, see which one works well for you. Just remember, whatever you do, don’t let the spill sit for long before taking action, the longer it sits the more difficult it will be to lift the stain from your carpet”

Great! Oh well, what could I do? This wine was dry as a bone, so I just let it be and ignored it for … two and a half weeks. I’d walk by it several times a day and feel defeated.

Dave was out-of-town for the last five days, so I decided it was time to tackle the stain. I figured I’d get after it day after day until it was gone. I thought if I was able to take up a little more each day, letting the carpet dry between, that would be the best solution.

Plus, with Dave away, it could dry without being trampled on and I’d be less mad each night since I wouldn’t see his face.

Just as I did with the nail polish, I used rubbing alcohol. I’d saturate a cotton ball and rub it back and forth and then in circles. I was pretty discouraged after the first attempt! Good thing Dave didn’t come home from work that night!

But, I kept at it…

… day after day.

This is the current state of affairs.

I’ll continue until it is invisible. At least I won’t be seething when I pick up Dave at the airport tomorrow night!

My advice? Drink red wine in non-carpeted areas and drink white wine over the carpet. Or vodka, or gin, or tequila…