Whilst walking haphazardly through my lounge at 3.30am on Saturday morning last – after a particularly long and heavy rugby girls night out – I went completely arse over tit, falling backwards over my coffee table. Normally, this would be comedy value but on this occasion I was unlucky enough to be carrying a plate laden with turmeric laced curry. Not good.
The foodstuff landed in a massively spread pile on my beige carpet so in a completely drunken state I attempted to scrape it up with a spoon, then went to bed. The morning dawned, and so did my realisation that I had seriously stained said carpet which now had orange goo all over a big patch of it, just in front of a sofa.
After a bit of t’internet research I tried a diluted solution of lemon juice and warm water, patiently dabbing away whilst downing pints of squash and paracetamol. No go – the goo wouldn’t budge, the colour was still distinctly orange.
Rather than go to the supermarket with a raging hangover, in my dazed state I opted to give Barkeeper’s friend a go. I use this for general surface cleaning and decided a paste of it, spread over the offending area, may do the job. I also noted that I was prepared to buy a rug if it didn’t work.
Luckily, a few mins later, the paste was dabbed off to reveal – beige!! OK, there’s a few darker bits still but it’s oatmeal carpet really so it’s blended in ok. Sigh of relief, threat of angry other half diminished, rug buying trip deferred.
Nowhere on the internet forums I looked on was this particular remedy recommended – cue me feeling like a household stain removal trailblazer! I’m off to order tonnes of the stuff now – got another few dinner parties coming up where similar misfortune could occur…
I had a similar problem at a party that we held over Christmas. A full glass of red wine over a cream carpet (cleverly knocked by a friend so it covered one corner to another).
And I can announce that 1001 removed practically all trace!
The white wine that I had poured over it at the time had barely touched it.