Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The Tip of a Lifetime: Blood Removal From White Carpet!

hfgf

We have been sick.
All of us.
Which equals severe sleep deprivation (mostly for mom).
On top of that, we just arrived home to the Mile High City, which means we have to acclimate again to the dry air. I don't know why, but when you first get here, you will be shocked by everything you touch - even the water, and I'm not kidding! In fact your fingers can get sore from all the shocks... but that's a rabbit trail. Sorry!

The dry air caused Clayton's nose to bleed last night. I believe it had been running down his throat for a while before he woke up (gross!), but I had taken NyQuil before bed so I would sleep like a rock, and that's precisely what I did!
I could not gt even one eyelid open when he tried to wake me, so I resorted to the the unthinkable - I woke dad.

Dad took care of everything. Did I mention that He's my hero?

However... morning's light revealed about sixty drops of blood all over the white carpet in our bedroom.
Now there are two things I want to say here:

1) The color of the carpet may be Taupe, it may be Grey, you can call it what you want, but when there's blood on it, it's WHITE.

And...
2) I did not choose the carpet in this house!

To carry on with my story, I Googled "how to remove blood from carpet" this morning, and this is the first thing that came up:



get gasoline and pour on stain.
Leave to set for 30min.
Add half a teaspoon of gunpowder
Stir slow and firm.
Light match, drop match onto spot.
run

roadrunner4

Very funny.

I laughed a lot, but I was scared after reading this. I figured I was in for a doozy of a workout!
I read on though, and it turns out that there are as many different ways to clean blood out of a carpet as there are people.
So... I know you are dying to know what worked (this will be a keeper for you Mrs. Smith and Faith!)

Here it is:

Hydrogen peroxide.

I t was the first item I tried because I had it handy in my home.
I poured a small amount onto the blood, and it foams up where the blood is (as if you couldn't see it already).
After that, use a cloth (cold damp, or dry) to blot (so it says ) I actually resorted to rubbing because there were 60 DROPS OF IT PEOPLE - I would have been there for hours!
And because it worked on the first one I tried:-)

So there you have it. I think this tip is a keeper - no matter how many children you have, but especially if any of them are boys! ;-)

8 comments:

Courtney said...

Thank you for the very useful tip:)
I have to admit the first directions had me in stitches - great mental picture. Love you, Courtney aka Mrs. Smith

Lady Jess said...

Very cool! I just might have to use that one of these days! lol

Anonymous said...

If that hadn't been the answer, that would have been my suggestion. We learned the "trick" when our third was in the hospital after her near fatal accident. It works on carpet, clothing, blankets, stuffed animals, you name it. Just don't use too much at once or it can have a bleaching effect.

That static electricity can be a real pain after awhile. I once had one that arced about 6 inches from me to a friend. A humidifier will do wonders to help the static *and* the bloody noses.

Praying for your health and resettling in CO and missing you up here in the great white north!

Diane said...

When you mentioned that on the phone, I was thinking "Hydrogen Peroxide"! I was at my dad's for Thanksgiving a few years back and he cut his finger open on a broken plate. He went into "shock mode" and went running through the house - dripping blood all over the - Yes - WHITE carpet!

I too googled "how to get blood out of white carpet" And I found the hydrogen peroxide trick. It does work wonders, doesn't it?

I enjoyed talking tonight. You are a blessing, my friend.
LOVE you!

Momma Bug said...

Yes, that first tip had me rolling, because I was half-way through reading it before I realized I was being had!

As to the rest of you... I can't believe my tip of a lifetime was so common!
And WHERE WERE YOU YESTERDAY?!

That being said, I could just blog about my mishaps and ask how to fix them before googgleing them! ;-)

Thanks a lot!

Unknown said...

I am so happy that we don't get nose bleeds. Because, as I understand it, there is blood involved. Yikes! I did, however, know about the Hydrogen Peroxide. My hubby used to work in the operating room. Funny match, eh? Somebody has to be able to handle the stuff, huh?

RavenM said...

Very good to know. I have two who get nosebleeds once in a while-- Papa and Joshua. We don't have carpet at home I am happy to say, but it's good to know all the same :)

I just read about using the same for clothes, stuffed animals etc... very usefull :-)

Sorry to hear you're all sick. Taking the sleep deprivation from having two sick kidlets at once and tripling it--yikes! Hope you get some sleep soon...

Alterton Scottish Terriers said...

Awww Analene, too bad I've been away from the keyboard for a while ... that actually was one of the most valuable tips I took away from my years in the ER. Can't tell you how often a few minutes with a cotton ball and peroxide saved a set of scrubs for the end of a shift. And yes, it does work beautifully with a bunch of children running around. As long as you don't mind the funny white marks left on your fingers for a while. :)