Oops...she did it again....

So, remember how I told you in my first post that I worked for Mary Kay Cosmetics? Well, if you don't remember, I do. As a result of that, we have a lot of make up and make up "stuff" in our home. And...remember I told you that my daughter, Vaelyn, is very girly? Yup...you get the picture...she gets into "Momma's makeups" quite a bit. But, this time was different....

There are no words. Well, the only words that come to my mind are "lipstick graveyard" and "cream carpet". I can't even describe what it looked like.  I know...you're dreading it already aren't you? You're having flashbacks of some huge mess in your home? Well...this lipstick mural might top them all. Without further ado...here is the pic of "the mess":

I know, right?!?!? You can feel the anger welling up can't ya? Your blood is starting to boil...you're getting your spanking hand or "time out" area ready...oh yes. Mary Kay just came out with some new True Dimensions lipsticks, which are FABULOUS (I have to give a shameless plug in right?!) and the color stays on for a long time and it never dries out. So, you can imagine how irritated I was to represent such a fabulous product when it was now going to be worn for "long periods of time" on my CREAM CARPET!!!! 

All kidding aside, I love Mary Kay and their products are great. Good quality and because they are made of good quality ingredients, they are tough to get out. I did a little bit of research about lipstick and carpet after I calmed down...which, let's be real...I still am not totally over it. In fact, I texted Jeff the picture above and he was scared of me 30 miles away at work! ha! To answer the obvious question, yes my children survived...but there were spanks, timeouts, tears and toys taken away for punishment. After some research, I finally came up with some ideas of how to cut the stain and lift it out. Ready??

This is kinda the fun part. Creating cleaning solutions, especially ones you concoct yourself, is so cool, it's like being a magician...ok, not really...more like a scientist. My chemistry teacher from high school, Dr. Elias, would be proud to know that I really was listening and learning my periodic table while passing notes. :-) And to my parents (who I know are reading this), yes, I passed notes. But ha ha, you can't ground me anymore! For those of you that followed that rabbit trail, I figured that since lipstick has oil in it, "washing" or blotting the stain with water wasn't gonna work. Remember in 2nd grade, the oil/water experiment? Oil and water don't mix. So dish soap was the obvious choice. It's a grease/oil cutter. That was my first ingredient. Now, you're gonna be shocked, but half way through I realized how fortunate I was to have cream carpet...because I could add a tad of bleach to help pull out the rest of the stain. So, dish soap, bleach and I added hydrogen peroxide for lift and a bit of laundry detergent for extra stain fighting power. I will list the entire recipe below. Please please please, don't put this on a HUGE area of carpet in your house until you try it on a small part first. And please don't disregard this warning like you do with other carpet cleaners that you buy at the store. :-)

And...for the end result:

BOOM!!!

By NO MEANS is this perfect...there is still some residual lipstick stains, but I think it worked awesome. Jeff says that now I should be able to laugh about it...but I'm not there yet. The worst part? 3 whole lipsticks wasted!! Rats! 

And for those of you who want to lecture me (like my mother) about "well, you shouldn't leave your stuff out for the kids to play with..." I have two words for you... I. DIDN'T. My kids went upstairs into our master bedroom, into our master bathroom, Vaelyn stood on a stool and got my make up case off the top of the counter. And...the rest is history... 

before

after

 BOOM again!!!!!! I'm SO proud!!!! 

MTAH Carpet Cleaner

- 1 pint hydrogen peroxide

- 1 Tbsp of bleach (OR Borax if you don't have a color carpet that will work with bleach)

- 1/8 C laundry detergent

- 1/8 C grease cutting dish soap

- baking soda for sprinkling 

Mix together, and if it isn't "watery" enough, you may add a bit of hot water to the mixture, just don't put too much water or it will just spread the stain around. 

Blot the stain (for the love people, DO NOT RUB the stain) with a clean cloth. Not a paper towel. Not a wet washrag, a clean, dry cloth. Add some pressure and pull up as much of the stain residue (in my case lipstick) as possible. Then dip another clean cloth into your cleaner and press down on the stain until it starts to lift. Try to clean the stain as soon as possible after it happens so that it doesn't sink into the fibers even more. After most of the stain is lifted, sprinkle the area with baking soda. Let it sit until it's dried and then vacuum up. It helps pull any smell (perfect for pet stains) out and any extra color as well as the moisture so you won't get a mildewy smell. 

Thank you for reading this novel and listening to me whine about my lovely, sweet children destroying my carpet. :-)

Anna