by Dawn Smith-Pfeifer
Have you ever tried to do too many things at once? That's pretty much my middle name! Case in point: A while back, I was trying to take a newspaper out of a plastic bag, carry a coffee pot with yesterday's coffee still in it, as well as the filter basket that had to be rinsed out because there were still a few coffee grounds in it.
All while walking.
Consequently, something had to give, and it was the coffee in the pot.
I finished taking the newspaper out of the plastic bag and only then realized the coffee pot I was carrying had been emptying its contents on the floor. Correction: On the CARPETED floor.
It was a coffee trail worthy of a few cuss words. Which I emitted.
After attempting to clean the coffee trail with carpet cleaner two (or maybe three, I forget) times, I decided to slather it with dish detergent and let it sit overnight. The morning light revealed that didn't work so well either.
A friend told me baking soda might do the trick. So, I pulled out the baking soda, mixed it with water to make a paste and worked it into the stains with my fingers. Then, I let it dry for a couple of hours. I'm here to tell you that if you have a problem, baking soda is the answer!
I mean, have you ever looked at the box? It's an antacid! It freshens your refrigerator! It scrubs away stains and grease on pots and pans, sinks, counters, etc.
AND....
It cleans coffee stains on carpets.
Seriously.
I'm here to tell you that baking soda and water is BY FAR a better carpet cleaner than carpet cleaner. It was amazing to see how the baking soda was pulling the coffee from the carpet fibers, just like a wick or something. And I didn't have to scrub and scrub.
I just rubbed the dried paste with my fingers to loosen it a little and vacuumed. I was amazed at how much better the carpet looked. The stain was about 79% gone. Not being satisfied with 79%, however, I repeated the aforementioned procedure.
Ahhhh. The wonders of good old sodium bicarbonate.
I'm going to keep it handy in my home and at work, from now on. Because, even though I will TRY not to do several things at once, I'm also a certifiable klutz. You never know when I will leave another coffee trail on a carpet.
Coffee trail on a carpet. Sounds like a good name for a rock band!
Dawn is the NDFB Content and Communications Director and like her coffee as well!