My daughter spilled cherry koolaide on my off-white carpet. Of course the glass was full, so there is a huge stain. I've tried Resolve carpet cleaner, OxiClean and Rug Doctor steam clean solution. Do you have any suggestions besides putting something over it to hide it? Are there any websites that give household tips for this kind of thing?

-- Jo (mamamia2kids@msn.com), October 13, 2001

Answers

Not too many ideas on the stain, but have you tried peroxide? I have heard it works on many things. Seems like you have nothing to lose by trying! Try a search for Heloise. I read her in my newspaper and I know she has a website. Hope this helps. Thanks for posting.

-- Melissa (cmnorris@1st.net), October 13, 2001.

The Heloise site is www.Heloise.com

-- Melissa (me@home.net), October 13, 2001.

I have gotten a horrible, large red koolaid stain out of a carpet. IT takes ELBOW grease and patience (about 50 tries)!

Mix club soda, a little green palmolive dish soap and vinegar (like two cups warm water, two tblsp palmolive, 1/3 cup white vinegar. Apply mixture to carpet with a clean rag and immediately put a clean DRY rag on the stain and sponge the heck out of the stain ( I stand with all my weight on the stain to squeeze out the stain and keep repeating until I don't get any liquid absorbed).

Do this repeatedly over a week taking care not to soak the undercarpet (will be a never ending mold problem). Aim a fan on the spot to dry over the course of getting out the stain.

I would have never believed that it could be done. The person that told me this had worked in a dry cleaners and swore by this mixture. I use it on everything now.

LAST RESORT: You could try the Cascade dry dishwasher soap and ??? mixture. I saw amazing results once on a mouldy white stroller that was mostly black with mold!

Perhaps someone knows the concoction. That is a last resort that you could try on an extra piece of carpet to see what it does.

This is why it is always good to keep carpet remnants when you get it installed!

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), October 13, 2001.

Girl this is exactly why I stopped buying kool aid about 2 years ago, tired of seeing it on the walls, floors, fridge etc. we don't allow, eating or drinking anywhere except the kitchen, but still they spilled it, or threw it evidently from the looks of things. No more red beverages!

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), October 13, 2001.

There is only one solution to this problem. Get a Kirby with all the attachements including the shampooer. Fill the shampoo cannister with cleaning solution and add 1 package of Kool-aid. Shampoo the carpet until the stain is no longer visible.

I had a white wool carpet once. Now it is a beautiful shade of claret.

-- Just Duckie (Duck@spazmail.com), October 14, 2001.

Just Duckie: I laughed out loud at your answer. I truly never thought of that one!!! I hope you will be sticking around, sometimes I really need a laugh.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), October 14, 2001.

This happened to us exept it was hubby that spilled the koolaid. This is how I got it out. First I blotted it up as much as possible-don't rub. I worked shaving cream(the aerosol kind) into it with my fingers and kept blotting it with clean dry cloths over and over until it came out completely. Then I blotted it with wet clean cloths.

-- Ardie from WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), October 15, 2001.

Ardie makes a good point that I should have stressed--the way to get carpet stains out is BLOTTING--not scrubbing, as would happen either by hand with a brush or a commercial carpet cleaner.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), October 16, 2001.

The best way I have found to take await the koolaid stain is to take some warm water and liquid dishwashing Soap. (I used Cascade Rinse Aid made for Dishwashers.) First Blott out as much of the koolaid as possible, then use the warm water to soak up some more. I then gently drissle the detergent over a portion of the stain and irrate the stain and continued until the stain is gone. Afterward, take a fan and place it facing the wet area and in a few hours is it like the accident never happened.

-- Sandra Phipott (jake_76@yahoo.com), August 28, 2002.