Before:
After:
I wish I'd gotten a picture of the actual mess, but I was too ANGRY!!! Thomas had Vaseline in huge goopy globs all over his head and face, Zaylee had it all over in her hair, their clothes were coated, there were globs on the wall, on the carpet. Okay, there are still globs on the wall and carpet, because I don't know how to get rid of them, and their clothes are still all goopy, just sitting in a pile next to the laundry. And in case you didn't notice from the picture, Zaylee's hair is still coated in Vaseline, even after giving her a bath and a good hair-scrubbing. Thomas' hair isn't so bad. It's still greasy, but it's so short it doesn't really matter. I cut Zaylee's hair off to make it so there's less of it to wash when I figure out how to get the stuff out of her hair! I cut off a good five or six inches! There go her cute little curly pigtails. Sigh.
So how do I clean this stuff up?
5 comments:
Okay, called your house and got the machine so I'll try later, but for everyone's benefit... here's my novel.
First, scrape off as much of the loose gunk as you can get. For the clothes: Get your water as hot a stream as you can, and turn the stain so it is facing the sink and the water hits it from behind. Rinse the biggest stains out this way, it will help melt out a little of the grease solids. Then get out your dishsoap, I have found that Dawn is the best for this kind of job. Saturate each stain with the Dawn, full strength. Rub in well. Let sit for a good while. Then I like to fill my kitchen sink with HOT water and put a good dollop of Dawn in, then put the clothes in and let them soak in the soapy water until the water cools. Rinse them off well in more hot water to flush more of the grease solids down the drain. When you wash at Mom's wash them seperately from your other batches of clothes if you can to avoid grease spots on anything else, in hot water. This should take care of most of the grease spotting. There may be a little left. More Dawn and hot water can usually take care of it.
My friend uses a product called Murphy's Oil Soap for getting grease out of her husband's coveralls. Her folks owned a laundrette and used it to get grease out of mechanic's stuff. I haven't tried it but she swears by the stuff.
For the carpets, again, scrape off as much as you can and scrub several times with sudsy Dawn water, and rinse several times with hot water. Between scrubbings, blot up as much as you can with a large towel so you can see what grease is left.
Dawn will also work to get it out of kids hair. It won't hurt them at all, in fact, Dawn is what they use to clean up penguins and birds after oil spills and stuff. Just watch their eyes, and use plenty of warm water.
I know this is all alot of work, but unfortunately that is the only way this stuff is going to come off. Trust me. My kids like grease: Vaseline, sewing machine oil, A&D ointiment (that stuff has lanolin and is viscious to get out of carpet). You just gotta grit your teeth and scrub. I'll call later, you can talk to me while you scrub!
Oh, my!!!! But, if it helps any, Zaylee looked ADORABLE!!!! :))
It is amazing what dish detergent can do! It has helped me get out a lot of stains on clothes as well.
Ooh...what a mess. So sorry! I hope you're able to get it all, or at least most of it, out.
I loved the story on your previous post. Some days I feel like doing that too.
YIKES!! Thank heavens Michelle is just a bundle of info and knows all this stuff! I had no advice to share--just sympathy! :)
Wow. That is rather a stunning mess. Ditto to Rachel's comment! I had to work Desitin out of carpet and clothes once, but that was when Kellen was 2; I don't even remember what we did! On the plus side, Zaylee's hair looks so cute with the short curls all around her face. And if you/she really prefer it long, at least you know it will grow back :)
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