Saturday, January 28, 2012

Vaseline Report

I wanted to let you know the final results of my foray into Vaseline expulsion from the other night.  I have rarely demonstrated such diligence into any particular effort. Time is too precious at this point.

My efforts at removing 2 oz of Vaseline from my beautiful microfiber duvet were...successful 100%.  I didn't even want to open my eyes to do the final inspection after all efforts were exhausted. I did a final wash in the washing machine and let it dry on the line but once it was dry, I peeked at it through squinted eyes to see what I was left with. Because at that point, I would be left with whatever was there. I had no more ideas, no more effort.

This is what I tried and I do NOT know what was successful exactly but that the entire combination eventually did the trick. I'm putting this out there for posterity and the desperation of some random woman out there who wants to save her prized ... whatever it may be after her toddler discovered Vaseline.  Vaseline....  it's viscosity must be that one temptation that can not be overcome by any amount of toddler will power. I speak from experience (two toddlers who have stuck pudgy hands down deep into pots of the stuff).

I.......
1) cried.
2) washed with Tide & OxyClean on hot (do not dry)
3) scrape all remaining Vaseline off with a butter knife
4) dab vigorously with alcohol
5) spray hydrogen peroxide generously and lightly scrub
6) spray all spots with WD40, let sit for 18 hours (less is probably fine - I just didn't get back to it before then)

At this point I was highly alarmed at the "stain" that the WD40 left and thought I'd have a new disaster to deal with  so I...

7) doused the whole stain with dish soap, plunged it into a bathtub of hot water and scrubbed like a woman from 1870.
8) let sit in the hot water until the hot water wasn't hot anymore
9) threw it all into the washing machine AGAIN and washed for a normal cycle on hot with Tide and Oxyclean.
10) Line dried

I think it looked better than it did before.  Whew!  I think that Vaseline will forever be on the list of items not allowed in this house ever again upon risk of hanging.  I'm serious.

1 backward glances:

Rachel said...

Isn't it sad but true. Those precious moments when we are happy that our children are entertaining themselves suddenly becomes hours of extra work and agony on our part. Charley and her other 3 year cousin gave their 1 year old cousin a terrible haircut on Friday. Her father is NOT happy with the two adult women-babysitters that allowed such a thing to happen, where was the adult supervision he cried? Um, we were enjoying a little quiet time :)