Home care: Say goodbye to stains

As anyone with small children will tell you, marks and stains are inevitable when there are little ones around, gleefully discovering the world on their toy cars or reaching for the colouring pens and paints. Mums and dads are used to finding chewing gum on the carpet, stickers on the furniture and works of art on the wallpaper. The following cleaning tips will make removing stains and other drawing marks child’s play.
TIP 1
Children love to let their creativity run wild. Once the colouring pencils are out, the walls are no longer safe from budding young Picassos. Parents can remove the works of art without much effort using a wall eraser. Its special fibres rub the surface and erase the colours. And it is not just walls that they can clean: the black marks left on floors by the plastic wheels of toy cars can also be removed using the eraser. For larger marks, it is best to use a steam cleaner. This will also remove the remaining dirt on the floor.
TIP 2
There are some things that parents become accustomed to; chewing gum on the carpet or on clothing is one of the less appealing prospects. But it can be removed quickly by applying something cold. If the tenacious mass lands on the carpet, put some ice cubes into a sealable freezer bag and place on the chewing gum. When it has become frozen and brittle, break it up into individual pieces using a blunt knife and remove. Stubborn residue left in the fibres can be removed using a fine-toothed comb. Likewise, put trousers and jumpers straight into the freezer, then separate the chewing gum out.
TIP 3
With children in the house, glass surfaces have to be cleaned more often. Small children frequently leave handprints and fingerprints on the glass panes of terrace or balcony doors. Unsightly streaks and marks can be removed every so often from the glass doors using a window vac, without much effort or preparation. Simply spray on the detergent, remove the dirt using the microfibre cloth and suction the moisture with the window vac. Buckets and squeegees can be left in the cleaning cupboard.
TIP 4
Children love stickers, and love to stick them all over the house. If they remain on surfaces for a long time, it may become difficult or even impossible to remove them by hand. When it comes to removing stickers, there are various household agents to choose from, in this order: heat, water, cooking oil, alcohol. Every method should be tested in advance on a hidden patch to make sure that the material is not discoloured or damaged. Start with a hair dryer. If a sticker does not come off by heating, try using hot water and a sponge. If a sticker does not come off, a few drops of light cooking oil and cotton cloth can help. White spirit or alcohol should be used only as a last resort, as they can attach surfaces.
TIP 5
The glitter fairy has been out and about during arts and crafts, leaving glitter not only on pictures but all over the room. If you do not manage to remove the stubborn particles in the first round of vacuuming, try using packing tape. Wrap the tape around the palm of your hand, with the sticky side facing outwards, move over the affected areas. If you have a lint roller at home, use this. Now that the carpet is clean, nothing stands in the way of the glitter fairy’s next visit.