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How to Clean Glitter, Red Wine, Vomit, and More From Your New Years Bash

How to Clean Glitter, Red Wine, Vomit, and More From Your New Years Bash

The ball has dropped, and your guests have all gone home, but their stains remain!

Fear not, as we’re here to help you start the New Year off fresh with no goopy ghosts of holidays past! Here are the tricks the pros used to turn back the clock on the worst holiday cleaning mishaps.

1. Clean up confetti and glitter

 

Noisemakers and confetti full of glitter are exhilarating when sounded joyously at midnight, but are downright depressing when faced the following morning.

The good news is that it’s not nearly as hard as you think to get things back in order once you have the right tools. The key is to keep everything dry for as long as possible, so the fine particles don’t stick.

First, use your vacuum to suction away as much glitter or confetti as possible, ideally using an upholstery brush or horsehair floor brush attachment to flick up any stubborn bit.

Next, roll a washable lint roller over all the sparkle-coated areas and watch them cling to the roll with ease. Finally, lightly dampen a plush microfiber towel to wipe up all the stubborn bits that remain. The plush cut pile microfiber is the best for holding onto fine particles like glitter.

2. Remove red wine from couches and dresses

 

Even the most sophisticated New Year soiree rarely ends without at least a few sips of wine and cocktails being spilled.

Unfortunately, staining beverages are usually magnetically attracted to the lightest fabrics in your home, especially expensive new couches and dresses.

The key to all fabric stains, on furniture or clothes, is to keep things cold until the stain is out, as heat from hot water and the dryer actually helps set stains.  

First, blot up as much of the beverage as possible right away with a microfiber towel and resist the urge to scrub, as this also drives stains into the fibers. If you’re in the middle of the party and can’t clean, dab the stain with club soda, as the minerals in the soda are actually stain fighters.  

Once the guests have gone home, break out your OxiClean and get to work. OxiClean turns into hydrogen peroxide when mixed with water and whitens the stains.

A bottle of hydrogen peroxide will do in a pinch, but it will be weaker than the Oxi because hydrogen peroxide is unstable and loses potency once the bottle is opened versus Oxi where the peroxide is always freshly made. If a particularly stubborn stain remains, Carbona #8 for Wine & Coffee will often succeed where all other stain fighters have failed, as it is formulated to remove the tannins others miss.

3. Remove vomit from carpet

Champagne doesn’t always bring out the best in people, sometimes it even brings out dinner!

If your guests overdid it at your Ball Drop Bash, don’t worry, as Odoban and Tide Hygienic Clean are here to help your home enter the new year smelling like a rose (or lavender, the scent is up to you)!

Odoban not only removes the smell, it kills the germs that are causing the stink in the first place.

All Tide formulas will work, but Tide Hygienic Clean was specially designed to break up organic deposits deep in fabric fibers, making it perfect for stinky vomit.  

If you have carpet shampoo and pet stain fighters on hand, they’ll be even easier because carpet products are formulated to be less foamy. But we’re telling you how to fix it with Tide because no one wants to make an extra trip out to the store hungover from hosting a party!

First, scoop up the rough stuff with some paper towels. Next, mix up a bowl of warm water and drizzle of Tide, grab a microfiber towel, and plunge it into the water, then wring it out. Scrub the offending area till it’s visibly clean, and blot dry with a towel (step on them to force water out of the padding).

Then mix up a bowl of Odoban (follow manufacturer instructions) and blot it onto the area and let it sit at least 20 minutes before drying the area again with more towels.

Finally, run a fan in the room till the stain air dries, leaving it fresh as a daisy (carpet padding holds onto water, so run the fan longer than you think).

4. Tackle tracked-in ice melt

Whether you spent your New Years in the snow-covered mountains of Vermont or the palm tree-lined streets of California, chances are you’ll have at least a few icy nights to contend with before the winter is over (just ask Florida).  

With cold comes ice, with ice comes ice melt and salt, and with salt comes ruined floors. Ice melt and salt eats away at floor finishes and sealants, so it’s an unsightly problem you can’t ignore.

Even if you ask your party guests to wipe their shoes, the front entry of the house is often a salty mess by the end of any winter party. Salt is stubborn and can’t just be washed off with normal floor soap.

If floor salt is a rare issue for you, no need to buy a special product, as vinegar can make a mild acid solution to dissolve the salt deposits (½ cup per gallon).

If your salt stains are built up or happen frequently, grab a bottle of salt remover, as it will make the job so much easier.

Whether you use vinegar or a salt remover, be sure to rinse and dry the floors well, as vinegar and remover aren’t great for your floors either if you let them sit too long.

Don’t forget to use a premium quality microfiber mop, as the more microfiber in the pad, the fewer passes you’ll take to lift up the mess.

5. Solve spotty stemware and champagne flutes

 

Whether you hand-wash every glass lovingly or toss them all in the dishwasher, spotty stemware can strike anyone, especially if they live in an area with hard water.  

The good news is that everyone can have sparkling stemware as long as they use the right products and tools, no matter where they live or how they choose to clean them.  

If you’re too busy to handwash, any dishwasher can tackle spots with a squirt of Finish in the Rinse Aid compartment (yes, rinse-aids really do make a huge difference, it’s not a scam).  

If you have hard water, Finish Hard Water Booster will vanquish even the toughest mineral film (yes, it’s a different formula from the same company, and you need both).

If you are in a hard water area and in the market for a new dishwasher, some premium models even come with a water softener built in (just don’t forget to add the dishwasher salt)!

If you are the dishwasher in your home, fear not, because all you need for sparkling stemware is normal dish soap and some microfiber glass cloths. Microfiber dries your stemware perfectly before those unsightly spots have a chance to form. If you’ve already been a neglectful dryer and the spots have formed, a little vinegar and a magic eraser will make those spots sparkle in no time!

Deep Clean Hard Floors, Effortlessly.


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