American child psychologist James Dobson once described a typical scenario that many parents have encountered: you come into the bedroom and find a lipstick-covered toddler smelling of Chanel No. 5 smiling beatifically at you, surrounded by a chaos of smeared foundation, mascara, talcum powder and moisturiser all over the place. What he didn’t describe was what to do next, especially when it comes to cleaning up the mess.
Cleaning Up the Child
Cleaning up the meddling little monkey is the easy bit. A cream cleanser will get the lipstick off him/her, even if the child in question didn’t slather on moisturiser first. Deep reds or long-lasting lipsticks may leave a slight stain, but this will wear away in a day or so.
Worst things first for the clean-up job. In many ways, it may be better to leave cleaning up the child until the end. This is especially true if nail polish has been involved in the chaos. Deal with this one first, especially if it’s on the carpet.
Removing Nail Polish from Carpet
Nail Polish Step 1
According to one household expert, you should use a metal comb (the sort used for dealing with head lice), tissues, cotton wool and acetone (nail polish remover). Wrap the tissue around the comb so that the teeth poke through it. Use the comb to lift the pile of the carpet up slightly – slide it right into the carpet so it forms a barrier between the top of the carpet and the bottom. The tissue will soak up any excess. Then dab on a little acetone – not too much, as it can melt plastic and plastic derivatives in artificial fibres – and use the cotton wool to blot, rub and wipe the nail polish off. Don’t try do the whole stain at once; work through it bit by bit, moving the comb along as you go and changing the tissue when it gets wet. This method is also supposed to work with super glue.
Nail Polish Step 2
The job is much easier if the nail polish is on cotton cloth. Simply dab it in acetone. Artificial fibres are more difficult, as acetone will melt plastic-based substances. This is a job for a professional, so take whatever-it-is down to the dry-cleaning agency. However, if the nail polish hasn’t quite set, you can remove the excess by scraping as much as you can off, but make sure that what you use to scrape it off can stand a little nail polish on it, as the polish will now stick to it.
Removing Lipstick Stains
To remove lipstick from the carpet, dab on a little dry-cleaning fluid with cotton wool. This will fade the intensity of the colour a bit. Then, shake bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) over the stain. Then, all you do is vacuum.
Removing Foundation Stains
First, for foundation or other liquids containing oil on the carpet, tackle the oils by scrubbing them with a toothbrush using a mixture of cold water and dish detergent. Blot dry. If the stain still remains, use a proprietary carpet cleaning solution. If the stain still lingers, get the carpet out into bright sunshine if possible, as the UV light will fade the stain.
If you can’t get the carpet outside into the light, then apply a little lemon juice to the stain as bleach, or hire a UV light and focus it on the stain for a few hours.
Cleaning Up Make-Up from Fabrics
Methylated spirits will remove most makeup off things like sheets or clothing. Dab a moderate amount (enough to soak through the cloth) onto the stain, then leave it to soak before washing in the machine. It’s best to use a cold water wash in case the hot water sets any stains.
Cleaning Talcum Powder Mess
Talcum powder goes everywhere, but it’s easy to clean up. Just dust it up with a duster as you would for any other type of dust, or else vacuum. Scented talcum powder in the vacuum cleaner will give off that scent until you change the bag or empty the container – a nice bonus.
Better still, avoid the problems and keep your cosmetics out of child-reach. Or shut the bedroom door when you’re not there!
