Today we're sharing how we re-whiten a white couch as part of a sponsored post for Socialstars' #ZepSocialstars program.
Falling in love is wonderful. You have so much to look forward to. Long walks on the beach, phone calls that never end, and really getting to know someone you like. Lounging on a white couch.
Then, one day, you find yourself getting married. You agree on everything because, hey, it's love. Perhaps after that you have adorable little babies (we're on number 3 and teetering on a 4th). Then those precious babes grow…
…and become the most vicious monsters on the face of the planet.
TODDLERS.
You quickly learn that there is no cabinet too high, drawer too deep or permanent marker too concealed. No sir, they get into everything. And onto everything. There has not been a morning yet that I don't find Some Boy and Sidekick sitting in the middle of a pile of wooden train tracks and Legos spooning out globs of peanut butter or scarfing down some random chocolate they've found in the locked kitchen cabinets. They've even gone so far now as to stash it in toddler secret hiding places (behind a chair).
This is when things start to unravel. Chelsea thought it would be a great idea to put a nice sitting couch in the boys play room. This fine piece of furniture, white in color, was built and designed for someone with a viewing window and – at most – a cat. We however, do not live under these conditions. I disagreed with the purchase of the nice convertible couch, and the next day we went to pick it up.
That's called being married.
We brought it home and placed it in the boys play room. I have to say, it must have felt the same way to place a prisoner in the center of the Colosseum in Roman times just before releasing the hungry lions. I watched the poor little white couch sit handsomely under the window which faced the setting sun. The next day I was actually surprise to see what happened. It wasn't the monstrous little boys, but the dopey Doberman that conquered this space first. He had found a new warm spot to sleep. Just a few days later, the boys took their stab at it. And stab they did, with marker and milk and other such gunk.
Chelsea, knowing her folly, found a solution to salvage the hide of this poor misplaced couch. Zep Instant Spot Remover Towels. We use these things on carpet and rugs, and they also work on upholstery. With a whisk and a wipe, stains left in the wake of drool faces – and pets and grease and even tar – are defeated! We get them for $8.97 at Home Depot in a convenient canister that thankfully doesn't dry out like a lot of similar things we've tried in the past.
We've learned that simply laundering couch covers or vigorously wiping with cloths can actually set the stain in further. So now we have a dual plan of attack: I vacuum up excess crud and then she blots, holding the towel down as it soaks up oil and grime that's made its way into the fibers of our ridiculous white piece of furniture.
When covers are removable, Chelsea's trick is to blot the stain onto the spot remover towels by pressing the towels onto both the inside AND outside of the cover, and then let it sit in the sun for awhile. The goats think she's pretty handy. Or they're contemplating how to turn this thing into lunch.
The toddlers, we know, will be back with a vengeance. But for now…for now, the day is ours. The fires have died down and the smoke cleared. The couch is granted reprieve from its fate.
We're also working harder to keep the source of the toddlers' destruction locked up a little better. Time will only tell.
The days of wrestling young boys are upon us, and these days require ongoing vigilance.