xiola
February 13th, 2011, 12:10 PM
So, just last night I decided HEY! I'm going to learn how to paint in oils. This, you know, seemed like a great idea and all until this morning, when I was cleaning up my workspace (...my livingroom coffee table. Um... yeah.) and I realized that I'd dropped a few spatters of bright red oil paint onto my nice beige carpet in my RENTAL APARTMENT.
My partner is the assistant building manager so he's pretty freaked that I've permanently ruined it and now we'll have to pay two thousand dollars to replace the carpet when we move out.
So I asked him to run down to the supply room and see if there's any paint thinner/turpentine... I'd have used my walnut oil, but apparently rags/waste with the oil on it can spontaneously catch fire and I'd rather that *not* happen to the carpet. But nada - nothing. Which is bizarre. You'd think that would be a useful thing to have on hand in a building, but whatever.
So.... I'm thinking... oil... oil...
Then, suddenly: SHAMPOO!
So I run to the bathroom and grab some shampoo - Finesse Self Adjusting, in particular - and grab a j-cloth from the kitchen and apply the shampoo to the cloth, then start rubbing it into the carpet. I added a bit of water to get it foaming, too.
It worked! I got all the spots out with minimal residue. I'm amazed, really.
Anyway, hopefully this will be useful for anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation in the future. I wish I knew what the carpet was made of so I could give that specific, too, but alas.
Of course, this could very well be common knowledge, but I thought I'd share. :) Good luck to anyone else this happens to!
My partner is the assistant building manager so he's pretty freaked that I've permanently ruined it and now we'll have to pay two thousand dollars to replace the carpet when we move out.
So I asked him to run down to the supply room and see if there's any paint thinner/turpentine... I'd have used my walnut oil, but apparently rags/waste with the oil on it can spontaneously catch fire and I'd rather that *not* happen to the carpet. But nada - nothing. Which is bizarre. You'd think that would be a useful thing to have on hand in a building, but whatever.
So.... I'm thinking... oil... oil...
Then, suddenly: SHAMPOO!
So I run to the bathroom and grab some shampoo - Finesse Self Adjusting, in particular - and grab a j-cloth from the kitchen and apply the shampoo to the cloth, then start rubbing it into the carpet. I added a bit of water to get it foaming, too.
It worked! I got all the spots out with minimal residue. I'm amazed, really.
Anyway, hopefully this will be useful for anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation in the future. I wish I knew what the carpet was made of so I could give that specific, too, but alas.
Of course, this could very well be common knowledge, but I thought I'd share. :) Good luck to anyone else this happens to!