After getting rid of all the Sharpie permanent marker stains, I was still stumped by the red Kool-aid decorating my carpet. I got a lot of great suggestions in comments on that post though, so I thought I’d share them in a new post for everyone’s benefit.
Heather noted that:
If you catch it early, club soda will take out red koolaid. The Queen of Clean (as in Linda Cob) recommends club soda even for old koolaid stains (at lest it will make it lighter pink). She says that, after using the club soda and blotting it with a clean towel, use Spot Shot Instant Carpet Stain Remover
. If the stain is still set, saturate with hydrogen peroxide (which I’ve tried before and turned my carpet ORANGE, so use with care!) or undiluted lemon juice. Wait 15 minutes and blot. Continue to apply, checking progress to make sure you aren’t lightening the carpet. (Taken from Talking Dirty with the Queen of Clean
Kristen has “THE red koolaid/gatorade stain getter outer”:
Mix equal amounts of ammonia and hot water. Spray the stain. Take a towel and place over the stain. Go over the towel with an iron on its highest setting and watch the stain transfer! It was amazing. I did this 5 or 6 times over the stain and it was gone. It was an old stain too! Test in an area first.
Julie used Scrubbing Bubbles
Have any other tips to share?? Add them in comments and I’ll update this post!
I don’t beleive it….it worked so fast so perfect…I WILL NEVER FEAR RED DRINKS, ICE CREAM, OR CANDIES AGAIN. I have white carpet and a 3 years old…used a thick towel opened (white), hottest setting, 1/2 cup water with 1/2 cup ammonia….. sucked it right out.
ps a hot iron and newspaper gets out crayon and melted wax on carpets (no liquid), cheaper carpet can lose color, but safe for the most part, test it first
Countertops i use comet or bleach and water…depends. Good old fashioned baking soda and lemon sometimes does the trick.
I’m so excited! My daughter vomited orange gatorade on my yellow bathroom rug. It was a mess and I really thought I was going to have to throw it away but then I found I couldn’t replace that particular color because they stopped making it. I came to this website and read to use eqaul parts of hot water and ammonia. Spray on stain, transfer with hot iron to a towel. What a charm!!! Thanks for saving my bathrug!
Just tried the ammonia, hot water and ironing and it took out a week old red gatorade stain from my sons white hockey jersey. It was a huge stain and there is not even a hint of pink there. Thanks for the tip. I will pass it along!!!
The ammonia water and steam worked like magic on my kool-aid stain. Thanks a million….
Yeah, my grandchildren can visit again! One sippy cup, and one spitter-upper, and I was afraid I’d have to live with pink spots. The stains were about a week old. The ammonia, water and steam iron did the trick! Thanks so much!…For counter tops, any kind of 409 cleaners works for me. I use bleach as a last resort.
The Ammonia and hot water with iron even works on berber style carpets! Woot!
Thank you Kristen for the ip using amonia, hot-water and iron tip. It was like magic to see the stain transfer unto the towel. I had rum punch stain and kool aid stain on the carpet in the vehicle for about a year now. I tried multiple cleaning products, took the car to get it professionally valet and I was told it will be impossible to get this stain out. I came to your very uself tip and it was like magic to see the stain vanish. Thank you so much.
The ammonia/water and hot iron over a towel TOTALLY WORKED on our red gatorade stain…and it was a few days old. Thank you, thank you, Kristen!!!!
I am about to move from a rental and I had a couple of red juice stains from my kids on tan carpet. My landlord wanted me to hire a guy to get the carpets clean so I could get my deposit back. Well thanks to Kristen, I am able to rent a rug dr and do it myself. The ammonia/water and iron with a white towel did the trick!!! I am so super excited!!!