Clean the carpet

I am about as good at cleaning carpets as Andrew Eldritch is at singing. No that’s not true; I’m worse. Why the comparison? Those who recognise the name of the singer of the Sisters of Mercy will also know they have a song called “kiss the carpet” which I cannot help but think about when I contemplate the topic of this post. About a week ago I accidentally kicked over a mug of coffee, and I had tried to mop up the stain with kitchen paper. Not much luck. Then I tried water with BioTex and a towel. Not much luck. It’s a very ugly stain! I wanted to get rid of it. I first tried mailing some carpet cleaning services but they didn’t respond. Then I thought maybe it would be worth hiring a carpet cleaner. So I did!

 Before the carpet cleaner

First thing on a Saturday I went to the rental place. And then got working; they closed at 1PM. So I assembled the thing and tried to fill the reservoir with warm water and detergent. That should be easy! It wasn’t. Just then my boiler refused, and I had to boil water in the kettle and on the hob. (It wasn’t a good time in more than only that way; I also had the biggest pile of dishes waiting...)

I attacked the stain vigorously. I hardly bothered with the rest of the room. The manual of the thing warned against over-wetting, but I ignored that. I kept going over the stain until I had exhausted the entire reservoir. But the stain wouldn’t go! It did fade, but it stayed put. I had little choice but to return the machine, and wait until the carpet was dry; things might look different then. And then contemplate my options...

 After the carpet cleaner