Photo credit to stevendepolo.

Whether you are painting your home yourself or have a professional doing the work for you, there is always the potential for accidents. No matter how careful you or your hired painter may be, paint can end up on the floor. Sometimes it seeps through a tarp or the tarp may slide when you move a ladder and you’re unaware of the fact that the floor is exposed. Or paint flecks can end up on a window or woodwork, or on a countertop.

However, before you panic, read on: there is hope for painting accidents.

Don’t Wait to Clean Up

Clean up a spill or drip as soon as you notice it; if you wait, you’ll only make it harder to remove, especially on fabric or carpeted surfaces which will absorb paint. On hard surfaces, such as laminate flooring or countertops, dried flecks of paint can often be pried off with just your fingernail or a plastic tool, such as a spatula or plastic knife.

Vinegar and Glass

Most people reach for a knife or razor to scrape dried paint off a window or glass surface, but this can cause a permanent scratch on the surface. Instead of sharp objects, use hot vinegar: It will loosen the paint and make it easy to wipe away without scratching the glass.

Starchy Solution

Starch will keep your shirts looking spiffy, but it is also helpful for cleaning up dried paint from all kinds of surfaces.  A warm starch solution can be used to remove paint from countertops, brick, stone and cement. If the stain is stubborn, you may need to soak it will the solution, followed by a scrubbing brush; rinse, blot and repeat as necessary.

Oil-Based Paint Spills

Spills from oil-based paint are much harder to remove than those from water-based paint. In many cases, the only way solution is to use paint thinner; however, paint thinner will destroy many surfaces, include carpet, fabric and plastics.

Photo credit to williac.

Cleaning Paint from Carpet

Of all spills, those on carpet are perhaps the hardest to deal with: The first thing you should do is blot away as much of the paint as possible with clean rags. Dilute some laundry detergent in a bucket, soak fresh towels in the solution and continue to blot; rinse and blot dry. Never rub a carpet stain or you will just work the stain deeper into the fibers. If you have access to a carpet steam cleaner, make several passes over the stain with carpet cleaner solution; follow with plain water to remove any soap residue along with traces of paint.

In some cases, it will be impossible to remove a paint stain from upholstery, fabric or carpet, especially if oil-based paint is the culprit. In that case, a strategically tossed throw on the arm of a couch or a carpet patch may be the least stressful way to deal with the problem. Or maybe you could move the coffee table to hide that stain on the carpet; or strategically place a outdoor metal wall art or tropical fish wall decor above the couch to divert attention.

To keep your home looking it’s best, it needs routine maintenance, from the lawn to the wine and grape decor in the kitchen, to the carpet in the bedroom and wall grill decor on the front porch. Your flooring is a major investment that requires specific care. Many different stone surfaces seem like they would be pretty indestructible, when in fact then need regular care and maintenance to ensure their continued good looks. Slate is one such material.

The most common way that a slate floor is damaged is with sand and dirt, so you should take care to vacuum regularly, or you may want to try keeping the dirt from entering your home in the first place by taking off shoes as you enter the house.

It seems, though, regardless of how much care you take to banish dirt from your home, it will find its way inside. So just get in the habit of sweeping or vacuuming before you mop your slate floor. There are many slate floor owners who regard plain warm water as the best solution for cleaning the floor. Others may prefer using a neutral cleanser. More acidic mixtures will cause your slate surface to erode.

If you find that you have a stain on the grout line between your slate tiles, you can create a baking soda and water paste and work it into the grout using a stiff brush. Rub in circles to really work it in there. On white grout, you can use ½ hydrogen peroxide and ½ bleach. You may have to repeat the process a few times, but you will eventually remove the stain.

You can also try using Oxyclean® to clean your slate stains, and by making a poultice mixing it with diatomaceous earth and water to form a paste, you can often lift stains out of your surface. Spread the paste over the stain on your slate, and then cover the area with a sheet of plastic wrap for a day. Then remove your layer of plastic wrap and let the poultice dry out completely. Once it is completely dry, scrape up the poultice and wash with warm water. While this poultice will remove many stains, it generally does not remove rust stains.

This poultice is for white grout only, because Oxyclean® is a bleach based product, and it can actually remove the color from your grout.

There are times when a stain is really prominent, and you simply cannot stand it. When lifting out the stain, you may actually fade the color in the grout, so you have to weigh in the potential damage and make your assessment of the situation to consider if removing the stain is worth fading the grout. Of course, another option is to apply the poultice to a large area of grout to blend the faded grout gradually into the regular grout.

Since acid eats away at slate, never use cleaners like vinegar, because it will cause irreversible damage to the floor. Vinegar has a high acid content, and while it may effectively clean, it will remove the shine from your slate floor making it more absorbent. If you have this type of damage to your floor, you can hire a professional to assess whether it is worth polishing away some surface to repair the flaw.

Upon completion of cleaning the grout and tile, it is time to seal the entire floor. Using a sponge or rag mop, apply several coats of a good stone sealer. After applying to the floor, let it dry for an hour, and your floor will look spectacular.

Remember though, that even with sealant on the floor, you want to wipe up spills right away to keep your slate floor looking immaculate.

Photo credit to steelmore.

Beautiful stone floors can set the stage for an elegantly traditional or crisp contemporary home, setting off the beauty of your furnishings, right down to a monogram wall grille, abstract painting or other wall decor. While it may seem impervious to damage, natural stone actually does need to be carefully cared for to avoid stains and permanent damage. If you have flooring made of granite, calcite, marble or terrazzo tile, you need to treat it with special care to keep it looking new.

Proper Spill Cleanup
Clean up spills on porous stones as soon as possible. Always remember to blot a spill. Never wipe a spill, because that simply spreads it across a larger surface, and it actually makes the spill worse. Blot, beginning at the outside edge working towards the center. After absorbing as much of the spill as possible, use a clean, wet rag and a neutral cleaner to finish cleaning the stain.

Photo credit to robbiew.

Stain Removal
With a little luck, a little soap and water is all that you will need to clean up the spill, however in the event that the stain is a little more stubborn, you may need a chemical cleaner to remove it. If you are going to use a chemical to clean a stain, make sure that you have the right chemical for the right stain and surface.

Many times if you know how the stain came to be then you can easily select the right chemical for its removal. For example, if you know that a spill is coffee or tea, you can use hydrogen peroxide to remove the stain. Oxyclean® will lift many different types of stains like coffee, tea or even rust. If you have an oil based stain, ammonia or a de-greaser will do the trick. For oil based paints, mineral spirits will clean the stain nicely.

You can find many different cleaners on the market that claim to remove latex paint stains, but be sure to test the product in an obscure spot to make sure that it does not cause any damage to the stone surface. If a cleaning product is too harsh, it may allow erosion causing the marble surface to become permanently damaged.

When you are applying a chemical cleaner to a natural stone surface, you should apply it as a poultice. Use diatomaceous earth to fashion the poultice mixing two parts earth to one part chemical. Then add distilled water to make a thin paste. Spread the past on the entire area of the stain and even a little beyond. Cover the area with plastic wrap to trap in moisture and let it cure for 12 – 24 hours. At the end of that time, peel back the plastic and allow the poultice to continue drying. After it is completely dry, scrape it up and rinse with cold water.

If the stain is gone, great. If it has lightened, then you can repeat the process until the stain is gone.

Photo credit to rene_ehrhardt.

Sealing after Cleaning
If stains seem to soak into your stone surface too easily, you may need to reseal your stone surfaces. Floors need to be resealed periodically because constant foot traffic eventually wears down the layer of sealant on your floor. There many different products that work very well for sealing natural stone flooring. You can also find sealants at your local flooring store or hardware store.

To keep your floors looking great, use the same brand of sealer every time that you seal your floor. You may need to treat heavy traffic areas far more frequently than the rest of the floor. The sealant’s maker will offer guidelines for how often you should plan to seal you floor.

It really is an exercise in futility telling a child to clean his bedroom if it is not organized in the first place. By giving your child some help in arranging his or her bedroom and getting it organized, you at least give them a fighting chance at returning it to that condition when you ask them to tidy up their room.

Thinning Possessions

Usually a child’s bedroom is rather small, and often they have the share their bedroom with a brother or sister. Cramped spaces are even harder to keep clean than open spaces, especially if there are too many things shoehorned into the room to begin with. So work with your child to determine which things need to go and which things stay. Try to edit out anything that they do not currently use, which includes outgrown toys and off season clothes. While the clothes may return as the weather changes, the toys can be turned over to charity or a yard sale for another child to enjoy.

After clearing everything out of the room, you can determine what should be thrown away, donated to charity, put in a yard sale or kept. Some items that you keep may be stored in a room other than the child’s bedroom. For example, off season clothing could be stored in a trunk or hall closet and rotated back into the bedroom at an appropriate time. You can do the same thing with toys. You could also store these items in plastic bins under the bed for easy, yet out of the way, access.

Options for Storage

When you are adding storage to a child’s room, make sure that they can easily access it. If you decide to add floor to ceiling shelving in their room use the higher shelves for display or longer term storage; placing things they need to access on the lower shelves. By arranging the storage in this manner you will make it easy for your child to pick up and put away their own belongings. By adding bins to the shelves, a child can remove the bin and take it to whatever area he is playing in, and then when he is done he can replace his toys in the bin and return it to the shelf making cleanup quick and easy.

Sensible Shoe Box Storage

If your child has lots of tiny treasures, you can use clear plastic shoe boxes to store them so your child can see what is inside. These boxes can be stacked for efficient storage and you can label them for quick reference. If your child is not yet able to read, draw a picture label for the box. When you store items in boxes and bins, it encourages the child to replace a box before removing another one, whereas if everything is in one big box, they can easily end up with a huge mess simply to find one little toy.

Hammocks are for More than Napping

Another handy way to store items in a child’s bedroom is using a toy hammock. If you have a child who loves stuffed animals, the toy hammock can tame the mountain of toys very easily. You can install the net hammock on the wall over the bed or in the corner, and it will hold all of the stuffed animals close by yet out of the way.

Photo credit to ndawg.

Hang Wall Hook and a Bulletin Board

Wall hooks are indispensable for holding jackets, book bags, totes and ball caps. Choose a sturdy decorative style, such as a musical notes wall art or tropical metal art rack to complement the decor.

Another thing that adds a clutter to a child’s bedroom is paper. From schoolwork to artwork, taming the paper pile is always a challenge. One easy way to handle this mountain is by weeding out old work and displaying the rest on a bulletin board. Whether the board is cork, magnetic or a French style bulletin board, it will get the papers off of the floor and onto the wall.

After the room is organized and clean, it is reasonable to expect your child to keep it that way. So set up a daily time for bedroom cleanup, and you will get a clean room while your child develops good habits for a lifetime.