Dear Home Ec 101,
Do you have any tips for cleaning poop off of the cover of a cloth bean bag chair? The tag reads “Do not open under any circumstance.” It’s a $20 bean bag chair from Target and I don’t just want to “get anodder one” as my toddler suggests. As you may have guessed, the toddler was the poop culprit.
Signed,
I signed up for this?
Heather says:
Yep, you sure did, it was in the fine print.
I remember once my younger sister DID open the bean bag chair. Those teeny-tiny styrofoam pellets are a nightmare to clean up. Do yourself a favor and listen to the tag.
Arm yourself with some gloves. If there is a lot of fecal matter on the fabric use a disposable plastic knife (like from take-out) to gently scrape off as much of the solid matter as possible. Be careful to not push the mess into the fabric.
If you have a wet dry vac or a carpet cleaner with an upholstery attachment, great! Spray down the area with a product like Kids N Pets. Then use the upholstery attachment to suck up the liquid. Do NOT use the upholstery attachment to scrub the stain INTO the fabric. Clean your equipment when you are through.
If you do not have access to an carpet cleaner or even a wet dry vac, arm yourself with a bunch of rags or paper towels -please use chlorine bleach in the washing machine, if you plan to reuse the rags. Alternate blotting and wetting the stained area, working from the edge of the affected area to the center. Continue doing this a few times even after the stain appears to be gone. Finally, give it one more thorough spray and blot with the enzymatic cleaner and allow the affected area to air dry.
Isn’t parenting fun?
Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com
