This is Why We Won't Get New Carpeting Until Andrew is in College
You know that saying about how kids who are quiet are generally getting into trouble?
Andrew defies that rule.
How to Clean Up Poop and Baby Powder From Carpeting in *&%$# Easy Steps
1. Realize that after 45 minutes of ruckus-making, banging, and general mayhem, the toddler is not going to nap.
2. Halfway up the stairs on a toddler rescue mission, realize there's an odd smell in the air.
3. Recognize the smell. It is not a good smell.
4. Open the door. This is a mistake, as the door leaves a distinct dark brown trail on the carpeting. Also, the toddler's diaper has lost structural integrity, and now the toddler has escaped.
5. Catch the toddler.
6. Refrain from strangling the toddler.
7. While carrying the kicking, laughing, and protesting toddler gingerly under one arm, step over the newly-brown-striped carpet into the toddler's room.
8. Cough through the cloudy dust of sweet-smelling powder that gently wafts up from the carpeting as you step on it. Notice the empty canister of baby powder.
9. Swear.
10. Tiptoe to the changing table, strip the toddler of his clothes and the sorry excuse for a diaper, toss everything into the trash/wash, assemble new diaper that you can't even threaten to be good, because seriously? It's getting thrown away no matter what, and it knows it.
11. Carry toddler back downstairs and plop on sofa in front of television, because while you agree that this is something of a reward, it's also the only guaranteed way of keeping the toddler at bay while you attempt to clean up the toddler's mess.
12. Google.
And here is where I get helpful:
How to Clean Baby Powder Off Carpet
In short, vacuum. I was worried that with baby powder being so fine, it wouldn't really work in the vacuum, but a quick once-over seemed to get up the worst of it. Of course, the really awful thing about baby powder is that it tends to get stuck in every single crevice that exists. I'm fairly sure we'll be finding baby powder for years, and I say that knowing that we're due to move in a few weeks. I opened up Andrew's window to try to shake the worst of it outside. This worked well for his stuffed animals, which received a beating against the side of the house (an act I'm sure worried some of the neighbors). It was harder for some of his other toys, namely the Little People sets, which seem to be made entirely of small crevices and corners and very little else. I did the best that I could with baby wipes, and luckily none of us have asthma.
If you have asthma, and your baby decides to play with the baby powder, my profound apologies. Step 6 still applies.
How to Clean Poop off Your Carpet
The larger chunks are easily scoopable, with a Kleenex, or paper towel, or baby wipe, or whatever's handy. Dispose of poop as normal. (If whatever you use is not meant to go down the toilet, do not send it down the toilet.)
Now. My google search turned up the suggestion for peroxide, provided the peroxide doesn't bleach your carpet. I don't know about your cabinets, but peroxide isn't really one of my staples (perhaps it should be). I do, however, have a stash of Nature's Miracle Stain Remover for Cats. I use it on Cleo's stains, and I know it doesn't bleach or stain our carpets. So I figured - why not? I poured a liberal amount onto the stained parts of the carpeting, and then per the instructions, let it sit while I dealt with the baby powder. It needs about five minutes - it probably got more like ten. After it was well and truly soaked, I attacked with paper towels, alternatively dabbing and rubbing and doing a weird scrapy-grabby move which seemed to lift up the heavier bits. The areas that had not received full poop saturation looked fantastic when I was done. The worst areas looked much improved, though there was still a tell-tale darker tone to the color. I blotted up the liquid as best I could, and then left it to dry the rest of the way. We'll see how it looks when it's totally dry.
Back to the List
13. While cleaning, remember the following:
--Once, you probably did the same thing. Maybe not at the same time, but I'm willing to bet your mother cleaned up baby powder from the carpeting, too.
--Someday, this is going to be a very, very funny story that you can use to embarrass future girlfriends.
--Daddy owes you BIG TIME.
--If you're lucky, the baby powder will overpower the scent of the poop.
--Someday, you too will be old, and there might come a time when you also poop on the carpet, and your child will have to clean it up. Revenge is sweet.
Andrew defies that rule.
How to Clean Up Poop and Baby Powder From Carpeting in *&%$# Easy Steps
1. Realize that after 45 minutes of ruckus-making, banging, and general mayhem, the toddler is not going to nap.
2. Halfway up the stairs on a toddler rescue mission, realize there's an odd smell in the air.
3. Recognize the smell. It is not a good smell.
4. Open the door. This is a mistake, as the door leaves a distinct dark brown trail on the carpeting. Also, the toddler's diaper has lost structural integrity, and now the toddler has escaped.
5. Catch the toddler.
6. Refrain from strangling the toddler.
7. While carrying the kicking, laughing, and protesting toddler gingerly under one arm, step over the newly-brown-striped carpet into the toddler's room.
8. Cough through the cloudy dust of sweet-smelling powder that gently wafts up from the carpeting as you step on it. Notice the empty canister of baby powder.
9. Swear.
10. Tiptoe to the changing table, strip the toddler of his clothes and the sorry excuse for a diaper, toss everything into the trash/wash, assemble new diaper that you can't even threaten to be good, because seriously? It's getting thrown away no matter what, and it knows it.
11. Carry toddler back downstairs and plop on sofa in front of television, because while you agree that this is something of a reward, it's also the only guaranteed way of keeping the toddler at bay while you attempt to clean up the toddler's mess.
12. Google.
And here is where I get helpful:
How to Clean Baby Powder Off Carpet
In short, vacuum. I was worried that with baby powder being so fine, it wouldn't really work in the vacuum, but a quick once-over seemed to get up the worst of it. Of course, the really awful thing about baby powder is that it tends to get stuck in every single crevice that exists. I'm fairly sure we'll be finding baby powder for years, and I say that knowing that we're due to move in a few weeks. I opened up Andrew's window to try to shake the worst of it outside. This worked well for his stuffed animals, which received a beating against the side of the house (an act I'm sure worried some of the neighbors). It was harder for some of his other toys, namely the Little People sets, which seem to be made entirely of small crevices and corners and very little else. I did the best that I could with baby wipes, and luckily none of us have asthma.
If you have asthma, and your baby decides to play with the baby powder, my profound apologies. Step 6 still applies.
How to Clean Poop off Your Carpet
The larger chunks are easily scoopable, with a Kleenex, or paper towel, or baby wipe, or whatever's handy. Dispose of poop as normal. (If whatever you use is not meant to go down the toilet, do not send it down the toilet.)
Now. My google search turned up the suggestion for peroxide, provided the peroxide doesn't bleach your carpet. I don't know about your cabinets, but peroxide isn't really one of my staples (perhaps it should be). I do, however, have a stash of Nature's Miracle Stain Remover for Cats. I use it on Cleo's stains, and I know it doesn't bleach or stain our carpets. So I figured - why not? I poured a liberal amount onto the stained parts of the carpeting, and then per the instructions, let it sit while I dealt with the baby powder. It needs about five minutes - it probably got more like ten. After it was well and truly soaked, I attacked with paper towels, alternatively dabbing and rubbing and doing a weird scrapy-grabby move which seemed to lift up the heavier bits. The areas that had not received full poop saturation looked fantastic when I was done. The worst areas looked much improved, though there was still a tell-tale darker tone to the color. I blotted up the liquid as best I could, and then left it to dry the rest of the way. We'll see how it looks when it's totally dry.
Back to the List
13. While cleaning, remember the following:
--Once, you probably did the same thing. Maybe not at the same time, but I'm willing to bet your mother cleaned up baby powder from the carpeting, too.
--Someday, this is going to be a very, very funny story that you can use to embarrass future girlfriends.
--Daddy owes you BIG TIME.
--If you're lucky, the baby powder will overpower the scent of the poop.
--Someday, you too will be old, and there might come a time when you also poop on the carpet, and your child will have to clean it up. Revenge is sweet.