Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert, advice columnist and author of the New York Times bestselling book, My Boyfriend Barfed In My Handbag ... And Other Things You Can't Ask Martha. Her flagship column, "Ask a Clean Person", debuted in 2011. Here on Lifehacker, we're launching a new iteration of it, focusing on parenting and all the messes it brings.
The best way to avoid floor stains is to cover your whole house in sheets of plastic. If you'd prefer to avoid the serial killer look, you need to get to those stains quickly. This infographic explains how to completely remove stains from various floor surfaces.
Wine stains suck, especially when it's red wine on your brand new white shirt. There are lots of ways to banish such stains, but think about pouring yourself some milk next time it happens to you.
If you went a little overboard at the open bar of your big company party, this trick will get your suit, dress, or other un-launderables looking fresh and puke-free again.
Video: If you accidentally sit on some gum, there's still hope for your favourite jeans. With a little Deep Heat and a sandwich bag, you can break down the gum's stickiness and pick it right off.
Maybe you're working on a small hobby project and are looking for a unique way to stain your wood without those noxious chemical fumes. You want your birdhouse to attract animals of discriminating tastes, right? Here are a few wood-staining techniques you can try using items you might have in your kitchen.
If you forgot to wear your pocket protector and got an ink stain in your favourite shirt, you can save it with the right stain remover, a toothbrush and a little know-how.
A handful of berries is a great snack, but one dropped berry or thoughtless wipe of your juice-covered hands can leave your clothing stained. If you act quickly, a little bowling water can keep the red stain from setting in your favourite garments, even whites.
Mustard goes great on a hot dog, but not so much on your white shirt. Here's a super simple method for removing mustard and other yellow stains from your white clothes.
Video: Don't cry over spilled candle wax. You can pull it out of your carpet quickly and easily with some paper towels and a hair dryer.
Video Nothing stops a party in its tracks like spilling a glass of red wine on white clothing. Everyone clamours for their go-to method of cleaning the stain before it sets. Shaving cream! Salt! Incantations! But do any of them actually work? Today we test a few commonly suggested methods for cleaning red wine.
Lipstick looks sexy on lips, but kind of gross on glassware. "Not wearing lipstick" may seem like the obvious solution, but with all the holiday cocktail parties coming up, that's unlikely to happen. Luckily, there's a quick fix for this problem: give the glass a little lick.
Messes can mount up no matter how much you manage to manoeuvre around them. If you find yourself fretting over frustrating stains, this graphic can guide you to genuinely cleaner clothes.
Red wine is a great addition to any dinner, but accidents can happen. You can get fresh red wine stains out of fabric and carpet using some of wine's heartier cousins to help soak up the colour.
During this time of year, many of us have guests over for parties. Spills and other mishaps happen, and you don't want accidents to ruin the party. Create an "emergency kit" before the party starts so you can fix the problem at a moment's notice.
Windex is known for its window cleaning abilities, but Household Hacker says you can use it to remove tough clothing stains too if you're out of your regular stain remover.
We've all forgotten to take those sticky name tags off our shirts before tossing them in the wash; the resulting residue is incredibly difficult to remove. The next time this happens to you, reach for your nearest bottle of nail polish remover.
The University of Illinois' Stain Solution website gathers exhaustive remedies for hundreds of common, hard-to-remove stains in one easy-to-search resource — with surprising specificity. Did that coffee stain come with cream or no cream?
