Birthday parties are a wonderful celebration. Whether you’re hosting a party for your child, yourself or your friend, you want the entire event to go as smoothly as possible. You’ve ordered the cake, have the food sorted and purchased all the necessary party supplies.
You feel excited as they day for the party approaches, but you also might have a small, looming fear. Maybe you just cleaned your carpet or had new flooring installed. Perhaps you just bought new furniture for your home. Whatever the case, you’d like to keep your home as clean as possible.
Below, we’ve listed three birthday party stain hazards so you can prepare in advance and avoid staining your flooring or furniture.
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Birthday Cake
No party would be complete without a cake to celebrate the birthday boy or girl. Whether you’re throwing a party for your four-year-old daughter or a birthday bash for your 20-year-old best friend, cake is a party requirement.
Unfortunately, cakes come covered in sweet and colourful icing or toppings. Though this cake topping may seem like a great treat to eat, it quickly loses its appeal if it gets trampled into your carpets or rugs. And these stains can prove incredibly difficult to remove-especially if the coloured icing contains bright food dye.
Additionally, other desserts and sweets can pose the same risk at your celebration. The obvious solution, weather permitting, is to plan to have the food table outside. A good second option in case the weather is not conducive to an outside party is to have a table set up on a hard floor area.
If all else fails and you must eat on a carpeted area, set up a table with chairs, encouraging people to sit at the table. This will overcome the highest risk of food falling to the floor. People walking around, holding a plate in one hand and a drink in the other is the perfect recipe for a spill. You may not have to worry about this outside but you should try to avoid this situation on your carpeted areas if you can.
If you do have a spill, attend to it quickly and follow these tips:
- 1)Scrape or blot up any excess.
- 2)Make up a mixture of 1 teaspoon of washing up liquid (not laundry) with a litre of warm water. Blot this onto the stain working from the outside in so as not to spread the stain.
- 3)Blot dry with a colour fast towel. Double it over and tread or kneel on it to draw up as much of the liquid and stain as possible. Do not use salt. The towel works better and without the mess.
- 4)Repeat this procedure for as long as it works or until the stain is gone.
If a residue remains go to our website www.stainbusters.com.au for advice on your particular stain.
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Food Items and Snacks
Aside from cake, you may also have snacks or a meal at your birthday party. Just like cake, many foods and snack items can become staining hazards. Here’s a list of common party foods to watch out for that we’ve found can create stains in carpets:
- Berries
- Chocolate
- Tomato sauces (such as marinara sauce)
- Mustard
- Peanut butter
- Relish
- Tomatoes
Again, if you must serve these foods on your carpeted area, encourage your guests to sit at the table. Any steps you take to avoid people walking, talking and trying to eat and drink on their feet will reduce the chance of a spill.
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Beverages
Drinks can also severely stain your carpet-especially if you don’t clean up the spill right away. At your next party, look out for the following beverages indoors as they can easily stain carpets:
- Berry juice
- Coffee
- Fruit punch
- Lemonade
- Milkshakes
- Smoothies
- Tea
- Wine
After eating, your guests will want to move around and socialise. If you want your party to be a success you are unlikely to stop people from having a drink once they have left the table.
Most drink spills you encounter at a party are easy to remove with the above method provided you get to it before it dries/sets. An exception to this rule is brightly coloured soft drinks including those containing alcohol. Drinks coloured with pink, red, blue, green or yellow food colour (including cruisers) can cause an immediate stain that will require a professional. If you do encounter a spill with food colour, it still pays to follow the procedure to remove as much as you can.
You may not be able to completely avoid a stain but you will reduce the amount of colour that needs to be removed when your professional arrives. This will make the job easier and therefore cheaper for you. Placing a wet towel over a fresh stain can help avoid the stain from setting. This is particularly important if you can’t get help straight away. It can also buy you a day or two to allow a professional to turn up in “normal time”. Emergency callout fees are often 2, 3 or 5 time more expensive than the normal rate depending on the day and time of the emergency.
As you prepare to host a birthday party, remember some items could stain your flooring and furniture more easily than others. Use the tips above to minimise the chance of spills or stains in your home or office building. However, should a stain occur, contact a cleaning company with proven stain removal expertise to remove the stain and return the area to its previous condition.
