Remove Wine Stains
If you (or, ahem, someone else) spilled vino on anything wool or silk, take the item to a pro ASAP. If you’re dealing with pretty much any other material, then stop, drop, and blot! Dab up as much wine as possible with a microfiber cloth, starting at the edge of the stain and working inward. Your next step: salt. Sprinkle a bit on the stain and leave it there for at least five minutes. It should absorb even more liquid. Now it’s time for an official stain remover. Experts suggest Folex (see right), OxyClean Max Force Laundry Stain Remover ($4.50; amazon.com), or this DIY mixture: half a teaspoon of liquid laundry detergent, a quarter cup of white vinegar, and a quarter cup of cool water. Apply your stain remover to the spot and let it sit for a few minutes so the cleaning agents have time to break up the stain. After that, launder as normal. If the off ending mark is still there after a wash, don’t put the item in the dryer (the heat will set the stain!). Instead, take it to a professional and let them have a go. For wine stains on carpet, use the same routine minus the salt (which can get stuck in deep fibers), and flush the spot with cool water to rinse out your stain remover.
Gather All Those Fallen Needles
Live Christmas trees are so lovely… until they start shedding on your floor. Your first instinct might be to bust out the vacuum, but hold off , because needles can jam the roller. First sweep up what you can with a broom and dustpan. Once the easy stuff is gone, turn to a wet-dry vac, which was made to suck up larger pieces. (Don’t have one? Use the hose attachment on your regular vac.) To clean any sap residue, add a few drops of an oil-based soap, like Murphy Oil Soap (right), to a microfiber cloth and rub the floor until it’s no longer sticky
Lift Melted Candle Wax
Wax-idents happen! For messes on a sealed counter and most other non-porous surfaces, spray some WD-40 Multi-Use Product ($7; homedepot .com) on the wax and it should pop right off with some light nudging. For droplets that fall on wood surfaces, add a dab of Murphy Oil Soap to a microfiber cloth and rub. (Test on a small area first to make sure it doesn’t discolor the wood.) For tablecloths, scrape off as much as you can with your fingers—gently, so as not to damage the material. Then get out your iron: Sandwich the tablecloth between two paper shopping bags or paper towels. Place your iron, on the lowest setting, on top for a few seconds. The wax should peel away easily.
Banish Glitter
It starts with a single well-meaning holiday card. A day later, you’ve got itty-bitty sparkles everywhere. When they’re scattered here and there all over your house, there’s not a ton you can do other than practice acceptance. To grab pieces that have gotten between your floorboards, use a small grout brush, then go over the grooves with the hose attachment on your vacuum. When the sparkles are clustered in one spot? A lint roller is your new best friend. It’ll pick up the bulk of the shimmery bits and give you the greatest instant gratification of all time.
Tools of the Trade
MURPHY OIL SOAP
$5;homedepot.com
FOLEX INSTANT C ARPE T SPOT REMOVER
$7; homedepot.com
SCOTCH-BRITE LINT ROLLER VALUE PACK
$8; target.com
OUR EXPERTS
TRISH DUARTE, FRANCHISE OWNER AT MAIDPRO, A CLEANING SERVICE
WAYNE EDELMAN, CEO OF MEURICE GARMENT CARE AND FOUNDER OF CLEAN BY MEURICE
MELISSA MAKER, FOUNDER OF THE CLEANING PLATFORM CLEAN MY SPACE
PROP STYLING BY MARINA BEVILACQUA; PRODUCT IMAGES COURTESY OF MANUFACTURERS