Saturday night, Wes gave me a couple of hours to sit with my schoolwork while he took care of the kids. I was just sitting upstairs, so I hear periodic wails, giggles, and exclamations, but tried not to investigate them. At some point, though, it became evident that Oliver had done something he wasn't supposed to. Wes seemed to have handled the situation, and since he didn't come get me, I figured it couldn't be too serious.
A few hours later, when I came downstairs to have dinner, I inquired after what had happened. Seems Oliver had retrieved a ballpoint pen from the desk while Wes was trying to clean up from dinner. He then "wrote" on several of his book covers, but the pen evidently got away from him, and there was ink all over our light-colored couch. Fortunately, we bought a slip-covered couch for a reason. I was skeptical I could get the ink out -- pen has always been what did my favorite khaki pants in -- but decided to try out the GooBeGone I'd gotten from the store for just such a situation. I sprayed it on the ink, followed by a stain treater. On the third cushion, I treated one old ink mark (Oliver's first foray into "writing" with a pen, notably also supervised by Wes) with just the GooBeGone, along with some other spots from a creme that had left a shadowy mark. When the covers came out of the wash, I was shocked to see that all of the ink was gone. Not a single spot left. The one large cushion cover, though, the one that can't be flipped over because of its shape, had several new large shadowy spots now, looking even worse than how it began. So I retreated it with the stain remover and washed again. This time, it all came out.
So somehow, Oliver getting pen all over the couch, though it created more work, left our couch looking better then ever. I doubt every such situation will turn out this well, but given the household disasters we've dealt with recently, I'll celebrate this one.
A few hours later, when I came downstairs to have dinner, I inquired after what had happened. Seems Oliver had retrieved a ballpoint pen from the desk while Wes was trying to clean up from dinner. He then "wrote" on several of his book covers, but the pen evidently got away from him, and there was ink all over our light-colored couch. Fortunately, we bought a slip-covered couch for a reason. I was skeptical I could get the ink out -- pen has always been what did my favorite khaki pants in -- but decided to try out the GooBeGone I'd gotten from the store for just such a situation. I sprayed it on the ink, followed by a stain treater. On the third cushion, I treated one old ink mark (Oliver's first foray into "writing" with a pen, notably also supervised by Wes) with just the GooBeGone, along with some other spots from a creme that had left a shadowy mark. When the covers came out of the wash, I was shocked to see that all of the ink was gone. Not a single spot left. The one large cushion cover, though, the one that can't be flipped over because of its shape, had several new large shadowy spots now, looking even worse than how it began. So I retreated it with the stain remover and washed again. This time, it all came out.
So somehow, Oliver getting pen all over the couch, though it created more work, left our couch looking better then ever. I doubt every such situation will turn out this well, but given the household disasters we've dealt with recently, I'll celebrate this one.
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