here is my introduction:Hello all, I am new. I can't stand the house any more, and I'm hoping I can get it cleaned out and get some advice by coming here.
I've had mice, ants, spiders, a rat (!) or two, even a raccoon trying to get in through a cracked window...
I will try to get some pictures as I go along. Once I dig out the camera.
3rd degree, for sure. I only have one small dog though, so while the urine-stained carpet is pretty embarrassing (especially since many of the stains are old and I have no idea how to clean them) at least it's not too bad yet.
I'm ready to start, I have two friends coming next weekend to help me clear some things away. I'm going to try in the next few days to clean enough that I am not mortified to have them here. Wish me luck
here is from the threads about my carpet/.spot cleaner does not work
oxyclean pet doesn't take away the old stains, just the smell
ammonia, vinegar, and baking soda do NOTHING for the old stains
steam cleaning just makes it smell bad all over again, and the stains come back in like a week (I tried this apporach last winter)
some of the stains were here when I moved in. The previous tenants were even more squalorous than me. I steam cleaned before I moved all my stuff in but it didn;'t make any difference. About half of the "pattern" is from them and their two cats. about the other half is from my clumsy spilling, and urine stains from my dog. He marks over old spots, it's really been bad. the clutter is level 2 but the carpet ... man it is what makes my house so bad really.
here is what it looks like- this is why I can't tell new stains from old and why a blacklight is not EVEN needed, first picture.
I tried everything I found on the internet for cleaning the old stains out. The only thing that's worked at all so far is "scrubbing bubbles", I have been spraying it down heavy, then brushing it into the carpet, letting it sit for a minute, then I take a washcloth or sponge and scrub at it for a minute and wie it up. It has been working I think.
I'm gonna let it dry out as I go thenm spray down the oxyclean the next day, to get rid of the smell too. the oxy gets the stink but not the stains.
here is the section I did so far today. I've been getting up every hour or so from whatever I am doing and just doing a little patch at a time.
my ladnlord will NOT replace the carpet. he has said that since I took possession and moved in and was fine with it, he has no obligation to replace it. If you know of any legal way to get him to do it, I'm all ears...but I also don't want to move!
In order to rip it up I'd have to move a 150 gallon aquarium and a whole bunch of other very heavy furniture which I can't do on my own. and I cannot afford to pay labor to come in and do it.
Plus the carpet is GLUED to the floor. GLUED. the pad is gross, really disgusting but it is Glued down and I have no idea how to get it off. if this turns into a remodeling project I will just quit now as that is way more than I can handle.
I also do NOT want to pay to fix up someone else's property. no way!!! I rent, it's not my house.
seriously thinking I had to rip it out is one of the reasons I left it so bad for so lkong, it made me feel a sense of totla despair about ever having it be ok
here's a picture that shows part that I did, on the left, and part that hasn't been scrubbed, on the right. It's still not perfect but there is a big difference
I read on a website about commercial carpet dyeing, that they can't dye plastic carpeting. PLASTIC???apparently carpet can be like polyester or acrylic and all like that, I never even thought about it...so you can't dye it (that was my other bright idea) but you can "scrub it" with like stuff to scrub vinyl tile with? maybe...I couldn't make it any worse right?
Yep, just the regular old bathtub cleaner scrubby bubbles in the foam spray can. Way cheaper than natures miracle too...I can't afford that much of that stuff!
And in the picture you can see the brush I was using to kind of scrub it into the carpet, then I was wiping it back dry with the washcloth, as dry as I could.
I'm just now getting ready to spray the oxyclean pet carpet cleaner down in the places I started at yesterday that are dry, that seems to kill the smells a bit but didn't get rid of the huge stains...
I was super excited when I finished the first little test zone, it's not perfectly clean and stainless but MAN it is better than how it was
I'll have some more pics tomorrow I think, gonna go make some night snacks and sleep now...I work night shift so this is my bedtime,
here is a picture of the most recent culprit of disastsrous staining
and about my clothes dump/pile in my room: here is just one of them. there's a nother one as big as this in the bathroom, and a pile of bags full in the library/office/studio room.
I'm going to try to go through this one tonight.
note the empty bin/hamper...and that the hanging area of the closet is still full...mostly of stuff I never wear, but there's no empty hangars left for the stuff I do wear.... *le sigh*
maybe I will clear out the hangers first,
I emptied the hangers. About two thirds of what was hanging was stuff I never EVER wear. I kept a few fancy dresses and stuff. But everything else is now in a huge bag.
I'm going to donate it.
I can't do laundry daily, I have to go to the laundromat and drop stuff off. it takes a full day for them to be ready to be picked up. So there is not way I am ever doing laundry more than once a week. Even that is pushing it with my schedule...
But at least I won't have six huge bags every two months...this will force me to go more often
I'll post the pictures of my big housecleaning next
