Put Your Finger In It - Stains and Wool Carpet
You’ve got a stain on your wool carpet and Professor Google has given you a sure-fire stain removal remedy.
Now stop. I’d like you to think about wool and where it comes from.
It comes from the skin of the sheep and that skin (and the wool) contains a whole heap of protein.
Something else that also contains a whole heap of protein.
Your Own Skin.
So, to check that sure-fire stain removal remedy, stick your finger in it and leave it there.
If it burns your skin, it probably will also burn your wool carpet.
If you don’t feel safe sticking your finger in your internet concoction, then I recommend that you don’t put it on your expensive wool carpet.
It’s time to make a booking
Does WD40 contain Fish Oil?
After seeing more than one Facebook post about the WD40 ‘secret ingredient’ being fish oil, there is a lot of mis-information about WD40.
One thing that a lot of people know is that it can be a great stain remover – and it’s not because of the fish oil!!
In fact, there is no fish oil in it!
A quick visit to the website will soon put that rumour to bed. The same website will also quickly say that the ‘secret sauce’ is a 50 year old secret and it’s staying that way.
Why is WD40 a good stain remover??
Well, that is a fairly easy question to answer. And the answer is on the WD40 website’. Just look at the Material Safety Data Sheet.
In Section 3, the major ingredients are listed as hydrocarbons.
These hydrocarbons (basically a by-products of oil) are effective solvents. So, when you spray a stain with WD40, you are (sort-of) dry cleaning the stain. When you go to the dry cleaners, they use a variety of solvents during cleaning.
So why don’t more carpet cleaners use WD40?
It’s a matter of insurance. WD40 is not a stain remover – it’s a dewatering solvent. So, if something goes wrong, my insurance company won’t pay up as I wasn’t using a stain remover.
The other issue is the oil-based content of the ingredients. On a very fine white fabric, WD40 could easily leave a shadow.