Up until very recently, we lived in a house that had laminate flooring. I had got so used to the fact that any spills could be very easily wiped up, so having carpets again has taken some readjusting (it’s so much nicer and warmer though!!).

Last weekend, I decided my nails were looking a bit shabby and needed repainting. I usually get them done at the nail bar because I am so s**t at painting them, and usually end up in a mess. I sat down on the sofa and starting painting my nails in my favourite deep purple shade. Of course, I immediately cocked them up, and whilst trying to sort out the damage, I knocked the nail polish over. All over the carpet. It didn’t even land in one splodge. Instead, it sort of sprayed out, leaving a nice big long splatter. Right on the carpet of the house we had moved into a week before. Right in front of the sofa. It couldn’t have been in a more obvious place.

We jumped up and I ran upstairs to grab my nail polish remover to dab it off. This can take some of the colour out of the carpet but because of the colour and design, it would be less noticeable than the big purple stain. It didn’t work though, and all I ended up doing was making it even worse. I started frantically googling for ways to get it out, but Graham came out of the kitchen very calmly armed with the iron and a tea towel. In my panic, I had forgotten hat he used to be a carpet fitter, so knows all sorts of tips and tricks.

He lay the tea towel over the stain and gently ironed over the top of it. You can, of course, use normal tap water, but if you find out where to buy distilled water, you can use that in your iron too.  You need to make sure you don’t leave the iron on the stain too long in case you burn the carpet, just as if you were ironing a stubborn crease on a shirt. He then lifted the towel up and gently rubbed at the stain. The steam from the iron had lifted out the nail polish.

It wasn’t absolutely perfect, but you could only spot a slightly darker patch if you looked really closely and knew what you were looking for. A week on, it’s completely gone.

I don’t ever intend to paint my own nails again, let alone sitting on the sofa, but this is definitely one cleaning tip to bear in mind!