Do you ever get those emails touting some “miracle” device or item that you can find under the kitchen sink? Usually it’s something like baking soda or vinegar, or even water for that matter. It’s usually something you’ve used on a weekly or monthly basis all your life, yet you never knew it had such possibilities. I mean, did you know that adding a small amount of vinegar to your animal’s drinking water can control fleas and mange? Or that you can make a paste of baking soda and water to remove the plastic from the bread bag that you didn’t realize was still atop the toaster when you were sleepily fixing the kids’ Eggos the other day? Actually, now that I think about it, you probably did know those things, because I’m sure you have received the emails too. Though if you are like me, you also probably had your doubts.
I think I receive the majority of these emails from my mom. She tends to pass along these pearls of wisdom, probably with the intent of somehow making life better for me. This means, it came as no surprise to find one in my inbox last Monday. This time it was WD-40. As I skimmed through the anecdote, history and uses, I paused for a moment at use number 7. “Removes lipstick stains.” Interesting, yet doubtful. Then, 35 uses later, I hit number 42. “If you’ve washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate the lipstick spots and presto! Lipstick is gone! Could this be true? Did it really say that all the work clothes I spoiled early in my marriage to my husband could have been miraculously saved? Could WD-40 really remove my beloved Chanel Ingenue from his Kenneth Cole slacks? THIS would have been good to know seven years ago! Still, I am a lipstick girl to the core, so my daughters, not surprisingly, have found and used my lipsticks on things other than their lips. The latest being Zoe and a tube of Crazed on the bedroom floor’s carpet. When I saw it, it pained me because I have thrown out dozens of clothes with the notion that NOTHING would ever get those stubborn stains out. Since we are renters I figured we would have to go through great lengths to remove it in order to get our deposit back. In fact, a few months back when I had the carpets cleaned I asked the guy about the stain and he said he would try his best but that if I really wanted him to remove it it would be an additional forty bucks! Um… No thanks!
All that to say, I read number 47 and thought, hey, we have a small can of WD-40, WHY NOT TRY??? I dug into my husband’s tool box and retrieved the pint ounce sized can and gave it a go. I sprayed it generously on the stain and waited. After about five minutes I got a clean dry rag and blotted the stain. It definitely brought out some of the lipstick but I wasn’t satisfied. So I SCRUBBED. I know, I know, you are never supposed to scrub but I did it… and guess what? After about thirty seconds of scrubbing, the stain was completely GONE! GONE I SAY!!! Seriously, there is not even an inkling of lipstick anywhere! In fact, I dare any forensic pathologist to come to my house and try to prove that we had an “unfortunate lipstick accident” in my bedroom. Okay, I don”t really dare you, but still. It’s gone! I am so excited about this newfound remedy that I just had to share. I mean, color me impressed! WD-40 to remove lipstick? Who would’ve thunk it?? Now to dig out those few items of clothing (of mine!) that I stowed away in hopes that one day we would find a cure! Hello, Betsey Johnson pants!!! Anyway, just another wonderful tidbit I had to share.
Oh, and I went to Snopes and apparently the makers of WD-40 don’t exactly endorse the fact that their “secret potion” removes lipstick but I tell you, IT DOES! I wish I had taken before and after pictures (darn camera!) so you could see for yourselves. Maybe I will with the pants… but still I’m a believer, so if you are in the habit of leaving your lipstick in your pocket and ruuning it through the laundry…. then please, do me a favor and pick yourself up a can of WD-40. OH, and just a note to that carpet dude… I’ll go ahead and pass on that “special $40 treatment”!
Ahhh, chemistry! Actually, the oil binds with the oil of the lipstick. You might want to use a detergent to remove the WD-40 from the carpet so it doesn’t attract other oils or dirt. The detergent will help the oil become more attracted to water and lift it from the carpet.
(Did I ever post about how we had to remove mahogany stain from ALL over my front room carpet? I was very glad to be married to a chemical engineer that day, I tell you!)
I read that as well. WD-40 rocks.
Oh I also found out that if you ever get tar on you or know someone who does…use mayonaisse to get it off the skin.