Image credit www.safebee.com[/caption]
We’ve all been there – in an attempt to clean up a spillage or erase a stain we’ve actually ended up making it worse, or even ruining it totally – face palm!
Sometimes cleaning blunders are just unavoidable; here’s our list of the best ones we’ve come across…
(Don’t try these at home)
Laura, 45
It was one of those seriously rainy muddy days, and I had just taken my German shepherd Larry out for a walk; he was – of course – covered in mud and soaking wet, so I attempted to dry him off in the doorway but he wasn’t having any of it and bounded straight over to my cream, leather sofa.
I tried to get the mud out using saddle soap but it just seemed to rub the mud further into the sofa, turning the whole thing a dirty brown colour – not attractive! Safe to say I had to get myself a new sofa, but I do laugh about it now…
Mikaela, 22
I spilt bright red nail varnish all over my mum’s brand new cream carpet. I tried to get it out with nail polish remover but that just spread it further…
Martin, 37
My wife and I had just installed a new kitchen, and it was pretty much her pride and joy. Anyway, we had this black stone sink and the first time I attempted to clean it I figured I’d use a wire sponge to really clean it property – I wanted to surprise her with a super clean kitchen!
Little did I know the black stone wasn’t supposed to be scrubbed – it was totally ruined by the time I’d finished and we needed to get a new one (which cost an arm and a leg) – never again will I attempt to clean the kitchen!
Lucy, 52
It was my husband’s 60th birthday and we were having a big party for him in the house. I cleaned it from top to bottom and just asked my husband to polish the floor whilst I went upstairs to do my hair and make-up.
Anyway, he used Pledge furniture polish and the floor became so slick and shiny that our guests had a hard time keeping their balance!
Steve, 36
My window cleaner cancelled our appointment last minute, my mother in law was coming over and she likes to comment on the appearance of my house, so I thought heck I’ll do the windows myself.
It was January and freezing cold – around minus 3 I reckon. I got my ladder and proceeded to spray the cleaning product we use to clean our surfaces, straight onto my window; it immediately froze turning into a sort of bird-poo like paste – not attractive. Next time I’ll leave it to the professionals…
Richard, 48
I didn’t have a dishwasher growing up… anyway when I moved into my first rented flat I was really excited not to have to do the washing up by hand anymore!
After my first dinner at my new place I proceeded to fill up the dishwasher, only to find that I didn’t have any dish washer soap. I figured why wouldn’t normal liquid hand soap work just as well?
5 minutes later my entire kitchen floor was over flowing with water and soap suds – it was a nightmare getting it dry and the soap off the walls. Never to this day have I ever forgot to buy dishwasher detergent again!
Cerys, 68
My cat decided to pee all over my fluffy white bath mat. No big deal I thought – it will clean off, right?
I plonked the entire mat into the sink, ran some water over it and poured in some bleach – incidentally my eyes started to burn and I felt like I was choking… turns out I’d formed chlorine gas!
Luckily I was able to open all the windows, turn the fan on and shut the door; the bathroom stayed unused for 3 days whilst all the gas subsided…
Lorna, 49
I’d managed to snag a fantastic deal on an amazing leather jacket for my husband for his 50th birthday; needless to say he loved it and I was all set to go into the wife hall of fame.
Trouble was, it was such a nice jacket I couldn’t help but ‘borrow’ it one day when he was at work. I was doing the school run and my daughter came back with an art project (which looked a lot like a glitter bomb).
I was warm so took the jacket off and put it next to me in the front seat, with the art project safely on the floor in front of the front passenger seat. I had to do an emergency break to save a squirrel and the jacket flew forwards – guess where it landed…
Mitchell, 28
I cleaned my new toaster a little too well… I managed to scrub all the little numbers off the dial; making toast is a whole lot more interesting now…
Stephanie, 23
I washed a load of laundry, accidentally leaving a red lipstick in the pocket of one of my jackets. Everything came out a little red and patchy, but it was relatively easy to get the stains off everything except for my white bra – I figured a few red patches weren’t the end of the world so continued wearing the bra.
One day I got into a minor car accident and had to go to A and E with a dislocated shoulder – all I could think about is what the doctors thought of my bra covered in patchy lipstick – I wanted the ground to swallow me up!
