It’s day 8 of my 10 days of Halloween activities posts and….Well, I skipped day 7 and this activity probably won’t rank very high on your to do lists. Why? Well, first let me tell you a story. Yesterday, I left my husband at home with my 2 year old while I took my 12 year old dog to the groomer. Why did she have to go to get groomed? Because that 2 year old helped me make GF Apple Cinnamon pancakes yesterday and, when I turned around to flip the pancakes on the skillet, he grabbed a measuring cup, dipped it into the rest of the batter, and sprinkled it all over my poor elderly pup….then, she pooped in her cage. So anyways, I pull up to our house and my husband runs outside in a panic….HELP is all he said and he tore back into the house. My heart started pounding – omg, what happened? I sprint into the house and am approached by my LO. “Momma paint”, he says, paint all over his feet, legs, and hands. Uh oh……yup… PAINT EVERYWHERE! You may be thinking, no big deal, those washable paints come out so well….which most do. But this was not washable paint – it was acrylic – like the kind you would use to paint a birdhouse to hang outside or something…..Here it is….
So, I want you to take note of all of the colors. Red, purple, brown, and neon orange. He must have had a blast shaking the bottles around and flinging that purple one. He even had time to grab a paint brush and paint the tiles surrounding our fireplace. Wow – what a master piece!
So, you can probably imagine what I was thinking….Husband…How long was my LO alone? First, those paints were not in reach so he had to climb up and dig them out. Second, they were unopened so he had to learn how to unscrew the tops and pull off the little tab thing. OMG, you cannot leave a 2 year old all alone downstairs while you’re upstairs handling a business call. Oh well, c’est la vie 🙂 AND we actually got it up pretty well. So, if there’s ever a time when you walk into your family room and there’s acrylic paint everywhere follow these steps….
How to Get Acrylic Paint off of the Carpet
KEEP IT WET! The only way you even have a chance of getting it cleaned up is to keep it wet. I immediately sent my husband to the store to rent a powerful carpet cleaner. In the meantime, I filled up a spray bottle with water and doused all of the paint, then blotted it up with paper towel, then doused it, etc. THE MOST IMPORTANT AREAS to keep we are the areas where the paint is super thin (like the areas my son painted with the paint brush and his foot prints, etc) because those will dry really fast and then the paint is permanent. I didn’t blot those areas, just sprayed them to keep them wet.
My husband got back with the carpet cleaner and it surprisingly picked up the paint really well. We ran over it about 3 times. I’ll try and post a picture of after…there’s just a hint of purple/red/brown/orange….not too bad – I mean really, I thought it was going to be much worse…
So anyways, this was my sons day 8 of 10 Halloween activities….I’m actually thinking we’ll bake tomorrow instead of painting his trick-or-treat bag like I had planned…..
I ALWAYS use large plastic mover’s furniture wrap for my art classes. I roll it out covering entire space, where the activities will be held, securing around with strong large tape or mover’s tape. Best is marker tape, cause it comes off really easy, yet it holds the plastic sheet to the floor really well, impossible for tot to upeel.
Plastic wrap- 8$ in our local storage room. it’s huge and is possible to cover to protect our room from the wall to the wall, including the (beautiful) sofa 🙂
Otherwise, sodium natrium and vinegar helps to fight the paint. May also try vodka. Dissolves the paint stains quite easy, plus desinfects.
Great suggestion! I have some of that plastic in the basement. The vodka tip is interesting! I definitely always have some of that on hand 🙂 Thanks for the tips!