The Devil Dog and the Miracle Cleaning Product

Take a look at this sweet face:

She looks so innocent, doesn't she? Like she couldn't hurt a fly? Well take it from someone who knows: she certainly wouldn't hurt anything (not on purpose, anyway), but she's far from innocent. I've bemoaned the trials and tribulations this crazy dog has put us through before, so I won't bore you silly with yet another laundry list of all the things she has destroyed and food she has stolen.

Instead, let me regale you with another tale of the Devil Dog's Destruction, and inform you of a new miracle cleaning product! (well, new to me, anyway).

So about a month ago Bill and I made fried okra (yumm) and stupidly left the container of used vegetable oil on the counter overnight (thinking it would be wise to let it cool down before disposing of it). Somehow or other Snowball (aka Devil Dog) discovered it while we were sleeping and decided to dispose of it herself. In her tummy, of course.

So we awoke the next day to two very large oil-throw-up stains on our carpet. I didn't realize it was oil until about 15 minutes later when I actually witnessed her puking up massive amounts of used vegetable oil myself. I won't even bother to tell you how high that registered on the "Eww Gross" Scale. Naturally, vomited oil on carpet does not look so nice:

Yes, those are as large and disgusting in real life as they look in the picture.

I have tried everything I could think of: every pet-bodily-function-stain-remover available, all the typical Resolve-type carpet cleaners (would you believe that oil actually repels that stuff...I watched it slide right off the stain and onto the carpet that wasn't stained), and even renting a steam cleaner with the accompanying chemicals. Nothing worked. We thought about getting rid of the carpet (which is actually a 12 x 14 "rug" over wood, which came with the house), but it's been there so long the wood underneath has faded. We thought about replacing it, but carpets/rugs that size are way more expensive than we want to spend right now. We tried rotating the carpet to see if the stains would be hidden under the couch, but they ended up in even more prominent space. We thought about covering them both with smaller throw rugs, but they are both in weird positions in the middle of walk space.

This has been driving me BONKERS. I could hardly stand to be in my own living room for the sight of these disgusting stains. And my resentment towards the Devil Dog was growing every time I laid eyes on them.

Until last weekend when on a last-ditch effort I once again googled "remove vegetable oil from carpet". I came across many, many suggestions---some quite outlandish! One site promotes WD-40 (you know, that oily stuff you use to get rid of squeaks in hinges) as a way to "reactivate" the oil and thus get rid of it. Um, egads.

But I did see one post from someone on a message board who tried a product called Capture, available at Home Depot. This person swore by it. As it happens we were at Home Depot on Sunday, and it was pretty inexpensive so I thought may as well try it, if it doesn't work at least I'm only out 15 bucks. 

I'm excited to report to you that this stuff WORKS!!!! It consists of a spray you mist on the stain, a powder you sprinkle over it, and a brush you use to rub the powder in deeply. Let it all dry and vacuum with your own regular vacuum cleaner, and voila! They should have named it Stains-Be-Gone.

So glad I found this stuff!!! Now I don't have to kill the dog. Until next time, of course...

Check out the after pic (with my adorable and perfectly well-behaved Cloudy making a cameo):