help glass and oily stuff everywhere

Angelraesunshine

My little 4 year old boy has turned in to a right little boy ( i say this coming from a family of girls lol) he has had his 1st real accident of braking something but its a large glass thermometer that we got as a wedding present.

I am upset but luckly, though he was under it when it fell my DS has not a scratch on him, cant say much about the mess on carpet and up the walls though. The carpet and walls are covered with the oily stuff from the thermometer and though it is an old carpet and will be replaced (as soon as we get some money together and decided on one we both like lol) its just as you walk in how on earth can i make it look ok?

any ideas for something that will help it clean it off?

bootsalebabe

Hi thermometers contain mercury which is a toxic substance, i have just googled mercury spills and i suggest you take a look. As mercury can evaporate into the atmogphere it is hazardous to health. DO NOT hoover the carpet, there are instructions on how to clean it up and ot must be disposed of safely. If it was me i would get rid of the carpet ASAP

foreversomeday

Do you have accidental damage cover on your home insurance? You might be able to get a new carpet through that - I suppose there is still the excess to pay though.

Also if your son came into direct contact with the mercury it might be worth phoning NHS Direct to see if there's any symptoms you need to watch out for - yourself too.

floyd

What colour was the liquid inside? Mercury will only appear silvery grey and is rarely used these days so it depends how long you have had it. Red, blue or green or Gallileo thermometers will either have alcohol or mineral spirit in them so won't be as toxic.

Gingernutmeg

I once bought a Gallileo thermometer from ebay as a gift. Unfortunately the seller didn't bother to wrap the large, fragile glass object and I was woken up as seven am by a VERY angry postie who flung the dripping parcel at me and stormed off. By the time I'd woken up and realised what it was, the kitchen was absolutely covered with what I think was ethanol from the thermometer - it was greasy, stank and had run EVERYWHERE. I don't think there's any magic solution to get rid of it, I just cleaned and cleaned with hot soapy water until the grease had gone, and left the windows open until the smell went. Personally I'd just scrub the carpet, if it's going to be replaced. The walls might be trickier if they're paper, but again I'd blot off the worst and gently wash it with soapy water. Only thing I would say is that ethanol has a very low flash point so do be extemely careful with flames, cigarettes etc.

Fern_Merkin

Mercury would not stain. It would retreat in a balls formation to the lowest place as it is quite heavy and basically, in laymans terms, a liquid metal at room temperature. It's looking like you got a newer thermometer / barometer. Did you get this new or as an 'antique'?

DO NOT SMOKE WHILST SORTING THIS OUT IN THAT AREA for flammable,and/or mad as a hatter reasons

Do not vacuum, as suggested, just in case. until you are sure what was in it. It sounds like an alcohol (ethanol) based product. If so you are dealing with a dye soluble in water/alcohol. I would advise washing the area with a mix of 4 parts water, 1 part meths, a couple of drops of stardrops or washing up liquid.

If this doesn't work entirely, and it was an ethanol based thermometer, heyho you were going to redecorate anyway!

If it was mercury you wouldnt have noticed the lurking balls of potential doom (it cant stain wallpaper on it's own) And you'd have probably thort 'glad it didnt stain the wallpaper' Clean up and make that room your decorating first call.

Much Love, Fern the industrial chemist

Edit: If it is a mineral spirit type the dye may take longer to come out. If the first wash as detailed above, didnt shift much then up the anti. water 4 parts, meths 2 parts, stardrops a good squirt.. ONCE AGAIN, DO NOT SMOKE WHILST MIXING THIS OR USING IT. Also dispose of the remains of the mixture by flushing out with at least 10 times water to what is left.

Then redecorate, you know you want to

Fern_Merkin

As a carry on from the decorating. Use a reputable paint. Not necessarily the 'best' ie more expensive. Travis Perkins, B&Q, Homebase, et al standard range tend to be ok. DO NOT BE TEMPTED BY WOOLIES OR SUPERMARKET BRANDS. I say this, without giving away who I make paint for. Trust me 1 bucket here or there ain't gonna make a difference to the xmas bonus. Quality sells.

What I do know is that we've had in for testing,several paints from companies that aren't known for selling paint usually. They were cr4p. It's the kind of paint you only buy once. Then you rue your mistake and buy the cheapest from reputable sellers and wonder why that £2 was so important in the first place.

Trust me. I'm a surface coatings technician with special needs, cares and worries in the paint dept. Just wish I could be 4rsed doin my own

Angelraesunshine

Thank you for the replies, goodness no it was not a mercury thermometer it was a galileo thermometer and a large one. No one smokes in my house so that was not a problem.

well i used kitchen towel to rub off the walls and tried soaking it up a bit from the carpet after that i have hoovered the glass up. Have this morning sent the DH to the woods with the 3 kiddies to get them out the house so i can hoover again then i am gonna get the stardrops out and a big bucket of warm water and see if i can do anything, the smell is not too bad now but i really noticed it when i cooked my dinner last night.

Good thing DH has said we can got o B&Q and have a look at there wallpaper and paints as there is a sale on or something. but the carpet is going to have to wait until after xmas i would think as it is a large room to redo as we had just knocked it from 2 rooms in to one.

Angelraesunshine

Fern_Merkin wrote: »

As a carry on from the decorating. Use a reputable paint. Not necessarily the 'best' ie more expensive. Travis Perkins, B&Q, Homebase, et al standard range tend to be ok. DO NOT BE TEMPTED BY WOOLIES OR SUPERMARKET BRANDS. I say this, without giving away who I make paint for. Trust me 1 bucket here or there ain't gonna make a difference to the xmas bonus. Quality sells.

What I do know is that we've had in for testing,several paints from companies that aren't known for selling paint usually. They were cr4p. It's the kind of paint you only buy once. Then you rue your mistake and buy the cheapest from reputable sellers and wonder why that £2 was so important in the first place.

Trust me. I'm a surface coatings technician with special needs, cares and worries in the paint dept. Just wish I could be 4rsed doin my own

Thank you for your advice