Couple of quick q's

Lordhightiggythe3rd

Anyone know of good os ways to descale a kettle and to clean carpets as for the price of descaler i could buy a new kettle
and my LO is feeding herself so the carpet gets messy quite frequently despite me putting down sheets to try to prevent this
Cheers in advance

rosie383

Maybe be a good idea to just let the wee one feed herself in one place only. I take it she is in a high chair? Restrict all food to that place and put a plastic sheet down under it.
Poundland an Home Bargains do a brill carpet stain shampoo mousse thing called Xanto. In a big pink aerosol can. It will remove almost anything. Goes a long way for just a quid.

rosieben

I use cider vinegar to descale the kettle; boil it up 2 or 3 times if needed. The vinegar can be reused, just pour into big jug, leave to stand and the sediment sinks to the bottom. Make sure you get rid of the vinegar taste afterwards by rinsing the kettle well and boil up with fresh water once or twice before you make tea or coffee!

can't help with the carpet but someone will be along

eta - forgot to say, I'm sure any vinegar would do the job so try ordinary malt if you have it

rosie383

Can you use normal malt vinegar too? My kettle needs to be done too, and I have a big bottle of malt vinegar that no-one likes.

seabright

I've used vinegar on a showerhead, that worked really well, so I'm sure it would work on a kettle. I stood the shower head in a jug of (white - is that relevant?) vinegar all day and when I removed it, it looked like nothing had happened and the vinegar hadn't worked. But, as soon as I touched the scale, it just turned to a sort of wet dust and washed away without any scrubbing, just me rubbing it with my fingers.

To save the carpets, what about a bit piece of oil cloth? Our local curtain/soft furnishing shop sells it by the metre. Would that work for you?

Lordhightiggythe3rd

cheers guys i am gonna look at a plastic sheet or similar to stop it happening but just need to tidy up the carpet as we rent dont wanna get stuck with a bill for a new carpet

FatVonD

For the carpet I'd use washing powder and a really well wrung out cloth (so it doesn't get soaked) and rub from all directions so you get the pile from all angles.

marmiterulesok

Hi,

To descale a kettle,half fill with clear vinegar then top up with water and leave overnight.Pour away the liquid in the morning,refill with water and boil.

A heavily scaled kettle might need this treatment more than once.

HTH.

emiff6

Can I just add a caveat:

if you're going to boil vinegar in a kettle, don't fill the kettle full. The vinegar/limescale reaction will froth a lot, and that boiling froth will jet out of the spout if the kettle is full.

seabright

If you want thick plastic sheeting as a carpet protector, try your local DIY stop. I'm sure we've bought some before to protect the carpet when decorating

BitterAndTwisted

Any old vinegar will descale a kettle. You can put enough in it to cover the element and leave it overnight but I'm impatient so always switch the kettle on until is starts boiling, switch it off and then leave to cool.

For grubby carpets I'd always give it a go with a solution of biological laundry-detergent and tepid water first before buying any specialist product.