Shannon Lush Jennifer Fleming - Spotless 2: More Room-by-Room Solutions to Domestic Disasters

Shannons story

Im a wife to my wonderful husband, Rick, and a mother to my beautiful daughters, Tamara and Erin (and anybody else who will let me mother them, too). I am also an artist and fine arts restorer who works in 27 different mediums. I love to collect handy hints and to understand the chemistry behind them. Every week I take talkback questions on numerous radio programs around the country, and so far I have never been stumped by a how to question relating to the home. I enjoy coming up with creative solutions to everyday problems, from removing stains to finding alternative uses for old banana peels, tea bags and even dental floss, and I love it when other people get a kick out of the wonder and beauty I find in the simplest things. Some of my solutions are quirky, some are hilarious, but all of them have a practical bent. I would love to be available to answer all of your stain questions 24/7 but as thats just not possible, I hope this book fills in the gaps and gives you the answers you need.

Jennifers story

When it comes to cleaning, I admit that Im a late bloomer. As a child, I didnt spend hours at my mothers side learning the domestic arts. But that also meant I was at a bit of a loss when dealing with a spill or stain. Ive now embraced the cleaning and stain removal techniques outlined in this and our other books. And while I wouldnt describe my house as spotless (Im not a neat freak), its clean, comfortable and hygienic. If you look inside my cleaning cupboard, youll find bicarb and white vinegar no smelly packaged cleaners for me! Also sitting on the cleaning shelf are lemon oil, lavender oil and, of course, oil of cloves. And the best thing: the transition to this way of cleaning and stain removal has been easy and saved me money. Good luck in removing your stains I hope you find this book helpful.

It doesnt matter how careful you are, at some stage youll have to deal with a stain. It could be soy sauce on your shirt, red wine on your carpet, pen marks on your couch, a scratch on your timber table, curry on your benchtop, a water stain in your toilet, bird droppings on your deck or grease on your drivewaythe list of possible stains is almost endless. When we wrote Spotless, we didnt include every stain imaginable because the book would have been too heavy to hold in one hand (while you cleaned with the other). Our aim was to give a general overview of common household stains with easy-to-follow instructions on how to fix themall with a fun approach.

Spotless 2 contains hundreds of brand new stains, updates and revisions, as well as some Spotless classics. It includes reallife questions from people whove called ABC radio from all over Australia. Other questions have come through our Stain Clinics, our website www.homepalette.com.au and Shannons magazine and newspaper columns. Theres a whole chapter devoted to common clothing stains and an extended chapter on carpet stains. Theres even a chapter of cleaning formulas with a stain diagnosis guide to help you work out what is in the stain.

We hope Spotless 2 helps you solve more of your domestic disasters. Whatever you do, dont stress about it. Stains happen! And so does stain removal.

Spotless 2 is set out a bit like a cookbook. It has lists of ingredients or cleaning items followed by stain removal recipes, and these methods need to be followed exactly. You cant substitute one cleaning ingredient for another, just as you cant replace sugar with salt, or add extra eggs to a cake batter and expect the texture to be the same. Stain removal solutions are not interchangeable. Each chapter has an overview of various surfaces and materials and we strongly recommend that you read these before attempting any stain removal.

There are other guidelines to keep in mind. More is not better. You dont want to create a ski-field with bicarb; use it sparingly, the way you would dust icing sugar on a cake. Dont tip a whole container of white vinegar over your carpet or it will create another stain. If in doubt about a stain removal technique, first do a test on an area that no one can see. And dont throw just anything on a stain and wonder why its worse than ever. Each thing you add changes the chemical signature of the stain and has to be removed before the right solvent can be applied. Work out what the stain is, what the surface is made of, determine the correct solvent and then apply just enough to remove the stain. Even though youre using less toxic cleaning items, because theyre undiluted they can be very strong, so never overdo it!