101 things to do with Soak | 034 Wool is wool.

Author: Jacqueline

We often get questions related to the effects of using Soak on less common textiles. These requests usually come in the form of ‘well, I’ll try, I’ve got nothing to lose and if it doesn’t work, it was ruined/ old/ garbage anyhow…’. Sometimes it’s ‘can I soak the veil from my grandmother’s wedding gown? It’s old and yellow, and if it doesn’t’ work, it’s garbage anyhow’. Fortunately, these letters are often followed by raving success stories of lovely weddings including gramma’s veil, or otherwise destitute fabrics getting a second life.

This week, I had my very own ‘I might as well try Soak, or I throw it out anyhow’ moment with our spare room carpet. The artistically inclined teenager moved out and left a myriad of purple spotted stains on my favourite throw rug. I knew I was taking a risk leaving the rug in the room, but I neither had anywhere else to put it, nor wanted to move it from its destined home. Plus, she liked the rug, and it’s just a rug.

Luckily I had taken a bottle of Unleash from the ‘friends and family‘ shelf just the other day. So, I got down on my hands and knees, well, sort of, as I am still with a broken ankle and cast, so it was more of a sideways sit and started to scrub.  I put some Soak on a scotch brite pad, and off I went. To my shock and pleasure, the agitation caused by the scrubbing was just enough to gently open the fibers, squeeze in some Soak and release the ‘purple spots’, whatever they were, from the rug.  I used a damp cloth to blot the spot, gave it a quick rub to restore the threads and was off to the next spot. 

I didn’t rinse it out or work it for very long- just long enough to saturate the fibers in question and loosen the stain right on out. Who knew? Wool is wool after all, and Soak worked just as well on my carpet, as it does on my favourite sweaters. 

Yippee! My carpet looks newer than new.

Send us your Soak ‘who knew it would work’ stories. We’ve got a favourite from a friend’s mom who Soaked her living room curtains new again.  Sadly she forgot to take the before and after photos, so don’t forget those when you send in your submissions! We look forwarding to sharing your stories too.