Living with toddlers can be a real challenge. They’re into everything and can cause some real chaos. Even if you watch them closely, they can manage to get into mischief and cause some real damage to your home or furniture. Here’s what to do for these classic toddler disasters to help you clean

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They’ve Drawn On The Walls

There are a few ways to get pen ink off the walls if your toddler has turned to graffiti art. Spray the ink stains with a hairspray that contains alcohol, and then wipe gently with a white cloth. Use a clean section of cloth each time you wipe so you don’t smudge the stain. You could also try putting white toothpaste over the marks. Leave for ten minutes, then wipe off with a clean white cloth. For difficult inks, like ballpoint pen, you could try rubbing alcohol. 

 

They’ve Tipped Paint On The Rug

If crafts time has taken a messy turn and ended up with paint tipped on your favorite rug, don’t panic. If the paint is still wet, blot it with a paper towel. Don’t scrub, or you’ll push the paint further into the rug. If the paint is set in, bring in a company like Devine Rug Cleaning who will be able to advise you on what to use to lift the stain and rent out the proper equipment to do so. 

 

They’ve Mashed Play Dough Into The Carpet

Toddlers love play dough, but unfortunately they also have very short attention spans. A child happily playing with play dough one minute can have decided to drop it and mash it into the carpet. Vacuum up as much as of the dough as you can before it dries. 

 

Dampen a cloth with hot water, and place the cloth over the play dough. Leave the cloth to sit for about an hour, to soften the remaining dough. Next, when the play dough is dry, with a stiff brush, brush the carpet to remove the small pieces of dough. Just be careful not to brush out any pieces of carpet. If there’s still some left, you can use more play dough to stick to the dough stuck in the carpet and lift it out. 

 

They’ve Covered Everything In Nappy Cream

You left the room for two minutes after a nappy change and came back in to find the baby, the walls, the furniture and the carpet are now covered in nappy cream. The best thing to wash everything (including the toddler) is dish washing detergent. The detergent is designed to strip oils, so will lift the cream without leaving oily marks behind. 

 

If the carpet is badly stained, you can remove the stains with a steam clean, which you can do yourself with a hot iron. 

 

They’ve Got Gum In Their Hair

They’ve got gum stuck in their hair, or the hair of a sibling. Do not squish the gum more into the hair. Instead, run an ice cube over it to freeze it, then you can try to brush out the gum.