A Toddler, A Couch, and Dish Liquid

With children, you never know what the day has in store for you. With a toddler, take a deep breath, gear up, and never take your eyes off the little stinker tike! I'm sure the title of the post says enough, but I'll tell the tale anyway. There is no picture for this post because, after the incident occurred, I stood there for several minutes trying to figure out whether to laugh or cry or scream.

After our grocery shopping trip last night, M2 was helping me put things away. Although, our organizing styles are vastly different. I may find a can of beans in the refrigerator later. He is only 21 months. We were almost finished when IB asked for my help at the computer. I left M2 alone for just a few minutes and I could even hear that he went into the living room with NG and LJ. But I should know by now that when the kids are watching television, they are oblivious to what is going on...even right next to them. It wasn't long before I heard the familiar "MOM! You need to come in here!"

M2 had poured out half of a new bottle of dish liquid on the couch and ottoman. It took me a moment to tame my response. NG confiscated the bottle from him. I gently removed M2 from the mess and told him that he had made a big mess and I was not happy. He just smiled his sweet smile and all was forgiven. He is "the baby", after all.

But I was still left standing there trying to figure out where to even start. After a brief period of closed eyes and deep breathing, I had NG scrape off as much as he could into a bowl while I wiped down the leather ottoman. That was the easy part. What to do with the couch? The dish liquid had also run down in between the cushions and onto the rug. Have you ever tried to clean a microfiber couch covered in dish liquid?? Even though I knew what would happen, I tried using a damp dishcloth to wipe it off. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. Rinse...well, you get the idea. Of course, that just made suds and the fabric was still full of soap. Ahhhh! It was time for the hobbits to go to bed so I decided I'd deal with it the next day.

Fortunately for me, my mother showed up unexpectedly at my door this morning. She knew just what to do, as usual. She convinced me to take the covers off and put them in my front-loading washer. We did a rinse-only cycle on low. About half-way through, we opened the washer and scooped out as much of the foamy suds as possible and then let it finish. It worked! We dried the covers on Ultra Delicate and put one of them them back on. Good as new! The other cushion needed to have one corner rinsed out with my sink sprayer and it's drying right now.

So, if you ever find yourself with a microfiber couch covered in dish liquid, now you know what to do. But what are the chances that it would happen to someone else?