Aargh! Lily pollen!

[Optimist1]

I know, I know, I should have disposed of the flowers my lovely DIL gave me before they were on the verge of disintegration, but I didn't, and whilst carrying them out to the kitchen some of the petals fell on my lovely pale carpet. Pollen marks

In a panic, I whisked out the Dr Beckmann carpet shampoo, but things have got worse ... stains now five times larger than originally, and with the look of a Vindaloo Accident.

Is there anything I can do to rectify matters?

(Am about to go out for the afternoon, but am hoping to see some foolproof suggestion on my return!)

Ooh - not good. For future reference, do not, under any circumstances wet pollen with anything. Use sticky tape or a lint roller to pick it up then carefully vacuum over the area it to get up any last tiny bits, but hold the vacuum nozzle over the area instead of roller the vac over it or rubbing a brush attachment over it to be sure it is sucked out rather than rubbed in.

Try a carpet stain remover, like 1001 Troubleshooter, and a white cloth or towel and follow the instructions working from the outside of the area in. That worked miraculously for me on red wine on a cream carpet, so worth a try. I would spray over the area and leave it a few minutes being trying to work the stain out. Whatever you do, don't spread it any further by working from the inside out.

Alternatively, you could try speaking to a local carpet cleaning firm and seeing what they suggest.

I think you should call in the professionals before you rub the carpet and make it all fluffy.

Does the sellotape suggestion work on clothes too?

Sorry op, I wallow in the same lily-stained misery pool as you

If its not rubbed in yes, It's best to cut the stamens off tbh.

Lilies are fatally to poisonous to cats.

I was at a friends house, but have to say it has never occurred to me to just snip the evil little orange bastards off

Thank you! I will follow wow's advice and if that fails, Fluffy's.

And being a cat-owner, I was aware of the danger to cats, so had snipped off the stamens on all the blooms except one rogue one at the back, which I didn't spot.

That'll teach me!

Lillies are best in pots in the garden!
They make DD2 sneeze as well as being messy.

Yes Whereis, sticky tape works on anything you get pollen on, providing you haven't rubbed it in or got it wet. Lint roller worked brilliantly on curtains my OH got pollen on by not moving the vase when he drew them round the vase. Eejit.

On carpet, there is also the chance that the sun will bleach out the stain over time - sounds barmy, but it can do that.

Go easy on the carpet when trying to get the mark out so you don't spoil the finish. Maybe try a bit of the mark and if it doesn't seem to be working, call in the professionals. If it does, persevere with the rest.

Yy to sunshine removing pollen stains from clothes. Is the stain in a part of the carpet that gets the sun?

Yy to sunshine removing pollen stains from clothes. Is the stain in a part of the carpet that gets the sun?

Well, well, well ... I didn't take any further action yesterday, apart from vacuuming. After that, the stain was still fairly noticeable, but having been out all day today, I was hard-pushed to see where it was! Close examination reveals it, but I'm hopeful that a bit more sunshine combined with a bit more wear and vacuuming will mean I'm out of Pollen Hell. Take it as read that I will never make that mistake again!

Thanks for replies, all.

Just to let you all know, and speaking as someone who's just tried to wash pollen out of the carpet (idiot!) eucalyptus oil gets it out.

It actually gets mascara off the carpet as well plus it's bloody marvelous at getting wood chip wallpaper backing off. Just getting it out there! X