LESLIE: Kathleen in Georgia needs help with a stain-removal project. What’s going on?
KATHLEEN: Yes. I have a rough color, leather sofa and I have an oil stain that – like a bath oil stain – that’s in it and I was wondering: how can I get it out? It just seems to keep spreading and spreading.
LESLIE: Is it a recent stain or has it been there a little while?
KATHLEEN: It’s been there about a week.
LESLIE: OK. I think you might still be in the window where this trick could work. You’re probably going to have to do the whole process many, many, many times so go to the store and buy a big box of corn starch.
KATHLEEN: Uh-huh.
LESLIE: And then what you want to do is you want to sprinkle the corn starch – you know, a good amount of it – onto where the oil stain is on the leather. Then, you need to use your fingers to rub the corn starch really, really briskly into the stain – on the leather – until you can feel the heat from your finger – you know, friction against the leather.
KATHLEEN: Uh-huh.
LESLIE: And that heat is going to loosen the oil that’s into the leather and sort of allow that corn starch that you’ve applied to the stain to absorb the oil out of the leather. And then once you’ve sort of worked that first batch, you want to vacuum the area or brush all that powder off and sort of see your success measure and then just keep doing the process. That should do the trick. If it’s really in there and you’re just working and working and it isn’t happening, you’re going to have to bring it to a pro to sort of work on that stain a little bit more.
KATHLEEN: OK. Because when it first happened, I put some talcum powder, like the baby power on there …
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
KATHLEEN: … and let it sit for a little while but I didn’t rub it in like you …
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
KATHLEEN: … were saying, doing the corn starch.
LESLIE: Yeah, the corn starch is going to be the most absorbative (ph).
KATHLEEN: OK. Alright then. I will try that and I certainly appreciate it.
LESLIE: Gosh, good luck.
KATHLEEN: Alright. Thank you.
TOM: Thanks so much for calling us, Kathleen, at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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