Removing Stink Bug Stains From Curtains {Or Nesting Part 1}

Well, we officially know that we are not moving. Steve wants me to wait to disclose all of the details, but suffice it to say, we have a peace and excitement about the things coming nest.

This means that I can finally give in to the bits of nesting instincts I've been experiencing. Actually, it means I've gone into overdrive mode in my desire to get everything clean and into place. Unfortunately, I'm feeling like I'm back in my first trimester again with fatigue and nausea. It's very difficult to bend over without vomiting or coming close to it, so that makes things difficult. Thankfully, I've got three things going for me right now; 1. My sister lives with me and actually enjoys working/organizing, especially because some of the work that needs to be done involves her moving to a slightly larger bedroom. 2. We've "hired" my fifteen year old brother for the summer. He does basically anything we ask him to do and is earning himself an Alienware laptop. He's thrilled and is super willing. 3. I know that I can do a little bit at a time, and other than having it done by the time the baby gets here (and some of it by the day of my baby shower, which is at my house), there's no pressure to get it done all at once.

So my goal is to go room by room. Below is my list of things to do. The red are things I want to get done before the shower and the blue are things that can wait until the baby comes. It's hard to feel like I'm accomplishing anything, even when I am, because we have all sorts of extra things in here right now including the baby's dresser and a bunch of baby things.

CleaningLiving Room

Clean couches

wash curtains

Dust ceilings, fans, and vents

Wash pillows and blankets

clean area rug

vacuum

wipe down walls

dust everything

clean out storage chest

get rid of steve's old shoes

put other shoes away

clean out underneath coffee table

clean out underneath couches

clean Finn's crate and bed

Anyway, today I wanted to share how I got these nasty stink bug stains out of my curtains. Where we live we get tons of stink bugs, particularly in the fall. Last year when we were getting the house ready for listing on the market, we were fixing the screen in the sliding door. Steve banged it against the ground a few times to shake any dirt out of the metal frame, and literally hundreds of dead stink bugs fell out. Probably years worth,

Excuse the messiness :/

They like to hang out around our windows, and since we have TONS of them in the living room, sometimes they seem to overwhelm us. They crawl along the curtains and crawl inside the curtain rod pocket (is there another name for that part of the curtain? I can't think of one), and often die there leaving a brown stain. I found about five dead ones when I took down all of the curtains. 

 So I googled stink bugs stains, but couldn't find much about how to get them out of fabric. I did find something that mentioned peroxide, and somebody had suggested it on Facebook when I asked for help, so I tried a mixture. First I pulled all eight curtain panels down. I did this when no one else was around which was good because I got reprimanded by my husband when I put them back up because I was climbing on chairs and the back of the couch. Apparently he wasn't too concerned because he let me finish, although he did help me in some spots. :)

You can even see some of the stains in this shot.

With that many curtain panels, it was difficult to find something to soak them in. At first I tried a large stainless steel bowl until my sister suggested a plastic tote.  

I added a combination of baking soda, peroxide and dish soap, then filled the bucket with enough hot water to cover the curtains. Then I soaked them for about an hour. I didn't do any scrubbing, just soaked. 

After they soaked, I wrung them out and put them in the washer on a "Heavy Duty" cycle. It created a ton of suds, but rinsed clean. I was so happy with the results. I checked each curtain panel for remaining stains and only found one. Luckily, it was small, and you can't even see it once the curtain was hung back up. 

 Overall, I was really pleased with the result and would definitely do it again. In fact, I'll probably have to do  it again because I've already had to remove two stink bugs since washing the curtains. It also inspired me for a way to do one of the other things on my list, cleaning my area rug, but that's a post for another day.