Ask the forum: Help removing an odd stain

Aida

Soooooo my canvas flats got slug on them. Yes, a slug slimed all over the side of my shoe. It's SO VERY STICKY! I can't get it off. Any ideas?

13 years ago

General

15 replies

Latest reply was from Aida

Deborah

Veteran

Not speaking from experience Aida but my immediate thought was warm soapy water. Lux flakes are supposed to be very gentle. Good luck,

13 years ago

Queen Mum

Veteran

oxy clean is my go to miracle worker. get the stick with the nubs and try that.

I might also try a solvent like fingernail polish remover. I've googled but can't find anything about slug slime on clothes.

hmmm, what about salt though.. it desolved snails in their tracks... maybe it might disolve the slime on your shoes.

13 years ago

Queen Mum

Veteran

ha- just found this. white wine certainly can't hurt.. either you or your shoes

Tip: Slug Slime Stain Removal from Carpet
If slugs have invaded your home, you’ll want to get an exterminator in right away. These nasty creatures leave a trail of slime behind that is difficult to remove. Here’s an easy tip for cleaning carpet stains caused by slug slime: pour a little white wine on the problem. Blot with a sponge and the stain should disappear. When you’re done with that, pour a glass for yourself!

ewww...I'm thinking though if you have a slug infestation in your house, it's time to move. Yuck!

13 years ago

elpgal

Veteran

Can you freeze the shoe and then rub the flakes away. But it guess, it depends on whether the slime has penetrated the fabric. I am quite fond of the little critters

13 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

YUCK.

If it's sticky, there's a product called Goo-gone. Not sure if it is for stuff like this, but it works great on other sticky things.

13 years ago

Kari

Veteran

GooGone was my immediate thought, too. I haven't tried it on canvas clothing so you might want to do a test patch. It works wonders on surfaces, though.

Sorry about the slug slime on the shoes!

13 years ago

ironkurtin

Veteran

Shout it out!

13 years ago

Jjsloane

Veteran

I'd try a mist of water and the salt (it will disintegrate the slug so why not their trail?) and set out in the sun to disinfect. I'm fascinated by the wine method though...

13 years ago

kellygirl

Veteran

Gosh, let us know what works. I haven't had this problem yet. Good luck!

13 years ago

Vani

Veteran

I don't really know if this will work for slug slime but my colleague was raving about the stain removing power of Wet Ones ( non-alcoholic). And I'm a believer because it completely removed lipstick stains from my B&W plaid skirt !

13 years ago

Aida

Veteran

Thanks for all the great ideas ladies (and sorry for the late reply, had a very busy weekend). I ended up blotting gently with warm water, and then washing gently with warm water and a little Oxy Clean. Once the water dried, the slime that was left on the sole solidified and I was able to peel it right off; there is still some slime shine on the canvas, but it's no longer sticky at least. I'm going to try a light salt spray tonight and hopefully that'll melt off the rest of it.

Kim, don't worry there aren't slugs invading my house; I was outside standing on the bark, but it was nighttime so I couldn't see that there was a slug

13 years ago

Kari

Veteran

Aida, this is off topic, but once we thought we had a slug invade our house - we found a slug in the middle of the kitchen, and the strange thing was that the slime trail started in the *middle* of the kitchen floor, so we couldn't tell where it had come from. Then my dog wandered by, and it became pretty clear that she had somehow rolled over on a slug, which got stuck to her hair, and it fell off once she came in the house. Needless to say, we had a pretty nasty mess to clean up on her! I think we ended up using baby shampoo.

13 years ago

Aida

Veteran

Oh Kari, that sounds like a mess! My sister's dog comes over to play in our yard and she rolls in EVERYTHING she can Happily no slugs have been brought inside yet, but I'm going to have to keep my eye out for that because we have plenty of them on our property!

13 years ago

Kari

Veteran

It was pretty icky. I think we may have had to cut a small chunk of hair out. Eww!

Just an idea - when my grandma was living, she was quite a gardener, but her yard was prone to slugs. She kept shallow tins of beer near her flower beds to attract (and drown) the slugs, as apparently booze is more attractive than plants. You'd have to remove them before a dog came over because dogs are pretty attracted to alcohol too, but my grandma said that it worked very well.

13 years ago

Aida

Veteran

I've heard of that trick but haven't tried it yet. We tend to leave the slugs alone (they are pretty well behaved for the most part), but I'd be interested in trying the beer tins near my irises which, for some reason, are the ONLY flower in my garden that they go after. I used some anti-slug stuff from Lowes this year but found that it was just too harsh, so I'm very happy to try something low key like this!

13 years ago

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