One of my cats (naturally the long haired one) decided to run through a
pool of bitumen paint (the stuff for protecting concrete or metalwork)
yesterday and, having converted one front and one rear paw to a tar
brush proceeded to run into the sitting from and onto the sofa. Having
endured the recriminations from SWReallyMBO what do I do now? The tin
says to clean up with white spirit. Do I take my life in my hands and
try to clean it off the sofa with white spirit or what?? Obviously
I'll practice elsewhere first. Oh, and the sofa is a yellow/gold
colour nicely set off by 6 or 8 paw prints on one arms.

TIA

Richard

PS SWMBO was so upset that she went into work today!!!!



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In message , Richard
wrote

One of my cats (naturally the long haired one)

Snip

At times like this it it's not YOUR cat - it is HER cat.

--
Alan

Richard wrote:
One of my cats (naturally the long haired one) decided to run through a
pool of bitumen paint (the stuff for protecting concrete or metalwork)
yesterday and, having converted one front and one rear paw to a tar
brush proceeded to run into the sitting from and onto the sofa.

I would be more concerned about the effects on the cat.

... Oh, and the sofa is a yellow/gold
colour nicely set off by 6 or 8 paw prints on one arms.

Awwww.

Owain

On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 13:51:20 +0000, Richard wrote:

Do I take my life in my hands and
try to clean it off the sofa with white spirit or what??

Dry cleaner's shop. You want an aerosol spot gun, with extraction. If
you do it with solvent and a hand-held brush, then it will spread more
than it disappears.

Tiny cat-fur slip covers might help to hide it.

Alan wrote:


Snip

At times like this it it's not YOUR cat - it is HER cat.


Almost true but I'm the one who left the sitting room door open, as has
been pointed out to me. sigh

I refrained from explaining the concentration required (by an amateur)
intent on making as a good a job as possible in joining two DPCs - one a
membrane the other a very fragile layer of tar.

Richard
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Andy Dingley wrote:

Dry cleaner's shop. You want an aerosol spot gun, with extraction. If
you do it with solvent and a hand-held brush, then it will spread more
than it disappears.

Excellent idea


Tiny cat-fur slip covers might help to hide it.


Presumably made from the skin of the long haired cat? ;-)

Richard

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Richard wrote:
One of my cats (naturally the long haired one) decided to run through
a
pool of bitumen paint (the stuff for protecting concrete or
metalwork)
yesterday and, having converted one front and one rear paw to a tar
brush proceeded to run into the sitting from and onto the sofa.
Having
endured the recriminations from SWReallyMBO what do I do now? The
tin
says to clean up with white spirit. Do I take my life in my hands
and
try to clean it off the sofa with white spirit or what?? Obviously
I'll practice elsewhere first. Oh, and the sofa is a yellow/gold
colour nicely set off by 6 or 8 paw prints on one arms.

petrol and cotton bud. Wipe towards centre of stain so it doesnt spread
out. Arrange for resuscitation after overcome by toxic fumes, ie must
be done outside, and kept in garage until fully defumed.

Alternatively, get some cold black dye and paint the paw prints so you
have purrmanent fully filled-in paw prints there.


NT

wrote:


petrol and cotton bud. Wipe towards centre of stain so it doesnt spread
out. Arrange for resuscitation after overcome by toxic fumes, ie must
be done outside, and kept in garage until fully defumed.

Why petrol rather than white spirit?


Alternatively, get some cold black dye and paint the paw prints so you
have purrmanent fully filled-in paw prints there.

I doubt VERY much that SWRMBO would see the funny side of that one.
She's inexplicably attached to the sofa - bought before I knew her. It
cost her IIRC £3K and I find it fearfully uncomfortable.

Richard


NT



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On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 13:51:20 +0000, Richard wrote:

One of my cats (naturally the long haired one) decided to run through a
pool of bitumen paint (the stuff for protecting concrete or metalwork)
yesterday and, having converted one front and one rear paw to a tar
brush proceeded to run into the sitting from and onto the sofa. Having
endured the recriminations from SWReallyMBO what do I do now? The tin
says to clean up with white spirit. Do I take my life in my hands and
try to clean it off the sofa with white spirit or what?? Obviously
I'll practice elsewhere first. Oh, and the sofa is a yellow/gold
colour nicely set off by 6 or 8 paw prints on one arms.

TIA

Richard

PS SWMBO was so upset that she went into work today!!!!


If I was in this much trouble I'd start experimenting on the basis that
you have already lost the sofa.

I'd try using a VAX (or equivalent) loaded with white spirit, but do it
outside in case the VAX turns into a jet engine.



--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html

Ed Sirett wrote:
If I was in this much trouble I'd start experimenting on the basis that
you have already lost the sofa.

I'd try using a VAX (or equivalent) loaded with white spirit, but do it
outside in case the VAX turns into a jet engine.



I've cleaned the paw prints off the carpets - dark in hall and light in
bedroom (mog seemed to delight in walking wherever he could) - with
white spirit to test it's effectiveness. I have also damped an unseen
area of the sofa to see how it reacts to white spirit. I might even
apply some bitumen to another unseen area and try to remove it.

On closer inspection it appears that his feet may have been almost dry
when he reached the sofa. The prints don't seem to have soaked in - you
can 'feel' the bitumen on the fabric. So I may try the 'scalpel with
new blade' trick and scrape the sofa not the cat)

Richard

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Owain wrote:


I would be more concerned about the effects on the cat.

Deeply unimpressed by having his paws washed in white spirit followed by
baby shampoo


... Oh, and the sofa is a yellow/gold colour nicely set off by 6 or 8
paw prints on one arms.


Awwww.

Is that 'awwww' as in 'how awful' or as in 'how nice'? :-)



Owain



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Try a product called "Stain Slayer" which you can buy from Woolies and
Lakeland. It's an aerosol spray which you put onto the stain dry, and
then you can rinse out the stain. I've used it to remove black shoe
polish from a peach carpet and Aquaprufe from clothes and soft
furnishings, and wouldn't want to be without some in the house.

Richard wrote:
I would be more concerned about the effects on the cat.
Deeply unimpressed by having his paws washed in white spirit followed by
baby shampoo

I'll bet he is!


... Oh, and the sofa is a yellow/gold colour nicely set off by 6 or 8
paw prints on one arms.
Awwww.
Is that 'awwww' as in 'how awful' or as in 'how nice'? :-)

Awwww as in nice.

Owain

On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 19:39:30 +0000, Richard wrote:

On closer inspection it appears that his feet may have been almost dry
when he reached the sofa. The prints don't seem to have soaked in - you
can 'feel' the bitumen on the fabric. So I may try the 'scalpel with
new blade' trick and scrape the sofa not the cat)

Personally I'd make sure the cat wasn't left out of the proceedings. I
dislike cats....

Andrew

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In message , Owain
wrote
Richard wrote:
One of my cats (naturally the long haired one) decided to run through
a pool of bitumen paint (the stuff for protecting concrete or
metalwork) yesterday and, having converted one front and one rear paw
to a tar brush proceeded to run into the sitting from and onto the sofa.

I would be more concerned about the effects on the cat.

As already suggested, petrol is the easy way to remove the bitumen.

For a fast result a match comes in handy.

--
Alan

I'd try using a VAX (or equivalent) loaded with white spirit, but
do it
outside in case the VAX turns into a jet engine.

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO,
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!

DO NOT DO THIS!!!!

The brushes in the vaccuum motor will ..................... You can
guess the rest!

Dave

Derek has it right.

ISTR it involved "surrounding" the stain with solvent and then
working
inwards. Allegedly surface tension would cause it to spread if you
start
at the middle of the soiling and work out,(The intuitive way). BICBW.


First you need to establish the correct solvet for the bitumin. You
can buy various stain removers commercially. Try a few and see which
works and doesn't damage the fabric.

Then follow Derks system as above. You should be able to remove it
100% this way.

OR - find a professional carpet/upholstery cleaning company - not as
easy as it sounds, go for a NCCF member.

Dave

In message , Sue Donime
writes
Try a product called "Stain Slayer" which you can buy from Woolies and
Lakeland. It's an aerosol spray which you put onto the stain dry, and
then you can rinse out the stain. I've used it to remove black shoe
polish from a peach carpet and Aquaprufe from clothes and soft
furnishings, and wouldn't want to be without some in the house.

Yeah, but this is bitumen based, not in the same league


--
geoff

On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 19:41:52 +0000, Richard wrote:

Deeply unimpressed by having his paws washed in white spirit followed by
baby shampoo

Given the habits of small critters for licking their paws afterwards,
you may well just have killed him. White spirit is extremely toxic on
livers, and cats have weak livers.

A better cleaner is either almost any Ecover product, particularly the
washing up liquid (they're based on coconut oil), most shampoo, or
peanut butter (a fine emulsifier for oily things).

"Alan" wrote in message
...
In message , Owain
wrote
Richard wrote:
One of my cats (naturally the long haired one) decided to run
through
a pool of bitumen paint (the stuff for protecting concrete or
metalwork) yesterday and, having converted one front and one rear
paw
to a tar brush proceeded to run into the sitting from and onto the
sofa.

I would be more concerned about the effects on the cat.

As already suggested, petrol is the easy way to remove the bitumen.

For a fast result a match comes in handy.

How do you make a cat go Woof ?

Oh, you've heard it.

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 19:41:52 +0000, Richard wrote:


Deeply unimpressed by having his paws washed in white spirit followed by
baby shampoo


Given the habits of small critters for licking their paws afterwards,
you may well just have killed him. White spirit is extremely toxic on
livers, and cats have weak livers.

A better cleaner is either almost any Ecover product, particularly the
washing up liquid (they're based on coconut oil), most shampoo, or
peanut butter (a fine emulsifier for oily things).

But mindful of the probable effects of both contaminants - bitumen and
white spirit I did lather up his feet with shampoo. They came up lovely
and fluffy!

Thanks tho' for the liver warning. Interesting use for peanut butter.

Richard

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