In Which a Tote Bag Tragedy is Averted

I have quite a few nice tote bags from attending conferences.  Most of them are Lands’ End bags, which makes them even nicer!  But I have one, in particular, that I got as part of my Lands’ End wardrobe for BlogHer ’09 that is my faaavorite.  It matches one of my sweaters that was also part of said wardrobe.  So imagine, if you will, my chagrin when I found out that SOMEHOW an incontinent sippy cup full of chocolate milk had made contact with my fave bag!! Leaving me with this:

Oh, isn’t that LOVELY?? I was SO PLEASED. Let’s get a closer look:

Like how it’s nice and chocolately in the stitching there?  Arrgh!! And did I mention when I discovered that my favorite bag had been, um, “redecorated”, the stain was TOTALLY DRY?  I have no idea how long it had been like that.

Of course, I totally freaked (because that is how I roll) and assumed my favorite bag would be forever scarred.  BUT before I gave up hope, I decided it was time to try the “stain clean” setting on my Frigidaire Affinity Washer.

I poured some Tide directly on the stain, put the bag in, hit the Stain Clean setting, and held my breath.

And guess what?? IT ALL CAME OUT!!!  A miracle!

And guess what ELSE?  I am big dummy and did not check the inside pockets on the bag.  And there was a PEN inside.  So, although my bag was devoid of re-calcified chocolate milk, it was now covered in fresh ink stains. (I was too distraught at this point to go get my camera and take a picture.  I wanted to get that baby back in the washing machine!)

I made sure all the pen parts were out of the bag and the washer, and I again put Tide directly on the stain.   And again hit the Stain Clean setting and held my breath.

ALL THE INK CAME OUT!  I don’t think I have successfully gotten an ink stain out of anything in my LIFE.  I was so excited!!

And now, my favorite Lands’ End bag has been restored to it’s former glory. See?

Thanks to my Frigidaire Affinity washer and Tide, and DESPITE my best efforts to sabotage myself, my bag is as cute as ever! Woot!

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This post was written as part of my participation in the Frigidaire Test Drive mom program with Mom Central.  I received an Affinity Washer & Dryer and I’m loving blogging about my experiences with them!