This morning started out kind of gnarly. Right off, first visit to the bathroom, and the toilet seat mooring bolts broke and the seat was slipping and sliding. I Gorilla Glued them together a couple of years ago and it lasted well, but its demise wasn't unexpected. On my to-do list: "Get new toilet seat."

Then I started to shampoo the bedroom carpet, and the old machine clanked and sputtered and the motor burned out. That wasn't unexpected either. Add to to-do list: "Get another rug shampoo-er."
I called Service Master and asked a gentleman who answered why can't you use dry cleaning fluid in rug cleaning machines? It doesn't make sense to put steam and moisture on a carpet with padding that has glue on it.

Mr. Service Master said dry cleaning fluid is flammable and the odor would be hard to remove. Besides dry cleaning fluid is expensive. I still think it's a good idea. Men have been on the moon, for Pete's sake. Why can't Oreck et al work on that?
Then he said dry powders are a bad idea. You can never get all the powder out. Spray on spot cleaners like Resolve etc. attract more dirt. Then he gave me a good tip. He suggested using Windex in the shampoo-er, because it has ammonia in it, and dries quickly. I got Valentina to come over with her shampoo-er and we tried it, and it seems to have worked fine.
She was leery of full strength Windex, and has a gallon resevoir on her machine, so she only used a cupful in a gallon of water. When I get my new machine, I'm gonna use lots more than a cupful.

Bye for now, from the domesticated helpful hints nerdy birdy.
susil