AKICILJ (Cat Edition)

[rushthatspeaks]

Does anyone have any idea how to get blood off non-washable paint?

Our two cats, after living together with only moderate fighting for seven years now, have been going through a spell of being viciously at each other all the time. (We are thinking of trying Feliway.)

A couple of nights ago, there was howling as of the damned at three in the morning, and Ruth staggered up, separated the cats, grabbed one at random (they are both black, and not easy to tell apart in the dark), put him in the bathroom to calm down, and came back to bed. I let him out some while later. He didn't yowl or otherwise express objections to being in the bathroom, or anything, which is why it was so shocking when Ruth opened the door in the morning.

There is blood on every single object in the bathroom. There is blood on the ceiling. There is blood on the lightbulbs above the mirror, there is blood on the mirror, there is an amazing and disturbing quantity of blood on the door, there is blood soaked into the magazines we keep on the back of the toilet. There is blood on the towel rack. And of course there is blood all over the walls, at all heights. Overnight it had dried into, essentially, paint (it does not even want to come off the tiled floor).

Upon anxiously examining the cat, we discovered that all of this apparently came from a very small nick in one of his ears, which has scabbed over and seems to be doing fine.

Upon going over to shut the window of the outer room earlier this evening, I discovered that he had bled not as impressively but quite distinctly on the windowsill, down that wall, and on our couch, too.

We do not have washable paint. I mean, most things can be scrubbed, and the magazines thrown out, but if you get the paint in our apartment wet it starts to run and go streaky. And if you get the paint in the bathroom wet and rub it it starts to peel-- you can get it wet without it disintegrating, but you can't scrub.

At this point I am seriously considering repainting the entire bathroom-- which would have to include the ceiling-- the windowsill, and a significant stretch of wall. We live in a studio. This would be hellish.

Does anyone have any alternate solutions, possibly chemical?

ETA: I also need to remember in future that this cat is not good at telling people when something is wrong with him; this is the same cat who once failed to notice when he set himself on fire. (He leaned on a kettle for... quite some while. He was fine then, too, although he objected strenuously to the way his fur tasted burnt.)

Comments

[angstnokami.livejournal.com]

I am not entirely certain about this, but you might want to try isopropyl rubbing alcohol. Try it very gently first on a spot in a less visible area.

I'm suggesting this because it's what's recommended for prepping walls for Command adhesive, and I've tried it on the walls here - with the result, since some of my walls were really dirty when I moved in, that it took off a lot of dirt and, if I rubbed a little too hard, started to thin the paint. I don't know what it will do to your paint in particular, as the paint on these walls seems to be washable, so if someone else gives a better suggestion, you probably want to take it.

[angstnokami.livejournal.com]

And then I realized that I have a copy of "How To Clean Practically Anything", which says:

Painted Walls

To prevent dirt from building up, make it part of your routine to clean walls from time to time with the dusting brush of your vacuum cleaner or a soft, long-handled brush. You may occasionally also want to wash the walls, either to freshen them or to prepare them for painting.

To wash, first pull furniture away from the walls, and lay plastic sheeting to protect the floor and carpets. Wash by dipping a sponge or cloth in a solution of dishwashing liquid and warm water. Rinse with clear warm water. Because dirty streaks that dribble down are much easier to wipe off a clean surface than a dirty one, wash from the bottom up. Do a section of about a square yard or so at a time, overlapping sections slightly as you work. Don't stop washing until you have done the entire wall. That way you will avoid leaving hard-to-remove watermarks.

If the walls are very dirty, use a mild solution of TSP (trisodium phosphate) or a heavy-duty all-purpose cleaner; try applying undiluted cleanser to especially stubborn dirt (see Wall Cleaner in Homemade Cleaning Products, page 229). Be careful, because a strong cleanser may cause the painted surface to streak or fade; test it first in a hidden spot.

[angstnokami.livejournal.com]

And then, from page 229 (and yes, the quantities listed are actually this vague):

Wall Cleaner

1 part chlorine bleach
3 parts water
2 teaspoons of TSP (trisodium phosphate)

Make sure paint or wallpaper can be safely washed before attempting to clean it with this or any other liquid; do a test on an inconspicuous spot if you're unsure. Apply the cleaner with a sponge or soft brush, working from the bottom up - it's easier to clean streaks off a clean surface. Rinse with a cloth dampened with clean, warm water.

[loligo.livejournal.com]

No scrubbing at all? Hmm. Usually I would recommend Mr Clean's Magic Eraser, but that involves at least a little scrubbing.

[strange-selkie.livejournal.com]

I would second the magic eraser, and use it with very slow, medium strokes all in one direction.

[tirerim.livejournal.com]

The problem with non-washable paint is that it's absorbent; the only way to get stuff off is by removing a thin layer of paint. This actually tends to work pretty well in most cases, but your bathroom sounds like the paint may be weaker than usual (probably thin and/or improperly applied). That said, any of the solutions mentioned by others may, in fact, work (i'd advocate keeping the moisture content of whatever you're using (i.e. sponge or magic eraser) as low as possible to avoid soaking the wall), and the worst that happens is you have to repaint anyway.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I agree with the previous recommendation of the Magic Eraser. You need to use some water to activate the magic erasing quality (a dry one that's been in the cupboard for weeks doesn't clean all that well), but you may be able to avoid the paint-peeling problem if you wet it and squeeze all the water out.

For blood stains in particular, I've found "Bac-Out," by Biokleen, remarkably useful. (They sell it at Harvest.) It's a concentrated enzymatic cleaner, and sometimes it works when I wet a sponge with it and hold it against the stain for a few minutes. You might also try a paste of OxyClean, though I don't know how that would work on the ceiling.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

What the fuck are they thinking to put non-washable paint in a bathroom?! Or anywhere, but the bathroom is the most water-intensive room in a house.

I'd try hydrogen peroxide on the blood (which I suspect is a prominent ingredient in the aforementioned Oxy-Clean, but you likely have some already). You can just sponge it on and it should bleach out organic substances. With luck it'll seep into the paint the same way the blood did.

And definitely get Feliway! It worked great when we moved, and it really seems to help when the cats have a more contentious period too. (Nothing like what yours are up to, but disruptive to my sleep.) I do have some doubts about using kitty mind control, but it doesn't seem to change their personalities any more than the drugs I take do mine.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Hydrogen peroxide.

[snarp]

I have no advice about the bathroom, but, regarding Feliway: about a month ago my parents replaced the carpets and started using Feliway at the same time. The cats had a big spraying problem before, and all but one of them (the oldest and most difficult) seem to have stopped, and I've only caught the one doing it a couple times. I also haven't seen any fighting, though that was only rarely a problem.

We changed two variables at once, obviously, but I would cautiously recommend the stuff.

[khava.livejournal.com]

Just paint it. Paint is cheap.