I was inspired to write this article by my 5-year-old daughter Jessica. Last weekend, she and her brother Justin had a couple of friends at our house as guests. My wife Laura, who seems to enjoy a house full of kids as much as the kids, was serving up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and half-filled coffee mugs of Kool Aid.

Without going into too much detail, let’s just say my daughter spilled her cup of Kool Aid. On our cream rug right in the middle of our living room.

Not a big deal, things can be dealt with with a few simple items you probably have around the house.

Now, before I continue, I must emphasize that there are some consequences for not following my advice to the letter. Furthermore, I will not accept any responsibility for any damage caused; you’re alone here, okay? OK we’re going to jump right in then.

The method I’m about to describe is especially useful on red food coloring. This is due to the unique molecular structure of the dye. This method can be used on other stains, but it works best with food coloring found in children’s drinks.

First take a clean trigger sprayer; I’m sure you have a dozen under your sink. You pull the trigger and the liquid inside comes out.

Next, take regular old ammonia; make sure it’s not the kind that contains detergents, just normal clear ammonia. Fill your trigger sprayer with 50% ammonia and 50% water, distilled water works best but any old water will work.

Now carefully spray the mixture on the red stain. Try to keep the mixture off of unstained carpet. In rare cases, this method can also remove color from the carpet. Spray just enough to wet your carpet fibers from top to bottom.

Now take an old white cotton cloth, like a white kitchen towel, and wet it. It is important that the cloth is completely wet. Not dripping, but completely wet.

Next, take your towel and place it over the red stain and set a steam iron, on high with steam, over the stain covered by the towel. Leave it there for 30-45 seconds.

That is! The sudden burst of heat reacts with the ammonia, releasing the dye in the carpet and drawing it into the towel. You may need to do this several times to remove as much of the stain as possible.

OK, now a few more words of caution.

Make sure you use a white towel first. A blue towel can release a blue dye into your carpet; a green dye can tint your carpet green, and so on. Also make sure the towel is damp and you are using the steam function on your iron, you don’t want to burn your carpet.

It is important to leave the iron in place for no more than 45 seconds. This is due to the possibility that the color of the rug will also be absorbed into the towel. Also be careful if you try this more than once. Be on the lookout for any changes in the color of your carpet, if you see any, stop! It’s better to have a little more color in your rug than a little less.