How To Get Glitter Out Of...well, Everything!

[cheerdadof4]

As the cheer season comes to a close, my family is tasked with the tremendous job of getting ready for the next season. Uniforms are getting cleaned for the first time in five months, bows are being sprayed to hold rhinestones and bagged away for safe keeping and Nfinitys are checked for wear 'n tear before being cleaned up and put back into the practice bag for tryouts.

All of this is routine for us, however this year a very new addition has been added; glitter.

Up until this season we've never dealt with much glitter (2 of my CPs are both boys), however makeup was re-vamped and now I've got about 6 containers of little sparkles floating around the house two of which were spilled at the last competition and have since multiplied. I keep finding it everywhere. In my hair, in my kids hair, in the car, on the dog and strewn throughout the rest of the house. My wife and I did a coin toss for glitter clean up, and I lost so my question for you is....How do I get it cleaned up?

Sincerely, a dad desperate to put an end to the glitter war of '13/14
Thanks!

 

[cheerdadof4]

Unfortunately you don't. The only way to get rid of all of the glitter is to burn your house with everything in it until the entire thing is one smoldering pile.

I'll have to discuss that with my wife...we do what we must to survive. :starwars: < round one / glitter vs. me

 

[ashscott41]

What @Alexx said is completely true. I stopped cheering allstar in 2007, have moved out of my parents house, and pretty much all of my belongings have been purchased after that point, but I still find specks of red glitter from time to time. The running joke is that glitter is like herpes-once you've got it, you've got it. It's not going anywhere. Good luck though!

 

[quitthedrama]

You're stuck with the glitter - consider it a badge of honor . I need to know how you went 5 months without cleaning a uniform because I can barely stand the smell of my CP's uniforms after day 1 of a 2 day competition!!

 

[cheernerd5678]

Unfortunately you don't. The only way to get rid of all of the glitter is to burn your house with everything in it until the entire thing is one smoldering pile.

And even then...


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[cheerdadof4]

@quitthedrama It's a combination of factors, along with much trial and error.

We've been lucky this year to have Day 1 and 2 uniforms for our oldest, although 5/6 uniforms this season had mesh and rhinestones. (Shudders) Our youngest hasn't hit puberty yet, so her uniform tends to stay quite clean although we have to make sure she's not eating in it without her warm-up jacket on.

The method that worked the best for us this year was:

Post: After each competition each uniform is taken off, and given a couple spritzes with water (usually on any areas that would perspire or get dirty) before being hung up to air over night. We then hang-up each uniform in a bag, with a small little pouch. (My mother-in-law gave us these little cloth pouches that have dried flowers in them, and I believe some type of scented oil?) Uniforms are left like this until needed, and always come out smelling lightly of lavender and which point, usually the morning before competition, we take them out and let them hang to air a bit. Fun fact: lavender has anti-bacterial qualities and can help kill the bacteria that causes odors. For us this has pretty much eliminated the issue of smelly uniforms, not to mention it's been a relief not to worry about tearing the mesh or somehow shrinking the uniform after a cleaning. Although I've never tried it, I've heard from a few people that if you spritz a mixture of vodka and water on a uniform, that you can eliminate odor. Something to do with the vodka killing the germs and drying without smell. I'm hesitant to try it though as I haven't done much research, and would hate for the uniform to smell of alcohol.

Pre-competition: Before putting uniforms on in our household, everyone showers and then puts lavender lotion on. NOT on the legs or arms, seeing as that can be a hazard, but under the areas with full coverage. This is done very early so that it also has a chance to soak in. I've found this is helpful as a lot of the sweat ends up smelling like the lotion instead. A good deodorant is also key; our kids all use men's deodorant for competition as it tends to last longer. Also, about three years ago our family became very health conscious and cut out pretty much anything that was processed. I noticed around the time that this happened that our kids, along with myself included began to sweat less and loss the unpleasant odor associated with sweating. I believe it's because our bodies tend to sweat out toxins, and that when stressed or eating foods that disagree with our bodies, we lose them through our skin and begin to smell poorly.

Hopefully this helped, we've tried a lot of tips and tricks over the years, but these ones have been the most successful for us. ...also, random, but our youngest just suggested that we get rid of the 'glitter bugs' by wrapping ourselves in tape and rolling over the floor and furniture...I almost want to do this; the kid with the most glitter on them could get a prize and the title of Glitter King / or Queen. Haha.

 

[NJ Coach]

Good tips on the uni's...and good luck with that glitter

 

[lovely.lily]

Who ya gonna call? Glitter-busters!

For future glitter catastrophes, you should try hairspray. It sounds kind of crazy but if you end up spilling some on the bathroom counter, quickly vacuum it up them spray some hairspray and let it dry. It should then wipe right up with a wet cloth. Unfortunately you can't do this to the rest of the glitter, so my best advice would be to wear it like pride and werk it. Who knows, you might even start a new trend?

 

[cheerdadof4]

Who ya gonna call? Glitter-busters!

For future glitter catastrophes, you should try hairspray. It sounds kind of crazy but if you end up spilling some on the bathroom counter, quickly vacuum it up them spray some hairspray and let it dry. It should then wipe right up with a wet cloth. Unfortunately you can't do this to the rest of the glitter, so my best advice would be to wear it like pride and werk it. Who knows, you might even start a new trend?

Oh, you know I will, they'll be calling me CheerDadofGlitter soon enough. And I will definitely give the hairspray a try. If all else fails I'll simply add more glitter to make it look intentional. No one needs to know...

 

[Mom2Cheergirls]

One thing we have found invaluable is the lint rollers - it works especially well on babies and little brothers with buzz cuts to get glitter off heads.

 

[cheerdadof4]

One thing we have found invaluable is the lint rollers - it works especially well on babies and little brothers with buzz cuts to get glitter off heads.

CP1 just became my latest test subject. And all I can say is, two thumbs up to the lint roller. It worked magnificently! We're officially one less head of glitter in the household; also a big thank you to my CP for taking the de-glitter-fication like a champ.

 

[cupieqt]

I was about to say scotch tape works well on picking up stray glitter but a lint roller sounds better. Same concept, more efficient method!

 

[Kel Kell]

I was about to say scotch tape works well on picking up stray glitter but a lint roller sounds better. Same concept, more efficient method!

Exactly. Gotta get the tape lint rollers and expect to go through the entire roll of tape... don't use that Mr Sticky thing, in the fight against glitter it has no chance.

 

[Mom2Cheergirls]

I even carry the tape lint roller in our cheer bag (dry cleaner was giving them away free so I have quite a few). It comes in handy especially on trips where my husband does not wish to go out to eat being glitterfied

 

[AlwaysLearning]

When a cheer family sells their house do they advertise it as "glitter included" or "as is"???