MANILA -- As expected, people worldwide celebrated All Saints Day or Halloween on Monday with fancy costumes, decorations and parties.

Ornaments like chocolate stains, fake blood, and slimy eyeballs and
terrifying jack-o'-lanterns make it fun and spooky but the scariest part is cleaning them, especially since more people celebrated All Saints Day at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cleanipedia, an online resource startup by consumer goods giant Unilever, made a useful list of Halloween cleaning tips to help you take the stress out of cleaning after the festivities.

MELTED CANDY, CHOCOLATE

Sticky and sweet stains from candies and chocolate can be a nightmare to clean up, especially if children have been spreading it all over your horror house.

Regina Ocampo, Cleanipedia's lead, says that if chocolate or candies have melted into your carpet, furniture, or any kind of upholstery, you need to scrape it first with a dull knife or spoon.

Use a cloth dipped in washing detergent and cool water to blot the stains. According to Ocampo, move the cloth towards the center of the stain to stop it from spreading, and once the chocolate stain has gone, pat the area dry with a paper towel or tissue paper.

A bag of ice, she says, will also freeze a candy stain and make it easier to remove. This method can be used also for chewing gum stuck to clothes or carpets.

STICKY TAPE ON WALLS, WINDOWS

Removing sticky tape marks on walls and windows is not fun to do after a festivity since they leave marks on surfaces. But they can be removed, says Ocampo.

According to her, if the stains are on a glass surface, use a soft cloth dipped or sprinkled with a small amount of rubbing alcohol. Wipe the stain in circular motions to get rid of the sticky residue.

If tape is stuck to your walls, blasting it with hairdryer for several minutes will do the trick, making it easier to peel off. Blu-tack on walls, meanwhile, need to be very gently rolled off. A citrus-based stain remover can fix and stubborn blu-tack marks.

FAKE BLOOD, FACE PAINT STAINS

Face paint and fake blood stains are difficult to remove if they've been spilled or spread all over your house. Fake blood is usually oil-based and it's horrifying to think if it poured on your carpet.

But if those fears became true, water alone is not enough to remove. Ocampo says that if the spillage is wet, blot it up as much as you can with tissue paper. Be careful not to scrub and spread it. Then apply some shaving cream and clean the stain away with cold water and a clean cloth.

If your clothes sustained fake blood, rub talcum powder into the stain to absorb the product's oil. Apply white vinegar after then leave the mixture to soak the stain overnight. After that, you can wash your clothes with a biological detergent.

Face paint stains, meanwhile, can be removed by soaking the stained area with rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover. Flip the fabric over and pour cold water through the stained area to push the paint out of the fibers. Finish with hot wash with biological washing powder.

JACK-O'-LANTERNS

If pumpkin carvings spread on your carpet, furniture, or other upholstery, remove what you can with a dull knife, Ocampo says. Blot the stained areas with a solution of washing detergent and water. Use clean water afterward to remove the remaining stain.

MELTED CANDLE WAX STAINS

Candle wax can be unsightly after Halloween festivities. To remove hardened wax on carpet or upholstery, Ocampo suggests holding a bag of ice to the stain to freeze it so you can chip it away easier with a dull knife.

Another method can also be placing a folded, damp white cotton towel over the stained area and ironing over it at a high temperature for around 10 seconds. Cleanipedia says the wax should transfer from the carpet or upholstery and onto the towel.

After the wax has been removed, a stain remover can get rid of the remaining taint.

• As far as cleaning goes, men seem to complain on social media more than women — study

RELATED VIDEO

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv