A few months ago my not so neat husband managed to splash some balsamic vinegar on his very expensive Paul Smith button down Oxford shirt. Being the laundry mistress I didn’t notice until after I washed it and I was furious, mad at my husband for being an untidy eater and mad at myself for not noticing before running it through the washing machine. So I went to the internets to find a way to remove the stain. I found an entry saying that hydrogen peroxide was the solution to removing pesky stains like vinegar. Off to Boots I went. See, here in Britain you have to ask someone behind the pharmacy counter for just about everything… so I asked the clerk who didn’t look a day over 16 if I could purchase a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
lethal liquid…
He informed me that major drug store retailers were no longer selling hydrogen peroxide. I was stunned, I mean you pour the shit on cuts and it bubbles and kills germs, and if you ever get water in your ear you dump a cap full in your ear and hey presto it’s gone. But now I couldn’t buy hydrogen peroxide cause as the nice 16 year old explained people were using it for making bombs. He did tell me I could go to a private chemist and get all the hydrogen peroxide I wanted (don’t tell the terrorisists!); I guess Boots doesn’t want the liability of selling such a dangerous liquid, but give me a f*cking break! Don’t even get my started on rubbing alcohol.
And FYI, as far as stain removing goes, it does the trick, the shirt was saved from the ugly balsamic vinegar stain and now I force my husband to eat his dinner in his pants.
–Yankee Doodle
