LILIES can often make a lovely addition to the home – but the flowers can also make a mess.
The pollen can stain clothes and carpets and may also harm cats – here’s everything you need to know.
How can you remove lily pollen from clothes?
If your beautiful bouquet has produced some not-so-pretty stains on your clothes don’t panic – the good news is that there are ways to remove them.
According to laundry experts at Persil, for small lily pollen stains you may be able to remove most of the discolouration by simply shaking the fabric vigorously.
However, if the pollen doesn’t budge – there are a number of other methods you can try.
One of which is using a small, handheld vacuum cleaner.
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Experts at Persil suggest hovering the device approximately one centimetre away from the clothing to suck up any loose pollen.
Once you’ve followed this step, gently place a piece of sticky tape to the stain and pull off – by doing so, the majority of the pollen should attach to the tape.
You can then wash the garment in the washing machine as normal.
For larger stains, rubbing alcohol and the blotting method can also be effective – however, it’s important to remember to keep the windows open for good ventilation and to test the solution on a hidden area of the garment beforehand.
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You can then try applying a laundry detergent to the clothing and place it in the washing machine on the required temperature for the garment in question.
How can you remove lily pollen from carpets?
Needless to say, some of the hacks that work for clothes won’t work for carpets.
However, there are a number of tips and tricks that you can try to remove the pesky pollen.
One method is to use sticky-tape.
Simply wrap the tape around your fingers sticky-side-out and lightly pat it on the pollen to remove as much of the powder as possible from the affected area.
If that fails, or you want to try something with a little more power, you can run a hoover over it.
Make sure you don’t rub the pollen in, and try to strategically place the nozzle over the stain.
In 2022, Chai Simmons, a fan of cleaning guru Mrs Hinch, rushed to social media to ask for help after discovering a lily stain on her brand-new carpet.
Chai was quickly inundated with suggestions from other members of the online group, however, there was one tip that kept appearing – WD40.
One person wrote: "It happened to me a few months back. I was really nervous about trying oil on my carpet but nothing else had worked.
"It worked really quickly and completely vanished."
Another suggested using the penetrating oil by spraying it on and dabbing it with kitchen roll.
It’s important to remember that when it comes to your flowers – prevention is better than cure!
To avoid getting pollen on your clothes or carpet – cut off the pollen-carrying part of the plant.
The stamen, or anthers, is where the pollen is made and carried and if removed, the stain-causing dust goes with it.
Be careful not to remove directly with your hands, as you can end up transferring the pollen.
Instead wrap a piece of damp tissue around it and remove it that way.
Is it poisonous to cats?
Aside from the unsightly stains the flowers can cause, your lovely lilies also pose another risk – they are extremely toxic and deadly to cats.
Website vets4pets states that true lilies including Easter, Rubrum, Asiatic, Day, Stargazer, Japanese, and Tiger lilies are all poisonous to cats.
This includes their petals, leaves, pollen – and even water from the vase.
According to Cats Protection: "Cats can be affected after eating parts of the plant or simply by brushing past the flower then grooming the pollen from the fur."
If you think your cat may have come in contact with part of the flowers, it is advised to take them to the vets immediately.
Signs of lily toxicity can occur within two hours of ingestion, and start with gastrointestinal signs such as vomiting, loss of appetite and drooling.
Cats that have eaten lily are quickly lethargic and may seem very unwell.
There is no home remedy for a cat exposed to lilies; they need medical treatment as soon as possible.
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