Help there's Blood on my LiTshade!

Dear Get LiT,

I was at a party wearing a beautiful pair of black and white, pony-fur Louboutin's, when the host's cat ran under my feet causing me to spill red wine on my dear friend's LiTshade. What do I do?

Please help,

-Stained Shade

Dear Stained,

First and most important, Kudos on the shoe choice. Second, as we always say "don't cry over stained LiTshades", just go buy a new one. No seriously, this is a question we get asked a lot, and of course we know the answer.

Lamp shades usually last about 30 years, depending on direct sunlight, amount of dust, animal hair, allergens, etc., floating around the home. If you take care of your lamp shade it should be a happy part of your home for a long time. Taking care of your shade means leaving your shade on its base, meaning no wearing in on your head at parties. If your shade does get dusty, which it will, it's best to use a feather duster-not a Swifter. A Swifter can dent the sides and once the shade is dented-it's doomed. If you want, you can always gently vacuum the shade. Yet again the key word is gentle, like with puppies or babies.

For larger stains such as wine, tea, marinara sauce you are unfortunately out of luck, especially if it's silk. However, we did see an episode of CSI that told us you can get your own blood out of silk with your own saliva, (and they say television rots your brain).

Finally, never, ever, get even a drop of water on a silk shade- it will spot (just like that Vivienne Westwood blouse that you need to take to the dry cleaners).

One final solution that works for small marks of dirt or pencil is a lamp shade eraser. Yes, they do exist. It is like a little pillow filled with tiny bits of eraser. Random. But so is spitting on your shade to get rid of blood...why is there blood on your shade anyway?

Get LiT was just full of helpful information this week! Hope you enjoyed. Drop us a line with any of your shade situations, we're always happy to light the way.