Iodophor Stains? Chemistry to the Rescue!

So as I was preparing a starter tonight, I opened a brand-new bottle of iodophor. Clumsy me, I dripped concentrated iodophor on the rug in front of the kitchen sink.

Not wanting to (a) replace the rug, or (b) ask SWMBO how to clean the stains, I decided to do a little searching. A bit of googling tells me that sodium thiosulfate is recommended for removing iodine stains. Great. Where the hell do I get sodium thiosulfate?

A bit more searching tells me that among other uses, sodium thiosulfate is used to remove chlorine from water, like in aquarium applications. Well heck. As it turns out, we have a 'kitchen fish', George the Goldfish, who lives in a little tank on the counter. Figuring I can't make the rug any worse, I decide to try to clean the spots with a little Top Fin brand water conditioner from Petsmart.

Here's the result:

Holy crap! This stuff works. So, there's my tip for the iodophor users out there. Spill on the rug, or worse, the granite countertops? Fearing the wrath of SWMBO or HWMBO? Try some fish tapwater conditioner on the stains. It worked great for me.

Please excuse the crappy pic quality. My crackberry takes bad photos.

 

Was that pink stain always there or a side-effect? I do see it in the first pic but just wanted to clarify. Either way thanks for the info!

 

I think that's part of the design.

 

The pinkish color is part of the rug. Plus, like I said, my Blackberry is a superb phone, but a terrible camera.

 

Hmm I use iodaphor a lot and a ton of my plastic equipment is getting that stained look. Wonder if it will work on plastic spoon, funnels, stoppers etc....