So I did a test run this weekend with the slide. It has been 3 days and so far the lawn has recovered nicely. The only noticeable damage is in the center part of the slide where all the grass has laid down sideways. I jumped on this right after taking down the slide by gently raking the grass upright and watering well (odd as it sounds). The soil under the slide was still bone dry after we finished up. I figured a good soaking would help the stressed grass recover better. I will add: prior to testing the slide, we hadn't had rain in 11 days. My sandy soil had been dried out for well over a week. Add to it high daily temps in the high 80's, and pushing 90 several days. Needless to say the lawn was already stressed badly before setting up the slide. So my pre-slide lawn prep will be as follows: - Starting 2 weeks before the event I will stop cutting the grass. (I want it to be very tall on the day of) - Starting now I will be adding a round of Milorganite fertilizer. (Been wanting to do this anyways to improve the soil) - Starting 2-3 weeks before the event I will begin watering the grass to ensure it is all healthy and actively growing. (I don't water at all right now) - About 4-5 days before the event I plan to cut the grass adjacent to the slide where people will be walking back up to the top. I am not going to setup the slide early. It only took me about 20 minutes to prep the slide this time around, and during the event I will have plenty of eager helpers. The morning of the event I am going to get out early and water the area under the slide before putting the slide down. This should soften the soil a bit and make the ride a bit smoother (Something I should have done during the test run...ouch) The landing "pool" will be a separate sheet of poly that is black to keep the water warmer. This "pool" will be constructed with pool noodles underneath to form the bowl shape, prevent injury, and make setup and tear down a breeze. I took pictures, but will have to post them separately. I will keep you posted!

While it looks like there is a variety of successful approaches, I think the reason some have success with one approach and others don't is the nature of the stains. Some stains are simple body oils stuck in the texture of the nonslip pads. Using something alkaline like shampoo should work for those to soften the stains and allow them to be scrubbed lightly. WD-40 should also dissolve those and lift them. Other stains are based on hard water build up of calcium. The calcium can't be seen because it is white but the calcium will catch and hold the body oils. If you cannot get the calcium off, the stains remain. This is where an acidic approach would work. Barkeeper's Friend is oxalic acid with a mild abrasive. If the stains are calcium based, this should wash them away very easily. I would like to suggest another approach to the plain body oils with no calcium build up. There is a cleaner used in the automotive detailing industry called Super Clean. It comes in a purple spray bottle at auto stores, hardware stores, Walmart, etc. It is basically 409 on steroids. If you have trouble breathing when using 409, then you will really have trouble breathing around Super Clean. I bought some for my car and, of course, it works great. Then I read the label and decided to try it in the kitchen. The first thing I tried it on was burned on grease on a stainless pan - the bottom of the pan. I sprayed it on and let it sit for a "dwell time" of 10 minutes. Then I ran hot water from the faucet into the pan and 99% of it just rinsed clean with no scrubbing. I thought maybe I had a pan with grease that looked burned on but was just sort of already softened, but no. I tried it again and again with the same results. So that is my experience with Super Clean. I thought someone might give it a try on their tub texture spots and report back here with results.

I looked the SlipDoctor product up on Amazon after seeing their website, and the reviews weren't great. I also have to disagree with how slippery the hardwood is compared to carpet. Carpet can be slippery, but let me tell you, hardwood, when you're in socks, is much more slippery and hurts so much worse when you fall on them, flat onto your back! We have two long steps that lead down into our family room, my foot caught the edge of the second one as I stepped down, and I landed right on the edge of it with the small of my back. I was sure it was broken. Thankfully it wasn't, but I'm not taking another chance and have been searching for something to save me or someone else in my house from having this happen to them. I'm looking at some sort of clear tape. I'm hoping to find something that isn't going to ruin the new floors. If it does ruin them, it's better than ruining me!

Gotta be careful with heat guns. I have one, and if the application I'm heating is attached to the house I use it on the low setting. Many a house has been burned down with a heat gun. There is the real potential it will blow a smoldering ember into a recessed area that eventually catches fire. I was talking about the quartz bulb infrared paint remover. Doesn't blow any potentially fire starting debris into nooks and crannies. I figured it might be an old apartment building. But I've seen old houses with that many layers of paint too. And always wondered when there was already too much paint on there, why even more was applied. It's not like it looks any better... Peel Away will get really expensive really fast. But, I cannot imagine heat stripping that much paint off of that much wood work. You'll need an assortment of different size scrapers and and arsenal of fresh blades. Because the first four layers of lead paint, the eight layers of non lead oil paint, and the 12 layers of latex paint will dull those blades fast. Before committing to peel away, try Citri Strip. It's a lot less expensive, and you can get it at Home Depot. From my experience it works pretty well.