It started off as a night like any other. I was chipping away at stories about garden trees and nuclear war, while my wife had just arrived home with our baby ready for his bedtime.

       But nothing could have prepared me for the chaos my evening was plunged into when our 14-month-old, without warning, suddenly decided to eject an entire lasagne onto the carpeted staircase moments after coming home. Huge piles of deep orange vomit and cream carpets don’t mix, it turns out. The baby was fine, it didn’t end up being norovirus, and he carried on with his evening like nothing happened. For us, though, our weekend was stolen away by the battle with the monumentally damaged carpet.

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       I’ve written about the bicarbonate of soda trick before, extolled by many experts in the art of cleaning your home and your carpets, so, calling on my journalistic expertise (no jokes please), we decided to put the carpet cleaning hack into action first hand.

       Cleaning firm Arm & Hammer says about the hack for baking soda - which is actually the same as bicarb - “When cleaning your carpet with baking soda, let it sit for at least 15 minutes. The longer the baking soda stays on the rug, the more odour, dirt, and oil it will absorb, for a more thorough clean. Try leaving baking soda on the carpet overnight and vacuuming in the morning.

       “Baking soda is great for cleaning and deodorising carpet, and it’s also great to clean multiple areas throughout your home.”

       After laboriously sponging the floor, we then dabbed it dryer and then went to phase two, the baking soda, and sprinkled it liberally across the five affected steps (impressive spread from the lad, really).

       Unfortunately, it wasn’t the magic bullet we thought it might be. The bicarb, which is supposed to absorb the smell, went sort of wet and lumpy, and then when we hoovered it up the next day, it left behind a crusty residue which then had to be cleaned off again. It did get most - but not quite all of - the orange off, and banished the smell, so it did basically work, but it was definitely messy and the carpet looks like it might never be quite the same again. I know how it feels.