What is the best way to pick up gold from the living room carpet?

[NeoTokyo]

Heya everyone;

I got home a little while from a good trip out and was putting my gold into my vials, I had to get up for a minute and IT happened.

My 1 1/2 year old daughter thought it would be funny to dump 1/4 ounce of fine gold on the living room carpet.

So I am trying to pick it up with tweezers but its falling right to the bottom, worse yet the carpet is an off brownish color so its hard to see.

What is the best way to pick this up?
If I use my vacuum I stand a chance of not getting all the gold out because the tubing in the vacuum is ribbed.

I think she also ate some too, if I dont get the full 1/4 ounce back I guess I will be sifting poop too.


My wife simply laughed at me.... What a cap to a good day.


-Eric-

 

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[IAMZIM]

Ok....im now that im done laughing histerically, I actually use a dewalt cordless vacume to suck dirt out of cracks and crevices and to get alot of my find gold, maybe try something simular, suck it up with a quality vac and pan out the stuff you pick up. Or you could cut a hole in your carpet, burn it, and pan that out! JK lol Anyway, thats what i would try...

 

[sm3464]

That is too funny but the dewalt would work. Lmao

 

[MontanaLon]

Take a piece of the wife's pantie hose and rubber band it around the nozzle of the vacuum. Suck away. The nylons will allow enough air to pass to vacuum but will keep the gold from making the trip to the bag. Just remember to let the vac run until you have something over the end of the tube as it will drop back out when the suction stops.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I knew it would get a few laughs.

I hand picked as much up as I could and then I used the hose on the vacuum into a canister, that worked fairly well.
Then I went over it with the vacuum beater brush and got more up.

While I have MOST of it back, I am still about 1 gram down, I think thats what she ate.

So I guess since this is over, has anyone else had such a misshap?

My wife immediately reminded me of Bering Sea Gold "Under the Ice" when they dropped their pan on the ice and I said I wish this were ice because I could just cut around and under it! lol

 

[Hefty1]

"So I guess since this is over,"

This is far from over.....you got poop duty in the morning.....then if you dont get back what you had...you will be checking that carpet for days...LOL good luck.

 

[NeoTokyo]

lol, I really dont want to be sifting through poop though. lol

I wish I had a metal detector right now. :P

 

[KevinInColorado]

Happened to me once too. Dropped about a tenth gram...tweezers and handheld vac got the bigger bits but the littlest specks are just a part of my house now LOL

 

[NeoTokyo]

Yeah, I gotta go over the floor again with better light and the tweezers to try to find more.
It sucks looking at a 1/2 ounce bottle knowing it should be half full but its a bit less.

 

[blynch35]

man that sucks ,but what a memorie when your little girl gets older you can share this funny story with her.

 

[placertogo]

If she ate a gram of gold, save the diaper(s). Burn them outside in a fire-safe area inside an old steel gold pan using small sticks of wood to maintain the fire until only ash remains. Pan the ashes. Good luck!

 

[okbasspro]

I share your saddness my son when he was 2 dumped a ounce down the toilet for me and flushed it.If he found a bottle of dust he would pour it out.Now that he is grown and has the fever he collects every speck he can.Good luck on your endeavor to get it back.

 

[kuger]

When you use Nitric Acid to clean mercury off gold it leaves a gray stain on the gold,and I use a glass vial with vinegar,and salt to clean it by sitting watching TV and shaking the vial.Well I sat there shaking about 1/2 an ounce one night and POP the vial burst and I too had brown carpet with a tight loop weave!!!I picked and picked(man those fibers grab gold!!!I then used the vaccum and panned the bag....never did get all of it....never used glass again either

 

[NeoTokyo]

Oh man thats ever worse that mine!
Carpet is an evil thing when you drop something in it.

I have been getting a lot of feedback from random prospectors to avoid glass because it breaks too easy unless it is for display.
I think I will be buying a few plastic vials soon.

 

[KevinInColorado]

A friend of mine say you know you are a real prospector when there is gold in your carpet! Happens to the best of us one way or another...could burn down the house and pan the ashes LOL!

 

[Bum Luck]

Just get a utility knife and cut the carpet into foot squares and wash them out in a tub.

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

Clean it several times and then dump the tank water where you can pan it.

 

[NeoTokyo]

We have a Bissell Pro Heat 2x that I might try.

I passed the vacuum over the area again today and got a little more up, about 60 small flakes.

 

[PYRATE]

If you truly want it all out, you could cut out the section of carpet, wash it out completely and then put it back using carpet tape.

IMHO, the labor + cost of carpet tape + your carpet never looking the same again ≠ the value of a gram of gold, but if the carpet is already in bad shape go for it...

Daughters are infinitesimally more precious than gold and this great story will return many times the value of the lost gold, especially if you do end up with a slightly noticeable shape in the carpet.