How I Make My Carpet Look New for Under $2

 

 

Who doesn’t love having their carpets cleaned? I love having my carpets cleaned, especially as I watch my son crawl around or fall asleep on them. It gives me a sense of satisfaction as I watch him, knowing that I have done my best to give him a comfortable and safe place to play. Sometimes, it can be a lot of work, mainly because he is messy and doesn’t mind apple sauce in the carpet, but it is worth it.

So, today I am going to tell you how I clean my carpets. I try to make my home an anti-harmful chemicals zone, so my “cleaning concoction” is safe for my child and dog. It is also dirt cheap!!! Here it is!!!

Yep, that’s it. And it gets up everything, from red wine to coffee and even rust stains from furniture. Also, it is completely non-toxic. One day, when my son was beginning to crawl, I cleaned my floors with Lysol Mr. Clean all-purpose cleaner, we had wood floors then. For years I loved cleaning with the rain scented cleaner. It was refreshing to me. One day, while cleaning my floors I looked over at my son who was trying to crawl on a freshly cleaned space. That scent smelled so good to me, but my face wasn’t 6 inches from the floor. What could it be doing to him? I doubt that it was as refreshing to him. Then I watched him put his hands in his mouth. What kind of chemicals did my kid just put in his mouth? Ever since that day, I have made it my mission to be more careful about what I clean my house with. If it isn’t something that is safe to be ingested, then I don’t want it in my home.

Because of this, I make most of my cleaning supplies. My plan is to tell you how I do it as I need to make more, so watch for more recipes!!  My recipes are very simple and save me a lot of money.

For this concoction, I simply put hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle or in the cleaner reservoir of my steam cleaner, and add a little soap. For the spray bottle in the picture, I put in about a teaspoon of soap. In my cleaner reservoir, I put in a couple of squirts.  It really doesn’t matter how much soap, as long as you don’t use too much. If you steam clean with it, it could make the rinse step take longer if you use too much soap.

You do not have to use this kind of dish soap. I use this Kirkland soap from Costco because it is all natural and doesn’t have any harmful chemicals. If you are in the market for an all-natural dish cleaner, I really like this one. I switched recently from Dawn and I don’t see much difference as far as how well it cleans dishes.

The very first thing you want to do is mix some hydrogen peroxide and a little dish soap in a spray bottle. A dark bottle is best because the sun causes it to turn into water. Test a small piece of carpet in a hidden area with the solution. I have not seen it bleach out carpet or fabric, but it did an excellent job of making my dark brown hair blond when I was in 8^th grade.

If your carpet test turns out ok, you are ready to clean!! I have a Bissell Pro-Heat carpet cleaner. It is about 7 years old, but is still kicking. This is actually the second one I have had, I recommend this cleaner for anyone in the market. If you do not have a steam cleaner or do not wish to buy one, you can rent a rug doctor at some grocery stores for a reasonable price. My carpet cleaner has paid for itself many times over. I have a dog and a two year old, so I try to clean my carpets at least every 3 months.

I fill the cleaner reservoir with peroxide and soap solution. After that, I follow the steam cleaner instructions. I clean my carpets in “areas.” I usually start with under the couch. I clean it in one direction, then in another. Left to right, then I flip 90 degrees and do it again.

 
After I have sucked up much of the water, I spot clean (with the solution in the spray bottle) any stains that have not yet lifted. These are usually the bad ones, wine, coffee or grape juice. I also had rust spots from some metal bars going along the bottom of my couch. Spray it generously, let it sit for a minute, then rub with a rag or washcloth. On some of the really bad ones I had to do this twice. But they all came out. After the stain removal, I usually go over the area once more with a rinse, suck up as much water as possible, and then move on to the next area.  

I also clean my walls while I’m cleaning carpets. I find it a good opportunity since I am moving my furniture out of the way. I clean my walls with the same peroxide solution and rag. For marker or crayons I usually have to resort to a magic eraser, but the peroxide solution works great for sticky fingerprints. It works really, really well for the time out corner, which can get pretty gross really fast!!



It can be hard to see but there are many stains, especially in
the high traffic areas.

I do this to all of my carpets. I will usually rotate cleaning the top and bottom floor of my apartment, cleaning the bottom floor more often.

Use really hot water and rinse well and your carpet should get its original texture back. If it was fluffy, it should be fluffy again.  It also makes it very soft for the first day or so. I love walking barefoot on my freshly cleaned capet!

Over the years, I have used many expensive carpet cleaners. I have never found one to work as well as this one. It also seems to remove pet odor, and the cost is minimal. I used less than one of the ginormous Costco sized bottles of peroxide for my living room, play area and dining room. It costs me roughly $2 or less to clean the carpets to my entire bottom floor. The store bought cleaner costs roughly $10 and I use the entire bottle to clean my place.



I hope I gave you something good to take away with you today!! I think tomorrow I’m going to talk about what I’m doing with the other bottle of peroxide. Stay tuned!!

May Your Joy Be Full,

Rachel
 

3 By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; 4 by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Proverbs 24:3, 4 (ESV)

 

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