Cleaning Your Carpet the Natural Way: How to Avoid Both Stains and Chemicals

The build-up of dirt on your carpet can happen gradually, and if you aren’t taking too much notice, you may not even see how dirty your carpet is. That’s until your mother starts commenting on how the shade of the floor has changed since the last time she saw it. Cleaning the carpet can be a hassle, and you may think you’ll have to buy expensive cleaning products to do a good job. This can be both harmful to the people you live with, as well as to the environment. There are natural solutions, though, which will leave your carpet clean and chemical-free.

Baking soda

Baking soda is one of the most versatile cleaning products you may have never known about. The great thing is that you most likely have it in the house. This great tip came from Maid2Match and is a great way to clean your carpet without having to buy any chemical-based cleaning products. You can use the baking soda dry as it’s great at absorbing smells. Simply sprinkle the baking soda onto the carpet and wait for 30 minutes to let it do its job. Then, just go over with a vacuum cleaning and see your carpet look far cleaner.

If you have more serious stains, you may want to create a water-based solution. Take 100 grams of baking soda and mix it with 5 liters of warm water. Put this into a spray bottle and go over the whole carpet in a similar manner. After about 45 minutes of soaking, go over with the vacuum again.

Vinegar

This may seem like a strange solution, but white wine vinegar is great for dealing with carpet stains that have just happened. Take around 500 ml of water, add in a couple of tablespoons of white wine vinegar, and rub into the affected area. You can gently rub with a cloth or sponge if needed. You’ll notice a slightly vinegary smell to start with, but this will quickly disappear.

Baking soda and vinegar combo

If you have stains that have been on the carpet long enough to dry in, then you’ll need to combine the power of these two natural cleaners. Mix an equal amount of the two, and then gently rub into the stained area. Then, take additional dry baking soda and dust the stain. Leave this to absorb into the stain for about half an hour, and then take a napkin or tissue and dab away at the stain. Finish by going over the area with the vacuum cleaner to remove any final residue.

These methods are great for general cleaning and smaller stains, but some more intense stains may require a stain remover such as red wine or tomato sauce. For these, you can take around 8 liters of warm water and add in a cup of vinegar, a shot of dishwashing liquid, and a quarter cup of ammonia. This will lift most stains easily.