MAKING YOUR OWN CARPET CLEANER

Making your own homemade natural carpet cleaner is not that difficult, you just need to have some stuff handy:

• Some baking powder
• Corn flour
• Bay leaves (dried)
• Potpourri

You mix up around 1/2 lb baking powder with 2.5 oz to 3.5 oz corn flour and add in the dried bay leaves, after crumbling them. Lastly, you should add a handful of potpourri (1.75 oz or so) for the smell and the fresh look.

Mix everything up in a covered container, shaking the blend thoroughly. Spill the newly created natural carpet cleaner on the area where the stain is and leave it overnight to meld in. In the morning, wipe it off clean and vacuum the area to get the residue off.

HOMEMADE STAIN REMOVER

If you just need something to take off small spots and you’re not dealing with a spill crisis, a homemade spot remover solution is just what you need. It can be made from kitchen ingredients, so it’s very useful for situations when you need something done FAST. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Vinegar
• Water
• Baking Soda

If you mix the vinegar with baking soda, you’ll notice it makes a pasty solution that’s rather thick. You don’t want to use this just yet, as it might stain your carpet even more. Use some water to dilute the paste, and then scrub it on the spot with a small brush (maybe a tooth brush that you don’t use anymore).

The vinegar will dissolve the stain and the baking soda will clean it up. If the stain didn’t clear up on your first try, go through the entire process again.

TWO EASY WAYS TO REMOVE WAX FROM THE CARPET

METHOD 1

Removing wax from carpets is actually quite fun (although don’t turn it into a hobby). First off, what you need to do is freeze the wax completely. As soon as the wax will hit the floor, it will settle in and adjust to the room temperature, solidifying in the process. If this is not enough, you need to make sure it’s rock hard and cold.

For this purpose, you could use some ice cube bags and wrap them around the area where the wax fell off. Leave them there for a few minutes and when you take them off, you should notice that the wax is now completely hard.

Use a blunt object to crack the icy wax open, and then pick up your vacuum. Slowly go over the debris, cleaning the wax particles off the carpet.

If there are still some small bits of wax left, you might want to try to scrape it off. Just make sure you use a blunt-edge tool to do so and not a sharp object like a knife or a pair of scissors. These can really harm the fiber of your carpet and you will probably be doing more harm than good this way.

METHOD 2

Icing the wax isn’t the only method to remove it. Scraping is also effective, but you’ll need some stuff to work with first:

·         Alcohol

·         Clean Rags

·         Irons

·         Rolls of paper

·         Putty knife

·         Sponges

First off, start scraping the place on your carpet where the wax fell and try to get the bigger chunks out of the way. Place a sheet of paper on top of the remaining wax then gently sweep a hot iron across the paper, until you feel the wax melting and attaching itself to the paper.

Lifting the paper off the carpet should also pull out the wax in one clean sweep. There is a possibility however that a small stain will remain, in which case you’ll want to use some alcohol on the spot to clean it up.

REMOVING PET STAINS

With baking soda, you need to make sure the stain is dried down first. So take a clean towel or some paper and press it down against the carpet, absorbing the liquid as thoroughly as possible. This will greatly reduce the damage the urine will have on the carpet, so the faster you’re able to dry it out, the better.

Now dampen the area with some clean water and sprinkle the baking soda over the area, letting it dry (sometimes several hours are needed, so you might want to leave it overnight). Lastly, vacuum to remove the debris created by the baking soda and your stain should be gone.

If you want to use vinegar to clean out the stain, mix half a cup with ¼ cup of warm water and spill the mixture over the targeted area. Use a dry towel on top of it and place a heavy object on top of it to apply pressure. You’ll need to keep it there for a couple of hours, so if you want to be on the safe side of things, you might want to leave it there overnight.

In the morning, remove the towel and use a soft hairbrush to clean the carpet off, if needed.

REMOVING CARPET ODORS

If you’re dealing with a general problem, sprinkle it all over the carpet, making sure it’s evened out. The longer you leave the baking soda on the floor, the better it will clean and brighten the carpet up.

You will probably want to leave it there overnight, but if you’re treating a carpet that’s not in an essential room, where you’ll need to get by several times per day, you might want to leave it for two days straight, to get the carpet cleaned up thoroughly.


When you’re ready to start the clean-up process, first you should sweep over the carpet with a hard-edged broom to get most of the baking soda off. Afterwards, use a vacuum cleaner to pick up the remaining particles. Just make sure you don’t vacuum before sweeping, or you might damage your vacuum cleaner, as it will suck up huge amounts of baking soda.

In case any soda got stuck on the fibers, you can use a scrub to take off these particles, freeing the carpet. If you didn’t manage to get the carpet odor out with the above technique, try it again.