Carpet Cleaning

With three dogs and two cats we have become very adept at cleaning carpets/area rugs at La Casa de RadBear. This is how we deal with cleaning our rugs when our furry friends attempt organic redecorating.

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Step 1: Materials

In our rug cleaning arsenal are the following items that you can find just about anywhere:

White vinegar
Water
Paper towels
A spray bottle

Yeah all we use is diluted vinegar. We use a one to one ratio of vinegar to water. Just fill the spray bottle up half way with water, then top it off with vinegar. Mix well. This is what the folks who cleaned my parents carpets recommended. We found out the hard way that commercially available products leave this nasty residue that actually makes more dirt stick to it. This sort of defeats the whole purpose of cleaning the rug in my opinion. The vinegar has the added benefit of covering any residual smells. One reason pets pee on rugs is they smell the urine from an earlier accident or another animal. In their brains this means it is a prime bladder emptying station.

mrsthursday says: Aug 14, 2012. 11:05 AM

I've used a variety of different rug cleaners, they're very expensive and don't always work on my carpets but the white vinegar does the trick on most stains and definitely removes oders.

I've found that newspaper soaks up any extra liquid- and dries the rug a lot quicker and saves you from using so many paper towels. I would be careful if you have a light coloured rug- but it works for my dark carpets.

Shippygirl says: May 20, 2011. 6:26 AM

This method works on my carpet too. One steam cleaning soap I used left a yellow residue. I loaded up my steam cleaner with vinegar and water. It removed the stains left by the soap. It is great on pet stains and smells.

Vinegar doesn't always remove red stains on my carpet. Probably because I have thick, shaggy carpet. I used a wet towel and an iron for those stains. I have light carpeting. I don't know how the iron method would affect dark carpeting.

rcowgirl_6 says: Jul 24, 2010. 11:16 PM

Dishsoap works great, Shampoo carpets with water and a little dishsoap (any kind) cleans carpet, kills fleas, gets rid of stains, you name it. It makes home smell great too. If its just a little spot get a wet rag, put a couple drops of dish soap on it , rub spot, get a dry rag and put over spot, stand on it to soak up any water left and boom done.

snorkledorf says: Mar 23, 2009. 7:49 AM

Off subject....What kind of watch are you wearing? Looks cool.