Most Effective Methods of Carpet Cleaning Spot and Stain Removal
Steam Cleaners:
Perhaps you’ve already invested in a carpet “steam cleaner”. If you have limited time and the budget for it I highly suggest Hoover. I had previously owned a Bissell Steam Cleaner and the day the warranty ran out it literally fell apart. It was very touchy and has a price tag a hundred or so over the Hoover models on the market. If you’re not prepared to go that route effective carpet cleaning can be done without it, but be prepared for a bit of elbow grease. Either way always work with the hottest water possible when cleaning the carpets. It tends to bring up more dirt.
When it comes to the steam cleaner don’t expect miracles. Do expect wet carpet and some spendy solution to be marketed as the only product that can be used in it. That’s simply untrue. You can use just about anything. The most effective pre-made I’ve purchased is called Kids and Pets and can be put in the water holding tank just as the brand name solutions. It’s also an effective spot cleaner for the most part; although there is something better and I will get to that. I’ve even used Pinesol to steam clean tile floors- worked beautifully!
Alternative to Steam Cleaners:
Best cheap alternative is a good old scrub brush. I prefer a flat backed wooden hard bristled brush for the job. You will also need a small pitcher of hot water and a bucket of water with the cleaning solution. Towels, or better yet white dish rags, are also a must. An old Shout bottle or other bottle that is able to spray thicker solutions is a handy tool as well.
The BEST Cleaning Solution to Be Found:
Bar soap is hands down the best thing out there to clean carpets. Sounds crazy I know. I stumbled upon this quite by accident after laying my then two month old daughter on the floor for a quick diaper change and alas, the closest thing handy was a bar of soap, glass of water and a towel. I rubbed the bar soap on the floor real quick, dumped a glass of hot water on top of it and blotted with a towel. The mess immediately came out. This is much more than I can say for the 20 minutes and endless amount of passes over the same incidental mess just days before cleaning with the Hoover and the Hoover made solution.
After this discovery I set out to experiment. Irish Spring seems to be the best soap that I have tried for carpet cleaning. Rubbing the bar on directly is an okay method but it takes much more work to get the soap out of the carpet than the alternative below.
Making Your Own Solution:
Grate �½ bar of soap and add slowly to 2 cups of water on medium high on the stove and bring to a boil stirring constantly. Once the soap has melted let the mixture cool a bit then put it into an old spray bottle appropriate for thicker mixtures or into another container that you can easily pour from. Add water to fill the spray bottle or 2c more to the container. The water to soap ratio may take some experimenting. If the soap mixture is too thick when it cools and your container is full dump some of the excess off into another container and fill with hot water to loosen the mixture followed by shaking well. The mixture should look very similar to liquid hand soap in consistency or thinner and may need to be shaken for the soap to integrate with the water before each use.
Using the solution:
If you have a steam cleaner that mixes the solution directly in the water it is likely fine to put the solution directly into the water. It does work fine with my cleaner but of course use at your own risk since the manufacturers all claim that only their special super spendy cleaner can be used with their machines. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, have a separate solution container on your cleaner or are using the hand scrub method just apply the mixture directly to the stain with a spray bottle or by pouring on. I’ve found it works best to use your hands or a scrub brush to later up any spots for spot cleaning. After you’ve treated the spot either run your steam cleaner over the area or simply pour some water on and remove the water with a towel. The stain and soap should come out of the carpet too. After discovering this I made a line in my carpet to assess how effective bar soap is versus the standard cleaning solution and it was disgustingly noticeable. The bar soap solution pulled out dirt that I had thought the steam cleaner alone had been getting out. A word to the wise though… say your two year old decided to sneak to the fridge and have a mustard party and squirt it all over the carpet then throw a pillow on it and dance the Hokey Pokey… food products often are permanent stains and the you’ll want to look into carpet repair versus cleaning unless by some miracle club soda does the trick. The method works great though for dirt spots, foods that aren’t heavy in dye content and other random stains. Worth a shot for the small cost of a bar of soap!
