Make Your Own Carpet Cleaning Kit! A Frugal, DIY Guide
Keeping your carpet clean requires a lot of products, from carpet shampoo to stain removers. If the cost of these products is eating into your budget, consider making your own carpet cleaning kit. This frugal guide will show you how to make your own carpet shampoo and stain removers while also detailing a few other simple items that will come in handy in your kit.
Castile Soap Shampoo
If you're like many frugal individuals, you probably already have a bottle of liquid castile soap around your home. This soap is pretty concentrated, but you can dilute it with 9 parts water to make a solution that works well as a carpet shampoo. Just add this diluted soap mixture to your carpet shampooer and use it as you normally would. Castile soap is not as sudsy as many commercial shampoos, but it's all natural, making it a good choice if you have family members or pets with sensitive skin. Scents like lavender and peppermint will leave your home smelling fresh.
Grease Stain Remover
This homemade stain remover works best on greasy stains. Combine one cup vinegar, one cup water, and about a tablespoon of dish soap in a squirt bottle. When you need to use the solution, just spray it on, massage the area gently to work the soap into the carpet fibers, and then blot it up. The vinegar will neutralize odors.
Dark Stain Remover
If you spill something really dark like wine or chocolate syrup, hydrogen peroxide can do a great job of erasing the stain. There's no need to mix anything together here – just toss a cheap bottle of peroxide in your carpet cleaning kit. To use it, just pour it on, let it sit for about 10 minutes, and blot it up thoroughly.
Other Handy Materials
- Paper towels: You can't have enough of these since you'll use them to blot up stains and cleaners. A stack of clean rags works, too.
- An old toothbrush: This comes in handy if you need to scrub.
- Two flat butter knives: If you spill something thick like fudge or peanut butter, you can use the knives to scrape up the bulk of the material before attempting to remove the stain.
Stash these items together in a bucket or plastic dishpan, and you're ready to fight stains the next time you spill something on the carpet. For more tips and if you need professional cleaning services, contact Kathy's Quality Cleaning, Inc.