Carpet Cleaning - Household Practices

When it comes to cleaning carpets by yourself with general household products, there are a number of logical steps one should take. First, all windows should be opened and fans should be ignited; it is important to get as much air circulating the room while using cleaning products as possible. The carpet should be vacuumed twice and if one is renting a vacuum cleaner, only rent the actual machine as opposed to all the extra stuff that the company tries to rent with it. One can make their own product by mixing 2 parts Simple Green with 1 part water and 1 part ammonia in a spray bottle or garden sprayer. If however, you happen to have an allergic reaction to ammonia or don't like it for any other reason; you can probably get away with creating your cleaning product without it. With this product, spray the carpet areas that generate a lot of traffic. If you find a stain however (that you know is grease, wax or gum) deal with that ahead of time, possibly by applying De-Solv-it. Once you are ready for the general cleaning, remove the suction hose from the vacuum cleaner and run it over the sprayed areas letting the beater brush do the job. Once you have done that, you just need to add a pint of white vinegar to the hot water reservoir which you will use to spray down and then have the steamer suck it up. Use any old sheets on the area to protect the now clean wet carpets until they are dry. They will dry much quicker if the fans are on and the windows open.