Carpet cleaning

jak&imk

Educate me.  I want to clean the carpets before moving into a new house.  What do you think is the best choice?  Thanks.  :-)

blue_elle

You need very little cleaning agents to clean carpets (although the people who make the cleaners would lead you to believe you need a whole huge bottle). When you put soap on carpet there is inevitably some residue left behind and that residue will actually attract dirt, so you want to put as little soap into the carpet as possible.

 Really all you need to get a carpet clean is some very hot water. You can actually boil some water on the stove and then (very carefully) pour that water into the cleaner's reservoir. I only use soap on stains, and even then it's just a small amount of cleaner mixed in a spray bottle with water and sprayed on prior to steaming to help loosen the stain.

Maybe some people here have a good recipe for homemade carpet/upholstery cleaners for any stained areas?

chigirlinaz

I just used a vinegar/water mixture (probably 50/50) and a few drops of Dr. B's in the soap reservoir in my steam cleaner.  It seemed to work fine. 

Temp123197812503460

beware of washing the carpets if there was ever a pet that lived there.  

there was one room in the house we bought that had carpet, when we visited the house there was no smell, same thing at the inspection.  then the previous owners, wanting to be nice, had the carpet cleaned before we moved in and it smelled SO bad we had to rip it out immediately (not a big deal as that was always our plan, I felt bad that they had it cleaned).

 

i think the liquid somehow brought out the smells that had been in the carpet before, yuck! 

Alirebco

We just used Chem Dry.  They're pretty green, they use carbonation and non toxic cleaners. 

lorik0428

chigirlinaz:

I just used a vinegar/water mixture (probably 50/50) and a few drops of Dr. B's in the soap reservoir in my steam cleaner.  It seemed to work fine. 

We do this and add a few drops of EO.

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lorik0428:

chigirlinaz:

I just used a vinegar/water mixture (probably 50/50) and a few drops of Dr. B's in the soap reservoir in my steam cleaner.  It seemed to work fine. 

We do this and add a few drops of EO.

Yep, this is what I do all the time as well.  Sometimes I even skip the Dr. B's. 

Be forewarned though, using anything other than the manufacturers products in a personally owned cleaner will void the warranty.  Sad, but true....for Bissell anyway.  Also, do not leave your vinegar/water mixture in your cleaner because it will start to deteriorate the plastics & metal of your machine!