It can be difficult to keep your carpet clean. Between kids, pets, food, and just normal accidents occurring, it can feel impossible to maintain a carpeted area. Due to the upkeep, a lot of people have switched to laminate or hardwood flooring. Carpet shouldn’t be discouraging. It can be cleaned and maintained.

SPOT CLEANING THE CARPET

Sometimes you don’t need to deep clean the entire house. Some areas may need immediate attention.

The tried and true method is a mixture of white vinegar and baking soda. Pour a small amount of vinegar on the stain and then sprinkle it with baking soda. The two common household items act as a dream team, the vinegar softens the stain and the baking soda lifts and deodorizes it. Allow it to sit and bubble up and lift the stain.

After about 30 minutes on a minor stain, take a damp cloth and wipe up the baking soda in the area. You can also vacuum up the baking soda after it dries, if you don’t want to use a cloth.

Baking soda is a deodorizer, so  it can be used in places like your fridge to reduce any smells. It can also be used for pet or other unfortunate accidents that occur around the house.

HOW TO GET DOG PEE OUT OF CARPET

The same method can be used whilst trying to potty train dogs. Puppies cannot and will not hold it when they are small and they do not immediately understand where to do their business. Unfortunately, once a dog pees somewhere it is usually game over. Their spot is marked and that is where they are going to go from now on. However, this will help show you how to get dog pee out of carpet. The vinegar and baking soda help to remove the pheromones marking that area and makes potty training less complicated. It also saves your carpet from staining.

You can use this method to spot clean carpets for other things too like cat urine and vomit.

Steam Cleaners

If you have a little more money on hand or see this being a more regular thing, like dog potty training, it may be a good idea to invest in a carpet steam cleaner. For small spots like the ones mentioned above, you can get a steam cleaner with a smaller attachment for those quick little jobs. You can also just buy a smaller more portable steam cleaner if you don’t think you need to go all in and buy a large one to do all the carpet in the home.

DEEP CLEANING THE CARPET

Industrial Cleaning

If you are going to invest in a steam cleaner for your carpets, you may not want to use the commercial products that are sold along with them. If you have birds in the home or respiratory issues, introducing the smells from those heavy duty cleaners may not be the best idea. A lot of those cleaners can leave your carpet feeling kind of sticky, which will inevitably attract more dirt to your carpet.

Cleaning with a Wet and Dry Vacuum

You can deep clean your carpet with white vinegar instead. Vinegar will deodorize, fluff up, and brighten any carpet without harsh chemicals that may be doing more damage than good Just mix a 50/50 solutions of white vinegar and water in your cleaner’s reservoir tank and go. The house may have a slight vinegar smell for a day or two, but as your carpet dries the smell with dissipate and eventually disappear all together.

When it comes to carpet, it is possible to keep it clean without hiring an expensive professional service or paying for a commercial cleaner. Vinegar and baking soda are more adequate to remove any difficult stains, deodorize your carpet, and brighten it overall.

HOW TO GET WATER OUT OF CARPET

Wet and Dry Vacuum Cleaner

Here we are talking carpets, not rugs that can be lifted out and hung to dry. Carpets, that become water looged, through flooding or spills are best dealt with by machines like a wet and dry vacuum cleaner. These can often be hired if you do not have one at home. Subject to the severity of the flooding, you may simply be able to draw the water out by laying towels and/or newspaper over the wet areas. As soon as they are wet lift them away and replace them with new dry towels or paper. Keep repeating, until you get rid of the visible water.

HOW TO DRY A CARPET

Fan Heater

This will only get to a point where the carpet is damp but not dry. Again subject to the scale of flooding, heating the room with a fan heater, will not only draw the water out, through evaporation, but also dispearse it away from the carpet. Do not point the fan directly at the carpet as you will damage the fibres and risk a fire. Heat the room and leave a door open for the moisture to escape.

Fans

If you do not have a fan heater, a fan will also do the job, but at a slower rate. If you can, turn the heating on as well, so the room gets warm enough to draw the water out of the carpet. You can point the fan at the worst effected areas to help encourage evaporation. Remember to move the fan around the room to dry the rest of the carpet as well. Leave a door or a window open slightly to allow the moisture to dispearse from the room.

Nature

If you are in a climate that allows for the doors and windows to be left wide open, this is the natural option. Letting the breeze and heat of the day flow over the carpet, is cost free and natural way to dry your carpet. A fan can be added to help speed the process as well.