Husband: (looking around on the rare occasion when our living room floor is completely free of toys) “Why does our living room carpet look so gross?”
Me: “Umm…you’ve met the other four people who live in this house, right?”
I guess it’s time for another batch of Carpet Spot Remover!
We try really hard to keep food and drinks contained and off the living room carpet, but with four small kids, messes are bound to happen. I’m finding that when sippy cups leak, no matter how well I think I’ve cleaned up the aftermath, it can leave a yucky gray-ish spot (or Hansel & Gretel trail…) after a few days. Don’t even get me started on runaway Gogurt stains. Or caramel.
Luckily, our old pals Dawn and Vinegar come to the rescue. I mix 1 part dawn to 2-3 parts vinegar, spray, and let it sit for a while. Then I come back and give it a little scrub with a wet cloth, and most stains come right out! I’ve also used it as a pre-treater before using the steam cleaner, and it really does a nice job taking care of the spots…even sticky ones like partially-chewed caramel!
The Vinegar and Dawn combo has been my stand-by for over a year, but I recently discovered another helpful solution for carpet stains that also have odor (think sick kiddos with bad aim or our new kitten who is a mighty hunter of jumping insects, but unfortunately a not-so-mighty digester of them. Bleh.)
For sickies on carpet, I’ve had a lot of luck with the Dawn, Baking Soda, and Peroxide combo. It’s not an exact science, but I put a little squirt of Dawn, a few tsp. of baking soda, and a quick pour of Hydrogen Peroxide into a small bowl and stir. Dab a clean cloth into the solution and give the stain a good scrub (after wiping away excess mess with paper towels). Go over it once more with a clean damp cloth, and most messes will be fresh as a daisy!
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our easy, frugal, and effective Homemade Cleaning Supply recipes: they’re always handy and easy to find under the Home Cleaning tab in the green navigation bar at the top of the page!
