Home Made Carpet Cleaner Solution

Most of our house has hardwood floors, but some bedrooms have carpet, as does the family room and a set of stairs.  That's nice on a cold winter's morning, but notsomuch when you have mucky boys.

Enter my carpet cleaner.

Bought years ago when we lived in a house which was mostly carpeted, it has paid for itself about a million times over.  Less than three uses and I was already saving money over renting a machine!

But for a (tragically) long time I paid the RIDICULOUS price for the special carpet cleaner solution. . .assuming that there had to be some very crucial formula required to work well in the machine AND not damage carpets.

I should have known better.  Seriously.  Shame on me!

Of COURSE there is a home made carpet cleaning solution!  And it's a FRACTION of the cost of the stuff that is sold right next to the machines.  Literally only pennies!!  Here it is:

Ingredients:

• Hot water (as hot as it comes from the tap)
• 2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
• 1/4 Cup Hydrogen Peroxide (3%. . .the regular stuff you find in the first aid section)
• 1 Tablespoon Mild Dish Soap (Ivory/Dawn/etc. . .but make sure there is no BLEACH in the ingredients!)

Method:

• Add vinegar and peroxide to tank of cleaner
• Fill tank up with hot water from the tap
• Add dish soap (don't do it first, or you will have lots of foamy suds, and resist the temptation to add any more than the one tablespoon!)
• Replace tank in machine
• Clean as per your machine's directions!

How easy and cheap is that?

Now just to figure out a home made recipe to PREVENT the muck in the first place!