I actually hate carpet. It is a breeding ground for all kinds of nasty stuff…dirt, dust, mold, allergens, etc. We live in a rental though so we are kind of stuck with what we have. To help keep our home clean and healthy we have some rules about carpet care such as removing shoes when we enter the home, vacuuming often, and reporting or cleaning up spills immediately. We also clean the carpet thoroughly every couple of months. We use a carpet cleaner that you can buy at any home improvement or big box store and we make the cleaning soap ourselves so that we can avoid toxic chemicals.
Here are two easy to make carpet cleaner recipes that are natural and safe for the family…
Natural Carpet Cleaner Recipe
6 qts HOT HOT water
4 teaspoons Dr. Bronner’s castille soap
25-30 drops of essential oil (peppermint, lavender, or tea tree)
30-50 drops GSE (grapefruit seed extract)
1-2 scoops Oxyclean (optional)
This will clean carpets and make them smell wonderful too!
SoapNuts Carpet Cleaner
Simmer a cup of soap nuts in about 4 cups of water, mash the nuts by hand to release the saponins. Drain the liquid using a cheese cloth and pour the liquid concentrate into a glass mason jar. Put a few tablespoons inside your carpet cleaner and voila!
Enjoy!
I aboslutly love Dr. Bronner’s products!
Love it! I try to use natural cleaners when I can.
Yes! Thank you for this recipe! I usually use baking soda with essential oils mixed in right before I vacuum (or I’ll leave it on the carpet overnight), but our carpet could use a heavy duty cleaning for sure.
The thought of how dirty carpets are scares me too, yet with our long and cold winters, I have to admit to being in love with carpet for the warmth on the feet. So, I appreciate this cleaner recipe!!
OOOH thanks for the recipe! We recently bought a few bottles of Bronners and I’ve been trying to collect ideas for recipes with them!! I’m going to pin this for later!
I love Dr. Bronner’s castille soap! I never realized you could make this with it!
Thank you for the recipes … I’ve seen DIY, Eco-friendly recipes for a lot of cleaners but never one for carpet shampooing. I’m definitely bookmarking this one! :-)
Ahh – thank you for this! I’m living with carpet for the first time in a long time and I definitely need this.
p.s. I recently shared my “going green” story and what I’m struggling with: http://meredithtested.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/the-going-green-tag/ … trying hard not to compare my beginning to other people’s middle!
Hygienic carpet is one important factor to a cleaner house.
It’s up to you if you’ll ignore this. I’m amazed with the carpet care rules you
stated above, it sounds so fantastic and effective. This will definitely help
lots of moms out there. Keep it up! http://www.desertoasiscleaners.com/
I am always concerned when someone new does something new with your carpet! I am hoping for a good experience.Thanks for sharing. Your carpets really help in enhancing the beauty of a room, and that’s why when it comes to cleaning them you should only go to the experts.
There’s noticeably a bundle to learn about this. I assume you made sure good points in options also. Thanks as this is informative! Would love to read more of your blogs! Cheers
Thanks for the knowledge.