Three years ago we moved three kids, three outdoor cats, one construction worker, one auto mechanic (my brother), and two big elderly dogs into this house.
A house with cream carpets so brand-spanking new that I had chemical-inducing headaches for a week.
Our first house-related purchase was a steam cleaner and it got a LOT of use. When we bought it we also stocked up on several containers of Bissell Multi-Allergen carpet cleaner.
Paranoid about chemical residue on our carpets- where the kids would be in constant contact with it- I would insist on multiple rinses each time we steam cleaned.
Which is about as much fun as it sounds.
Eventually we ran out of the Bissell stuff, and I kept putting off buying more because it’s really quite expensive, and I wanted to research less chemical-laden options.
The Good Guide had nothing to recommend. No carpet cleaning products earn more than a “fair” rating.
We tried Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds
Carpet cleaning was put indefinitely on hold.
Last weekend we were having family over for Jacob’s belated birthday cake and presents, and Jeff and I faced the cold hard reality: we had to clean the carpets.
Jeff asked what he should use; I didn’t know. I didn’t want to put the money out for a product I didn’t really want coming into contact with Jacob’s horribly sensitive skin.
“I don’t know. Vinegar.”
And you know what? Jeff tried vinegar. This is huge: a year ago he would have huffed his way to Walgreen’s and bought some Bissell. “Real men use chemicals.”
But you know what else? Vinegar gets your carpets clean! Really, super clean! Six-month-old ground-in pond mud clean!
He pre-treated spots by spraying them with the vinegar-water-tea tree cleaner that I use for everything, letting it sit while we watched Cloverfield (a little over an hour. It’s a short movie).
Then he added two cups of vinegar to a gallon of water and used that in the steam cleaner. And then he rinsed. Once.
And I didn’t make him rinse again.
Isn't it so exciting how well this really simple solution works? I almost wish you'd tried it out on the chemicals when you first moved in so you could tell us all it gets rid of them! Carpet chemicals drive me crazy. Well, carpets really drive me crazy too…
I'm so glad you posted this! I am in the middle of one of those furious house-cleaning kicks in preparation for a new baby. One of my next projects is the family room carpet, but I really didn't want to subject myself, my children who spend all day coloring and playing on that carpet, and a newborn who will spend the better part of his first few months squirming on the thing, to the chemicals.
Now I can get up the nerve to face the carpet cleaner, which has been mockingly staring at me for months now. Thanks!
Stephanie, I LOVE when the non-toxic cleaner outperforms the traditional one. Such a triumph. The other big winner being borax in the bathtub- works better than anything else on the market.
The carpet fumes were terrible. I could barely even stand being in the house. I had no idea it could be so bad.
krispykitter, congrats on the upcoming baby! I am excited for you. I keep the carpet cleaner in the basement so I don't have to look at it. It's not my favorite job and I hand it off to Jeff whenever possible. But I'm so glad to be of help- and the vinegar really does work!
Thanks for the kind words!
love you article on home carpet cleaning ,i can definitely tell you that vinegar does magic on carpets ,you should also try putting salt on the carpet 30 minutes prior to vacuuming and try using HEPA filters when vacuuming …nice bloq!