Cleaning Carpets Without a Machine?

depending on how dirty your carpets are, you can actually damp mop them. a good sponge mop or a cotton mop wrung out well, with a solution of hot water and baking soda or borateem works well for a quick pick me up. otherwise its hands and knees and a scrub brush and blotting rags (by the bushel) and a lot of huffing and puffing (for out of shape people like me anyway) in very small areas, take as little water on your brush as you can and scrub a small spot. blot with an old towel or rag. and move on to the next spot. tough stains may take more water or scrubbing. maybe even a tiny dab of dishwashing liquid. this would have to be rinsed off or it will dry sticky. another way is a spray bottle of alcohol. spritz a small area, scrub with a rag and go on to the next spot. check for colorfastness in a small area first. if you have organic stains (like food) spray them with peroxide before starting. good luck

Barnes661

August 19, 20170 found this helpful

Would it be ok to do this while rug is on laminated floors

 

cdhugh51

October 1, 20171 found this helpful

Use hydrogen peroxide on light colored carpets. It will get out anything.

 

Marnita Arner

July 1, 20063 found this helpful

This isn't homemade; however, we have used a carpet cleaning product called "CAPTURE". We buy it at Lowe's Home Improvement stores, and I believe that Home Depot carries it too. It is a slightly wet cleaning powder that you sprinkle onto your carpet and work it in with a broom (you can use your own, or CAPTURE sells one with the product).

weeks31100

March 25, 20180 found this helpful

I tried Capture today on my carpet for pet accidents and small paint spills, and it worked wonders. I love it and the products weren't expensive. I bought them at Home Depot for less than $30. The stains are gone and it was very simple to use. I definitely recommend Capture.

 

The before mentioned methods of using Capture, Resolve, etc do work. Also using a mop or brush, then blotting up the moisture with rags works better than you might expect. Ammonia, shampoo, dishwashing liquid, Simple Green, are all good cleaners, and using vinegar to rinse removes the soap residue and odors, and lifts up the nap.

I have a small handheld steam machine. Would this work on carpet stains? Thanks, J

Editor's Note: It should work fine on any food stains.

When my brother in law visited last, my 3 year old son spilled orange pop on my white carpet (I freaked), bu the poured a little hot water on it, took a towel and covered the spot and used a reagular vaccum hose attachment over the towel so that the liguid was sucked into the towel. It worked better than anything, there was never a stain, and it was finished in under 3 minutes.