uh oh...obsession cleaning

If you are a friend of mine on facebook, or if you have read my blog lately then you know that I have an obsession with pinterest. Something I have become obsessed with lately has been home remedy cleaners. Let me say that I am not part of the Go Green movement. I don't care much about using chemicals - I care more about what works. HOWEVER, if I can find a cleaner that has little or no chemicals that works just as well or better than a cleaner with chemicals...then I will look at the price, and if it costs the same, then I will go with the environment friendly cleaner. So, when I fund a cleaner that consists of ingredients I already have around the house...I dont mind giving it a shot, I mean, what do I have to lose, right?

In saying this, I need to tell you that I have found a miracle! My carpet is basically one big stain. It doesn't bother me as much as it should because you can rarely see my carpet. It is more often than not covered in toys. However; when I do put away all the toys, the first thing I notice is how disgusting my carpet looks. It is beyond embarrassing. When we first moved in I was really careful about cleaning spills and stains, but anyone with carpet knows that once you clean a stain it just seems to attract more dirt over time and you end up cleaning the same spot over and over. (Bare with me, I am going to share the miracle with you...)

Two months ago, I bought this "everything" cleaner. The main reason I bought it was that it literally cleans everything...including stains on your carpet. So, last night after JR picked up the living room and tested out the awesomeness of the shop vac....I stared at the stain that is my carpet. I decided to get out my nifty $40 cleaner and start on a stain. An hour later I had cleaned a section of carpet (about a 6x4 in space). The carpet in this small area looks amazing. The reason it took so long is because I had to put 1/2 a capfull of the cleaner into a spray bottle, then fill it will water. Then I had to spray the mixture onto the carpet, saturating the stain. The spraying not only killed my hand and forced me to take breaks, but it was just time consuming. I remembered that I had seen a home remedy on pinterest and decided to give it a try.

Here is the miracle...

again, I apologize for picture quality, they were taken with my phone so that I could upload them quickly in the even that it worked....

Here is the stain I was working with....not sure what was spilled, but there ya go... Step 1 - vacuum the area of the stain

Step 2 - Sprinkle baking soda over stain and let sit for 10 minutes

Step 3 - Vacuum the area once again

Step 4 - In a bowl, combine 1 tablespoon white vinegar, 1 tablespoon dawn dish soap ( I have heard you can use either the blue, or the clear...I chose clear, just in case and because I already had it at home), and 2 cups warm water. With a white rag (not sure that it really matters if it is white, but again, seemed like the right choice....I would hate to use a green rag and have the color bleed into the carpet!) dip into the vinegar, soap, and water mixture and scrub stain....some people say to blot it...I say scrub!

The "recipe" says that you should then use cold water to go over the area, but I skipped this step with this stain, and used it with another that I did, and there was no difference, so it is up to you.

Step 5 - use a dry white cloth to sponge the area...basically soaking up excess water...(didn't take a picture of this step)

Voila - the stain is removed, and according to the post on pinterest, due to the lack of chemicals, it wont pick up or attract dirt as easily...I can't say for certain, as I just did this two hours ago...but so far it's holding up well! LOL you can run your vacuum over it again if you want but it isn't necessary.

So can you guess what I am doing today...yup, I am attempting to clean my entire living room carpet. The great news too is that this was the same size of the area I spent cleaning last night...if you remember, it took me an hour. This stain took less than 15 minutes (10 of it waiting for the baking soda..not sure why you have to wait ten minutes...but whatever!)

So I challenge you to try this...I will say that I have some red juice stains that it has lightened but not removed completely...anyway, the challenge is to try it and let me know what you think! If you havae the time for some before and after photos...I want to see them.

p.s. DO NOT WORRY about the vinegar smell. It is a small amount and the dish soap completely covers it...instead of smelling vinegary, it smells great!