Sorry about the delay in posting! We have been busy trying to find a new home, jobs, etc to move out of California! Now we are moving in a week and I am running around trying to pack and clean. Today I started on the living room floor (half of it anyway) and had no carpet shampoo. So I looked around online for a recipe with household items. I tried the first one I found and I have to say I am glad I did!
Rachel @ Surviving the Stores
- 1½ quarts of hot (NOT boiling) water
- ¼ cup of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide (it’s the regular hydrogen peroxide that you can get at any store)
- 1½ Tablespoons of White Vinegar
- 1½ Tablespoons of Dish Soap (we use Seventh Generation and it worked great)
- About ⅛ of a teaspoon of your favorite essential oil(s) – either just one or a combination. Vanilla and lavender would be a good one. I had ginger and lavender on hand so I used those, but I’m going to get vanilla for next time.
- Mix all of the ingredients together (be sure to add the dish soap to the water and not the water to the dish soap – you’ll see why if you do it the wrong way just once)
- Pour into your carpet cleaning machine.
- Clean like the directions tell you to.
I messed around with the recipe a bit because I only have a little bit of peroxide on hand. I followed it like the original for the first round with only 3 tablespoons of peroxide instead of the 1/4 cup. Worked fine aside from my machine getting a bit foamy. The second round I filled my clean water container to the fill line (I think it is 2 1/2 quarts), 2 tablespoons vinegar, 2 tablespoons soap and 3 tablespoons peroxide. That did not cause my machine to get foamy and still did a great job cleaning. I have to say I wish I took pictures because living in an apartment with cheap carpet, well no one has to tell you that it gets dirty and gross no matter what you do!
The Crafty Mommy 