~DIY carpet cleaner for machines~ I just made a gallon of this carpet cleaner. Add 1/4 cup vinegar, 4 tbsp dish soap, 4 tbsp softener and 1/4 cup peroxide in a measuring cup. Stir it. Then add it to an almost full gallon of warm water.
Does your carpet need a deep steam clean? If so, consider swapping out the traditional chemicals for white vinegar. All you have to do is pour white vinegar into the steam cleaner where you'd usually pour the cleaning solution, and then run the machine as normal.
White Vinegar
Pour in the Vinegar, then fill the rest of the Bissell Spot Cleaner tank with hot tap water. Just be sure to follow normal safety guidelines that go with using vinegar as a cleaner. Many people love to use vinegar to clean just about anything and everything around a house.
~DIY carpet cleaner for machines~ I just made a gallon of this carpet cleaner. Add 1/4 cup vinegar, 4 tbsp dish soap, 4 tbsp softener and 1/4 cup peroxide in a measuring cup. Stir it. Then add it to an almost full gallon of warm water.
Can I use cleaning formulas other than the BISSELL brand? It's possible to use others, but we recommend against it. Our formulas contain no dyes, phosphates or optical brighteners, and will produce optimal cleaning performance when used in combination with BISSELL carpet cleaning machines.
Baking soda will help freshen up both appearance and smell, and it doesn't contain any harmful chemicals – so you can feel good about your own well-being, your carpets, and the environment. And, if combined with another natural cleaning agent, vinegar, it can take care of even the toughest stains out there.
Pour a small amount of vinegar on the stain, followed by a sprinkle of baking soda. The vinegar works to saturate and soften up the offending mark while the baking soda does the lifting and deodorizing. Together, they bubble a little and work as a team to lift the stain to the surface.
If you must do it yourself, natural supplies such as white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda are preferable to soaps and chemicals in DIY carpet cleaning because they do not leave behind residues that attract dirt.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Surfactant: Surface-active agent helps remove dirt, stains, and bad smells.
While some websites sing the praises of vinegar as an all-purpose cleanser, it simply shouldn't be used on carpet. Here's why … Vinegar is great for countertops, but it's one of the least effective solutions out there for removing dirt from carpet fibers.
Mix 1/4 cup salt, 1/4 cup borax, and 1/4 cup vinegar, then apply this paste to deep stains or heavily soiled sections of carpet. Allow the paste to sit on the carpet for several hours until it dries completely, then vacuum it away.
Baking soda's minuscule size can clog the filters and potentially damage vacuum cleaners – particularly the motor. If you're using a bagless vacuum, the potential chokepoint would be the cyclonic filters and the post-motor HEPA filter.
You can use baking soda (aka bicarbonate of soda) to clean and deodorize all kinds of carpet and area rugs, but the method used depends on whether the stain is grease-based (think pizza, oil, mayonnaise) or non-greasy (like mud, wine, blood). In all cases, the process starts by sprinkling baking soda over the stain.
The longer you can allow the baking soda to sit, the better it can work to absorb odors—if you can afford to leave it on the carpet for a few hours or even overnight, you'll really reap the benefits. But you can still use the mixture for a quick 15-minute application and enjoy the smell and a little deodorizing boost.
First, gently clean the color off your carpet as much as you can, using a white cloth to avoid further spread. Next, mix 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar with 2 cups of warm water. Mix well and pour some of the mixture onto the stained area.
Mix 1 teaspoon of a liquid dishwashing detergent into 1 cup of lukewarm water and put into a spray bottle. Spray the area with the solution. (NOTE: Do not use laundry detergent or automatic dishwasher detergent, as both contain chemicals that could damage your carpet.)
Laundry Detergents aren't Formulated for Carpet Cleaning
Cleaning solutions are specifically formulated to clean and not damage the machines they're used in and the material they're treating. Laundry soap is designed to be used in washing machines to clean clothing.
If you're cleaning carpets and using an EasyFill formula, fill tank with water to the water line in the middle of the tank. Put the cap back onto the tank. Firmly insert the EasyFill formula bottle into the tank cap and squeeze until formula reaches the formula fill line.