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Home made carpet cleaner?

Does anybody have a recipe for home made carpet cleaner for a steam cleaner?Thanks

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I work 1 day a week for an Alzhiemers facility. I maintain their plumbing, electrical and security systems. After observing the condition of their carpet, I asked them if I could help them find a product that would improve it's condition. They owned a carpet cleaner. It was a $4,000.00 machine so I expected that the machine wasn't the problem. For the next year, I searched the internet for formulas (There is no end to the people that have mixed up a concoctions) This is what I discovered. Although there are some homemade remedies that work well on certain stains, the best product for the money is available at Ace Hardware stores under their own brand name. Ace 6 in 1 carpet cleaner The problem when purchasing carpet cleaners is the ratio of cleaner to water. I purchased a gallon of each type carried by WalMart for example. The best ratio they carried was 4 to 1, 4 oz of product per gallon of water for standard cleaning. The Ace product wax mixed at 2 to 1, 2 oz of product per gallon. Since these all were in the same price range, this meant that the Ace cleaner was 1/2 the price of not only the Walmart cleaners but almost every other one we tried. We found that Oxy clean would bleach out carpet dyes over time. Vinegar had just enough sticky to attract dirt. Windex, however, worked great on urine spots and some stains. When testing these products and formulas, I used a test piece of carpet rather than the installed carpet which was lucky considering some of the helpful formulas we tried. I should add that we cleaned our carpets once a week plus did constant spot cleaning. The problems we encountered would take years to develop if the carpets were cleaned only once or twice a year
What type of carpet you have? Wools/poly... Whats your machine hold 1/2 galon OR 2 ? 1/2 cup-1 cup vinegar if using soaps too tablespoon to 1/3 cup of tide/gain Lemon about 25 drops... Simple green 1/2 cup Hot water and vinegar gain is o.k. on some however use just a dab (seriouse here)for freshness unless you have lemon essentail oil handy.. Vinegar will leave the least amount of residue in the carpet and will slow down the resoiling process. So using vinegar and Hot water you can still add dabs of tide,gain,simple green. test a area is important.. I would not use a amonia recipe if you have cats or dogs
I recommend professional cleaning but if youre just hard headed and insist on a home brew here ya go...If your carpet is synthetic material(nylon, polyester, olefin) depending on the type of soiling, Tide will work excellent, but dilute dilute dilute. Only use 1 drop to 5 gallons of water. With that, add 2 cups of 30volume hydrogen peroxide(can be found at sally's beauty supply for $3 a quart). If your carpet is natural fiber such as wool, dont be a cheap a$$, get it professionally cleaned. If you need something to spot clean you need some thing on the acid side of the pH scale, equal parts of vinegar and water will work fine. It will stink when you use it, but when it dries the smell will go away.
First of all, if you clean your carpets regularly (twice a year), the cost of purchasing a carpet cleaner versus renting may be warranted. Second, if you really want to cut costs, don't mind using elbow grease, and want much cleaner carpets, try a mixture of ammonia and water, using a scrub brush. Using a terry cloth, rinse with vinegar and water. This is an excellent way to clean high traffic areas and area rugs.
Never use a wet vacuum cleaner or a steam machine to pull the stain from the carpet. The reason is that the heat will actually cause the stain to permanently stay in the carpet fiber. Another common cleaning mistake includes rubbing the stain too vigorously with a cloth, brush, or any other item. Instead, soak up the spill with a clean white cloth, paper towel, or newspaper by standing on top of it. Use a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water and brush lightly to remove the stain. Vigorous brushing untwists the carpet fibers, which gives the carpet a dull appearance thereafter.

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