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Minnesota from Scratch

Thanks for stopping by! I'm Stephanie Thurow / MinnesotafromScratch and this is my website. I'm a food preservation instructor and bestselling author of Can It & Ferment It, WECK Small-Batch Preserving and WECK Home Preserving. My fourth book, Small-Scale Homesteading, is now available for pre-order! Join me here for info on food preservation, recipes, organic gardening, chicken keeping, urban homesteading and so much more.

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Five Eco-Friendly Stain Removal Tips for Carpeting

July 10, 2013 by Stephanie 8 Comments

Today Ben Clark is taking over the blog to give you five eco-friendly spot removal tips. I would definitely recommend trying out these options before breaking out the harsh chemical strain removers. 

Hi, my name is Ben Clark. I am the owner of the world’s greatest company (at least I think so). I own Kern Carpet Cleaning. Additionally, I am a dad. This means that I am either cleaning up messes at work or I am cleaning up messes at home.

I think we can all agree that we envy our kids’ limitless-supply of energy. However that same energy often results in spills, stains and food covered floors. Today, I am going to talk about five eco-friendly carpet cleaning secrets. These tricks will show you how to use common household items to clean stains out of your carpet.

1. Baking Soda

Eco-friendly spot cleaning tips - MinnesotaFromScratch.wordpress.com

Let’s start with one of my favorites:  Baking Soda. Most of you grew up with this in your spice cabinet. Personally, my mom kept Baking Soda in the refrigerator, but that is beside the point. This pasty powder can be used to remove some of your toughest stains.

Start by mixing baking soda and water together until you form a thick paste.  Massage the paste into your carpet and let the mixture sit for a few minutes. After the paste has had time to soak into your carpet, use a tooth-brush to scrub the stain.  This will work on most stains.

2. Cornmeal

Eco-friendly spot removal - - MinnesotaFromScratch.wordpress.com

If you are anything like me, you won’t use this method. I happen to LOVE corn muffins, so naturally, I wouldn’t dream of pouring cornmeal all over my carpet. However, for those of you who are less-attached to the worlds most delicious muffin, this will work wonders on carpet stains. This can even remove grease stains.

Use cornmeal by simply pouring all over a grease stain. Let the meal sit for 30 minutes. Next, vacuum up the mixture and scrub out any remaining stains with soap and water.

3. Table Salt

Eco-friendly cleaning tips - MinnesotaFromScratch.wordpress.com

Salt is similar to corn meal as in it absorbed stains. This works best for liquid stains like spilled juices. Soon after your child spills their fruit punch on your white carpet,  pour salt over the stain.Wait 15-30 minutes to let the salt absorb most of the stain, after which you can vacuum up the salt particles.

If you are able to see remaining of the stain, you can repeat this two or three times. Lastly, you can use soap and water to scrub-out any remaining spots.

4. Vinegar

Vinegar is admittedly pungent, but ironically it works miracles on smelly carpets. If you have a stain that smells (like urine), pour vinegar over it.

I recommend you pour a healthy dose on your stain and let it sit in your carpet for 20 minutes. After the vinegar has had enough time to interact with your stain, soak up the vinegar with dry towels.

Lastly, wait until your floor is 100% dry and use a vacuum to suck up the particles that will have formed on top of your carpet. This will remove most smelly stains. There are some, like cat urine, that will need something specially created to fight off cat urine bacteria.

5. Blot and Keep it clean

Remember that stains are typically not set as soon as they touch your carpet. More often, they are set when people mishandled them. The first thing you should do to a stain is blot it with a dry towel. Try to remove as much liquid as possible from your carpet without pressing the stain deeper into your floor.

Secondly, use dye-free, unscented soap and warm water. This is not only eco-friendly but it is also better of your carpets. You don’t want to a colored soap into your stain because that will make it harder to remove. An unscented bar of soap can be used to remove basic stains out of your carpet.

I hope these tips will help you keep your house stain free.

Enjoy,

Ben Clark

 Leave a comment below if you know of any eco-friendly carpet cleaning tricks.  

Filed Under: FYI, Homemade, Uncategorized Tagged With: Baskersfield carpet cleaning, Eco-friendly carpet cleaning tips, Eco-friendly stain removal, Homemade cleaning products, how to clean a stain, how to clean a stain with baking soda, how to clean a stain with cornmeal, how to clean a stain with salt, how to clean a stain with vinegar, how to get stains out of carpeting, Kern Carpet Cleaning, stain in my carpet

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. EcoGrrl says

    July 10, 2013 at 9:03 am

    Or…get rid of your carpets altogether as most have a lot of toxins in them and are harsh on allergies! I have hardwoods throughout the main floor of my house and ripped out the carpet in my basement and painted the concrete floors, covering them with recycled-plastic rugs which are soft underfoot and clean up with a sponge. 🙂

    Reply
    • MinnesotaFromScratch says

      July 10, 2013 at 2:58 pm

      Yes, I agree, carpeting can be very toxic. Our home came with carpeting in two rooms and we haven’t been able to afford to refinish the floors yet. Also, some people prefer it, as my grandparent’s do. So if you have it, these are some nice tips to try! Baking soda is so handy for stains all over the house!

      Reply
      • EcoGrrl says

        July 10, 2013 at 3:05 pm

        true dat! and i love it for cleaning the inside of the stove!

        Reply
  2. Ashley B. says

    July 11, 2013 at 10:05 am

    I had no idea about the cornmeal! That’s awesome! Vinegar and baking soda are my saving graces when it comes to cleaning without all those harsh unnatural chemicals.

    Reply
  3. Kristin says

    July 11, 2013 at 10:12 am

    I would have NEVER thought cornmeal would get out grease stains! What a fantastic idea!

    Reply
  4. Gabrielle Lynn O'Brien says

    July 11, 2013 at 11:03 am

    Great tips! I’m sure I will use them in the future!

    Reply
  5. Jenn says

    July 11, 2013 at 11:56 am

    Nice tips! I would have never thought of cornmeal either.

    Reply
  6. Alaina Bullock says

    July 11, 2013 at 6:46 pm

    Neat! I had no idea about several of these! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Stephanie. I'm the best selling author of Can It & Ferment It, WECK Small-Batch Preserving and WECK Home Preserving. My fourth book, Small-Scale Homesteading, is now available for pre-order! I'm a certified master food preserver, food preservation instructor, organic gardener, chicken keeper and nature lover. I specialize in creating easy to follow recipes and directions to help other homesteaders meet their goals.

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