What’s the best natural carpet cleaner? Learn from my mistakes with homemade carpet cleaner when you clean your carpets naturally.
I have a few things to say about this photo of dirty water from cleaning my carpet:
First of all, isn’t it lovely? The image of a job well done.
Second, my apologies.
Normal food bloggers are posting mouthwatering pictures of well-lit, finely staged food and then will share the delectable recipe (that you’ll never get to look quite as good as theirs).
Me?
I’ve got pictures of dirty water from homemade carpet cleaner.
Oh, yeah. Nothing but class.
At least I’m going to tell you how I did it, too, and you can probably replicate it at home just fine!
Do You Clean Your Carpets Naturally?
I’m sure there’s a balance between the philosophy of “a little dirt is good for you” and “I don’t want any germs in my house.” I lean toward the former, but when we moved into a new home, it just felt prudent to pretend I was in the latter camp for a few weeks and clean everything really, really well.
With no furniture in the house, how could one NOT steam vacuum the carpets?
Note: We also had the ducts cleaned out, a $400 mistake that I would NEVER do again. The result was an incredibly dusty basement (that I had already cleaned top to bottom for two hours) and people sneezing for a few weeks. Want to create more dust in your house? Pay to have your ducts cleaned. I would have rather all that stuff sat still under the vents…to be fair, many in the comments really appreciate duct cleaning…sounds like we had a terrible company. 🙁
My in-laws own a steam vacuum and offered the cleaner that came with it, but with a soon-to-be crawler who will be ingesting everything on the carpet and my general tendency toward natural green cleaning products, I knew I had to figure out a green alternative homemade carpet cleaner, and one that I could find fast. John also was sleeping on the floor while I was working at the new house, another reason not to have fumes, well, fumigating his nostrils!
Enter the power of social media.
I got a bunch of advice on Facebook and Instagram from the KS community – brilliant, experienced ladies out there, always impressing me!
Options for Non-Toxic Steam Vacuum Solutions
Here is the full list of ideas for natural carpet cleaners from readers out there, and I’ll tell you what I ended up using (and why it probably wasn’t the best choice!) at the end:
- Just hot water (a few times) – a few people said don’t use soap at all, because soap attracts dirt.
- Water and vinegar – half and half OR vinegar in the amount you’re supposed to use cleaning solution Note: vinegar sets some stains (dyes); I wouldn’t use it anymore
- 2 parts water, 1 part castile soap, and a shot of vodka for sanitizing (that sounds like too much soap to me…maybe in different models?)
- 1 DROP Sal Suds, 1 c. vinegar in rinse cup (my model didn’t even have a special rinse cup; I wonder if I would have done it twice with this method) – this site discusses more about the Sal Suds treatment, including a spot cleaner. Note: no vinegar for me anymore
- After we thoroughly cleaned all the carpets, we’ve been using a new product for spot cleaning carpets naturally that does a great job, and it can also be used as a steam clean option.
- Tiffany at Nature Moms uses Babyganics Floor Cleaner Concentrate and swears by it.
- Someone hypothesized that Simple Green might work
- A few recommended soap nuts liquid (you make it DIY by boiling soap nuts in water). They said to use the same proportions as whatever soap is called for in the cleaner tank and water in rinse tank, or “just boil a few nuts 30 minutes and use that water.” For me, for that stage of my life, that was too much extra work to even try, although I considered trying a bunch and doing side-by-side tests! Also I didn’t know how many times we’d actually need to refill. It ended up being quite a few, maybe 5?
- Biokleen Bac-Out, diluted
What Did Katie Use to Clean the Carpets Naturally?
Because it seemed super easy and I use vinegar to clean many things, I went with two cups of vinegar and hot-hot water to clean the carpets. I thought folks had a point I’d heard before about soap attracting more dirt, so I didn’t want to use castile soap just in case, and my Sal Suds bottle was still all packed up.
Obviously, we got a lot of dirt up, but I wonder now how it would have gone with just the water.
I received a comment in my Charlie’s Soap review from a fellow who owns a carpet cleaning service. He’s looking for an eco-friendly cleaning solution for professional use, and apparently it’s quite tricky:
He reminded me:
Um. Oops. Like maybe this one?
That’s in the thoroughfare of our living room, likely never to be hidden under furniture, although the sellers had an oddly placed couch covering it when we viewed the house.
Shucks.
That’ll teach me to listen to the wisdom of the Internet! 
If I had to do it over, I would just use hot water, since everything else leaves questions of residue or setting stains. (Biokleen Bac-Out was a close second since I love it for stain treating laundry, but I wondered if it would have residue problems. It’s an enzyme-based cleaner that smells like lime, which was more appealing than vinegar! The vinegar didn’t actually make the house smell like vinegar at all, by the way.)
Deodorizing Carpet Naturally
I used to suggest deodorizing carpet issues, especially tinkle on the carpet, with baking soda, but I’ve since learned why NOT to use baking soda on carpet. Baking soda never fully gets vacuumed up, and even in small quantifies it’s so abrasive that it can wear out the carpet fibers prematurely.
Fascinating! I learned all this in the comments! Anyone want to share an idea for something to deodorize carpets that won’t end up damaging them?
[question]How do you naturally clean your carpets? Or alternately: what “natural” cleaning mishaps have you made? I’ll feel better if you tell me…[/question]
I Clean carpets semi-often, learned not to overdo it as it strips the carpet and allows dust mites to become airborne with disturbances like, .. walking. Vinegar is great, so is natural orange oil, but be sure to use very little as it can damage the plastic in the machine, but also strips the waxy coating off dust mites, killing them, and frankly, it’s non-toxic. I do it often enough the water is dirty but not filthy, the first time I used this it came out black and the carpet is fluffier. Vinegar is my usual go-to chemical for carpets, and sometimes if you spot clean a little with baking soda, you get it to foam out the dirt.
I would for sure stay away from the baking soda + essential oil one! I did it in my living room 2 years ago and can STILL smell the rancid oil when the windows are open and the air circulates. I’m currently pregnant and it makes me so nauseous to even be in that room. ???? (This is why I am looking for a way to clean the carpet!) haha. I gotta get that nasty smell out. We have a Kirby with the shampoo attachment… It’s a darker speckled brown carpet so I’m leaning toward the vinegar option.
Oof, ick. I’m shocked the EOs went rancid, what a mess! We just started working with a new sponsor who sells products to get the stink out of things – there’s a powder that can be sprinkled on carpet and vac’d up. You might want to check them out – see this post for a review of the laundry version and the bottom of this post for a coupon code. Maybe that will be an EASY way to fix the problem for you! 🙂 Katie
girlfriend just got done cleaning carpets here on thursday, it is now saturday, she is still having trouble with hives and swelling all over her body, the “green’ way to clean was the wrong way, I would advice no one ever use BioKleen, it has left so much crap in our carpets she can’t even come in the house now and im trying everything under the sun to try to remove it now from our carpets. ive tried vinegar and baking soda and have had no luck, shes been to doctor twice getting stronger meds to counter the allergic reaction shes having. having to go wipe down everything I can in bleach now due to our 2 little puppies have tracked the clean everywhere in the house. If anyone has any tips or ideas to counter this clean, please help!
Cory, Does your girlfriend have any known allergies? I do not know if Biokleen has changed their formula, but I’ve not noticed a lot of hanging scent and offgassing with it. I’m sorry you had such a bad experience! Do you have a steam cleaner still? I would think lots of very hot water would help. 🙁 Katie
That dirty water bucket is actually fairly tame. I’ve cleaned dirty basement carpets and come up with water that was almost black!
I just bought a house and called a local carpet cleaner. He uses a product called procyon that states to be non toxic and leaves no residue. It is suppose to keep the floors cleaner longer as not to attract dirt to a sticky residue. Anyone familar with this product?
Sorry Carrie, I’ve never heard of that one. What does Google have to say about it? 🙂 Katie
I am confused about Bac Out. I used to be a big fan, using for years. Then, a couple of years ago, I bought a bottle, and it had a strong chemical smell. I checked the ingredients, and compared them to the ones in my old bottle. The formula had completely changed.
Can all of you Bac Out fans tell me whether BioKleen changed back to the original formula? I looked it up on the Environmental Working Group’s website, and it gets a B. I thought it had gotten demoted, and had gotten a failing grade, but now it looks to be back up there again.
Does anyone know what’s going on with it?
Uh oh, I didn’t even know they changed the formula, Julie! Yikes! Perhaps I’ll finish the bottle I have and switch to Branch Basics – it does everything BacOut could do plus usually gets out mustard, too, which is amazing. 😉 I think the code KS15 (or KS10 or KS20, what was it?) will still work for a % off. 🙂
http://staging.kitchenstewardship.com/branchbasics (aff link)
🙂 Katie
I have a couple things to add. Actually I borrowed one of these exact same Bissell cleaners and have used it a few times and have heard the same as you about the soap causing stains. I have never heard about the vinegar setting stains though.
Today we needed to try and get out a few “accidents” from our little dog out of our carpets. The mixture I used was mostly super hot water, a little bit (3 Tbls) of vinegar and tried using the lavender oil. Smelled good so I am happy with that.
I am not sure about setting stains with vinegar compared to cleaning. I am thinking that oil based paint may set but hoping that protein based pee will come out, time will tell.
A couple things I noted though. I primed the Bissell by spraying it into the sink so that I could get the old cold water out and know that the hot water was coming through the sprayer. Also I noticed that the shag carpeting it much easier to clean then the tight weave of the Berber carpet in our basement. Great tips in the article though. Loved it!
3/4 hot water, 1/4 hydrogen peroxide and 1/2 tsp (just a little squirt) of Dawn dish soap. This combo works great for me.
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Definitely don’t use essential oils on synthetic carpet–it will eat it. Essential oils are very powerful and shouldn’t be used lightly and without knowledge. If you place an essential oil (a real one) on a styrofoam cup, it will eat away the styrofoam, so imagine what it will do to your carpeting. I don’t even apply an essential oil while standing on carpet. (Now, this is probably not the case with adulterated “essential oils” you find at your local health food store that are really only good for scenting candles with.)
I’ve also been told by professional carpet cleaners to never put baking soda on carpet, for the reasons mentioned above–it is very abrasive and will ruin your carpet fibers.
We bought a house with white carpets and have had quite a time keeping them clean thanks to our naughty little dachshund. I have discovered that leaving peroxide to soak into a pet urine stain for half an hour or so before rinsing it out with the upholstery hose on our carlet cleaner does wonders! Wonders!
Wow- terrifically informative comments! I think I will try Bac Out for general carpet cleaning. I haven’t seen citrus cleaner mentioned yet for spot cleaning- it works very well for me!
If you want to know how to clean a carpet, ask the company from whom you purchased it. Whenever I spill something or get a spot, I spray it with Windex and blot. It works everytime. It has to be Windex though, not generic because some of the generic contain bleach. I doubt this is a natural solution though, but please don’t beat me up for suggesting something un-natural.
As for what type of vacuum works best, buy from an independently owned vacuum store. We have one here that’s been a family-owned business for 50 years. I went in intending to buy a Hoover and they talked me out of it. They repair vacuums and know which brands they repair the most. Dyson is the worst, they told me. They sold me a Panasonic with the pet paw and hepa filter. It works great! And, it was only a few dollars more than the box store. If something would go wrong with it, try taking it to a box store for repair.
thank you for this post. i just bought a steam vac but i didn’t buy their cleaning solution because i am sure it is full of the usual synthetic junk. i did a search for natural alternatives to be used with a steam vac and your post came up. thanks for the good ideas!
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this
article and also the rest of the site is also very good.
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own blog and was wondering what all is required to get set up? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a
pretty penny? I’m not very web smart so I’m
not 100% positive. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Kudos
I feel like the carpet cleaning is going to improve our carpet at least in Vernon. I hope that it does something.
First, I LOVE this post! Thank you! My household is 100% green (asthma, MCS) but I add a teaspoon of powdered oxygen bleach (already diluted in water) to my Dr. Bronner’s soap because I’ve never reacted to it and the stain lifting is unmatchable by anything else (use too much and it’ll bleach the carpet, leave a residue, etc and if you suspect you used too much add vinegar or another acid to neutralize it – a lot of stain lifting has to do with acid/base and emulsification I’ve learned and O2 bleach is a base). If stains are really bad, I use salt and rubbing alcohol to spot treat it (great on anything sticky and I’ve never ruined anything even clothing doing this). If I have odors to remove or want another soap booster, I use dissolved baking soda and Borax in my carpet mix. I’ve never had residue and never had a new dirt attraction. I don’t use vinegar because my dh hates the smell so I’ll use another acid like lemon juice, lime juice, etc. And, I used Bac-Out and found that there are other natural enzyme products geared towards pet accidents that work 1,000,000x better and I LOVED Bac-Out at first. My local co-op has alternatives so I’m sure they’re widely available elsewhere. I’m cleaning 30+ year old carpets and antique $$$ Persian rugs and have taken 20+ years off the carpet and 50+ off the Persian rugs. Persian rug dyes do bleed, so don’t wash them on top of other carpeting if you’re as brave. <3
The result was an incredibly dusty basement (that I had already cleaned top to bottom for two hours) and people sneezing for a few weeks.I would have rather all that stuff sat still under the vents.
One pass with a high-powered upright is not enough. Go over each section of carpeting several times, and work slowly to allow the suction to remove all the ground-in dust and dirt.
I’m borrowing from my MiL and she uses harsh chemicals for everything. We are moving into a new house and I want to steam clean all the carpets ahead of time. With the vinegar and water or Bac-put and water would I have to clean out the vacuum tank or have it run with just water to get past residual nasty chemicals out of the vacuum? I’d be concerned abt it into the carpets or mixing with the “homemade” concoction because its just been sitting in her garage for a year. Should I even be worrying abt this?
Lael,
You could always clean it out a bit, but I can’t imagine the chemicals would make a huge difference after sitting for a year. I’d probably just rinse with water. ??? Enjoy your new home!
🙂 Katie
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Thanks for this post, Katie – I love my Steamvac! I have a couple days off work and am going to town cleaning my carpets…I just put a post up on my blog about my technique…I find that vinegar and hot water work great, but I don’t have any little kids leaving juice stains or anything (yet)…I am thinking though that if you treated all the stains first, then followed with vinegar, it might not set the stains so badly…
As one of those “fiber artists”, I can say with assurance that neither I nor anyone I know uses vinegar to set dyes. (Probably an old wives tale–due to the fact that changing the pH of the dye helps set the color).
I do use it to clean; am trying to decide if I want to use it in the carpet cleaning machine.
When I did have carpets I cleaned them with a carpet shampoo. A couple of weeks later, when I thought they were dry enough (I’m afraid of molds), I went over them again with hot water and vinegar. The difference was amazing. This removed the soap residue and made the carpets soft again.
I recently moved into an apartment with carpets and am researchi ng what to use. Will try hot water and vinegar.
Sharon, I moved into an apartment with w2w carpeting just a little over a year ago at the end of last summer. Before I moved in, the complex had the entire apartment professionally steam cleaned. Everything smelled fine until this spring when the rains started, then I noticed the stench of animal accidents from previous tenants (my dog is walked regularly and has only had a handful of accidents in spots where I don’t smell the bad odors).
I have bad allergies and am asthmatic so I was considering renting a steam cleaner or hiring a professional company but concerned about the strong chemicals in the solution but from reading the post and its comments, it sounds like just plain hot water will do the trick! I’m a newbie with green cleaning and essential oils so still reading up on the how’s and why’s of it all. Glad I read through all the comments!
I used half strength of Hoover Carpet Detergent in my Hoover Steam Vac about 2 weeks ago. Four days ago my 87 year old mom broke out in a severe case of hives.
-Would a reaction from carpet cleaner take that long to react on skin?
-If I used the cleaner w/ only water, do you think a go-over with water only would take the detergent out?
(I have had the machine for 10 years & have only used water…I don’t know what possessed me to use the detergent that came with the steam cleaner….grr)
thanks!!!!!!!!!!!
Henrietta,
I’m not a health professional, so I have no idea about your poor mother, but it certainly wouldn’t be a bad idea to go over your carpet with just water once or twice, right?
Good luck! 🙂 Katie