Carpets in your home take a lot of abuse during steam cleaner runs. You spend all day walking on them. Your kids probably have spilled on them at least a few times. Pets leave hair and sometimes other little “treats” for you on them. They’re the unsung hero of home decor. Taking time to focus on carpet cleaning isn’t always on the top of your list.
Carpet cleaning isn’t fun, and it’s easy to get so busy you just take your carpets for granted. It’s understandable that you’d rather do other things on your task list. If you’re wondering about some tips that could help with your carpet cleaning tasks and still keep your life easy, keep reading.
The point of these carpet cleaning tips is that they’re easy and they’ll get you back to your regular life quickly. Moms are busy enough, so make things a little easier on yourself. Here are five easy carpet cleaning tips every busy mom needs to know.
1. Break Out Your Iron To Take Care Of Those Stains
Irons are a great way to get stains out of your carpet in addition to taking wrinkles out of your clothes. You can even try this tip on those stuck in stubborn stains every mom has somewhere in their house. Kids just tend to do that to your carpet no matter how hard you might try to avoid it. Even if the stain doesn’t come out entirely, it should be much lighter after using this tip.
Before you take an iron to your carpet, there is a method to this madness. You’ll want to make sure you vacuum the carpet first. You want the area around the stain to be as clean as possible. Then you can soak a towel (one you don’t mind getting dirty) in a mixture of one part vinegar and three parts water.
Dampen the stain with the towel, then place the wet towel directly over the stain. Once your iron is heated up and ready to go, place it on top of the towel. You’ll be able to watch the stain lift out of your carpet and into the towel instead. (Again, make sure you don’t care too much about that towel) You can repeat this tip as much as you’d like until the stain is completely gone.
The smell of vinegar will go away once the area you dampened dries, so don’t worry about that. This is a very easy trick to use and you’ll most likely already have everything you need right in your home. When you’re spot treating this is a go-to tip you should definitely keep in mind.
2. Ice It And Forget It
Carpets are prone to getting areas that are dented or matted down. Heavy furniture or repeated high traffic can do that to the fibers. Wanting to make those areas look brand new again isn’t a bad thing And the great news here is that it also doesn’t take that much time or effort.
The trick to freshening those areas back up is pretty simple. Set ice on the areas that are dented and let it melt completely. Once the ice has melted take a soft down and soak up the water that’s left behind. Remember that the area you’re soaking water up from is still tender. It will still be prone to going back to its old dented ways. Press very gently while you’re doing this.
So, melted ice, gentle pressure, and your carpets will fluff right back up. Minimal time, minimal effort and a very maximum result. It’s a winner in any busy mom’s book.
3. Keep Club Soda On Stand-By
If you’re laughing at this tip and thinking it’s an old wive’s tale you’d be wrong. When it comes to getting out fresh stains club soda really is effective. Grandma was right on this one. The key point to remember is that club soda is for fresh stains. If you’re working on something that is set into the deeper fibers, use the first tip you read about with your iron.
When a spill happens, blot it dry gently then pour club soda directly on the new stain. (You can estimate the amount but you don’t have to drench the carpet.) Let the club soda sit on the stain and soak in for a few minutes, then blot dry. Remember you should be blotting, not scrubbing. You don’t want to scrub the stain deeper into your carpet. That just makes more work in the end.
Most people who use this trick say it is especially effective on stains like red wine or even blood. Since we all know accidents can happen with kids at any point in time, keep the club soda ready to go. You never know when you’ll need it, and dealing with fresh stains is much easier than set in stains. Hopefully this will work for you, but if the stain just refuses to come out then it may be time to learn more about getting a professional cleaning service to help you out and get that stain removed.
4. Make Cleaning Area Rugs A Winter Family Fun Time
Did you know you can use snow to clean and refresh your area rugs? It’s actually true. The best part here is you can convince your kids that this is a fun science experiment. They’ll actually want to help, and you’ll end up with some clean area rugs in the process.
The “science experiment” starts with letting the rug hang outside in the cold weather for about 30 minutes. You’ll want it to acclimate to the cold temps for this tip to be effective. Have the kiddos help you move it and time how long it’s been out there.
Once the rug is acclimated to the cold it’s time to use the snow to clean it. (Yes you read that right.) Grab your broom and your children and head back outside. Find a flat area to lay the rug on the snow then cover it with snow. Use your broom to spread and pack in the snow as you go. You’ll want to spread about 3 inches of snow evenly over your rug.
Then, once you and your kids have spread the snow over the rug use the flat side of your broom to pack down the snow. It should be tightly packed and still evenly spread over the whole area when you’re finished. If you make it look fun enough your kids might even take over this part of the task for you.
Let the packed snow sit for 20 minutes before flipping your rug and repeating the whole process. When you’re done, brush off as much snow as possible before letting the rug hang outside again. The snow should evaporate meaning your rug won’t be damp when you bring it back in.
This trick works because it freezes set in dirt and stains. By flipping the rug over and repeating the process you’re bringing everything to the surface. Once it’s on the surface of the rug you can easily brush it off. This tip might take some more time but consider it time you’re both cleaning and having fun with your kids. It’ll be worth it.
5. Make Your Own Carpet Freshener
With kids around you probably want to avoid using as many harsh chemicals as possible. When you want to make your home smell great and freshen your carpets us this tip. Mix a few drops of your favorite scents of essential oils with baking soda. Sprinkle the mixture on your carpets and let it sit for about fifteen minutes.
After the baking soda mixture has had time to sit, just vacuum it up and get on with your life. Since vacuuming doesn’t take that long, and it’s likely already part of your routine, this tip is super easy to incorporate.
Conclusion:
While carpet cleaning is never going to be exciting it can be made easier with tips like these. Keep what you’ve read here in mind and use the tips as you need them. These are meant to save you time, not add frustration. If one of the tips isn’t working for you, move on and try another one. After your carpet looks great again get back to enjoying other things (or maybe even sneaking in a nap.) You’ve earned it.
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Hoover PowerDash Pet Compact Carpet Cleaner Machine, Carpet Shampooer, Lightweight, Powerful Pet Stain Remover, FH50700, Blue (Kitchen)Features:
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I didn’t know about the snow or ice ones! We have a carpet cleaner that we bring out maybe once a year to deep clean our rugs.
we just did that too! so worth it
These are tips I’ve never heard of before, the ironing with a damp cloth and water and vinegar mixture is definitely one I want to try. I hope it works well, I’ll be spreading the news!
Yes girl!!
So cool, I had no idea the iron could help get out carper stains
Great tips! I usually vacuum and call it a day, thankfully we’ve never had a major stain or mess come into play, with 3 kids i have no idea but we’ve lucked out especially regarding puke *knocking on wood*
Knock on wood!!
Thanks for sharing this. Carpets are very hard to clean.
SO hard to clean!!!