Carpet Fixes « Clean Freak Confessions

Carpet Fixes

by Ree Drummond posted on June 8th, 2009

I hate carpet. My goal before I die is to rid my house of any and all carpet.

Carpet and I do not get along. I much prefer hard surfaces. Hard surfaces are much more forgiving.

But I do have carpeting in a couple of remaining areas of my house, and until my kids are out of the destructo-staino stage, I’m just going to hold tight before making any large decisions on new flooring.

carpet For those of you with carpet, I’m sure you have your own little arsenal of cleaning tricks.

I thought I’d share a few of mine. Feel free to jump in and offer up any of your own!

Stain removal: Club soda works wonders! Just pour a little of the bubbly stuff right on the stain, then dab it up a few seconds later with a dry cloth. It doesn’t work on everything, but it’s harmless, odorless, and is worth a try!
Gum removal: I’m sure NONE of you ever has this problem. But in my house, stray wads of gum are always a threat. I just had a whopper of a carpet-gum catastrophe the other day, so I put a couple of big pieces of ice right on the gum. After a few minutes, the ice had hardened the gum so much, it pulled right off! (Ice is an age-old gum removal tool for hair…I’d just forgotten to use it on carpet.)
Muddy footprints: Again, I’m sure none of you has this problem. But if you do, you’ll know that dampening the footprints and trying to scrub them away is never a good idea. Instead, allow the footprint to dry, then sprinkle regular table salt all over the top of it. Then, about 30 minutes later, simply vacuum it away. The granular nature of the salt acts as a gentle scrub that helps the mud (or in my case, manure) particles to loosen and get the heck out of Dodge.
Vacuum regularly, even if you’re a spotless, dirtless person. Vacuuming makes carpeting look better and is actually good for the carpet, much as brushing your hair is good for your follicles. And here’s a tip: vacuum the higher traffic areas even more often: in hallways, in front of chairs where people sit, in front of sofas. Your carpet will be the healthier for it!
Use an ammonia/water or vinegar/water solution to remove odors. Perfumed, spray-on carpet cleaners never fully do the trick, and you’ll continually have to switch cleaners because you’ll associate the bad smell that’s in your carpet with each cleaner’s perfumey scent. And your life will spiral downward from there.

Believe me. I have experience with this.

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