Do you have carpet in your home? Although the debate between the hardwood floor people and the carpet people is sure to rage on, carpet often adds a soft element to a home that makes everything just a little more comfortable. Still, the main challenge with carpets is how to keep them looking fresh and clean throughout the years—especially if you have little kids or animals running around the house. Fortunately, there are many different things you can do to keep your carpets fresh.
Here are six DIY tips and tricks on how to keep your carpets looking brand new.
1. Make your own carpet odor powder.
There are many ways to pull this off. The main method is to start with a baking soda base and then add in aromatic herbs or essential oils. Rosemary can work well if you’re using herbs—those using an oil should add about 25 drops of oil to one cup of baking soda. After mixing it all together, sprinkle the mixture onto the carpet wherever it’s needed, let it sit for a while and vacuum it all up!
2. Make your own carpet cleaner.
Once again, this is easier than it seems and can be done in many different ways. If you want a dry cleaner, mix together two cups of cornmeal with one cup of borax. Sprinkle it on the carpet, let it sit and vacuum later.
3. Make your own carpet stain remover.
If you’re going for a liquid cleaner, get a spray bottle and mix together white vinegar, a small amount of dishwashing liquid, a little baking soda and a cup of warm water. For this method, simply spray it on the carpet, rub it with a towel and then get a sponge to finish it off. You can do the same thing for dry stains by sprinkling baking soda on the stain and let it sit for an hour. After that, mix together 1 1/2 teaspoons of dish soap, 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar and a cup of warm water. Finally, dab that mixture onto the baking soda until the stain lifts. At the end, dry the carpet off and you’re good to go.
4. Remove dents or gum from your carpet.
If you have furniture resting on carpet, it can make some serious indents in it over time. To pop these back up again, put some ice cubes in the dented areas and let it melt. Over time, the cold temperature and the water should suck the fibers back up—at which point you can fluff the carpet and dry it. A similar trick can be tried with gum stuck in the carpet: simply apply ice to the gum to freeze it and delicately use a spoon to pry it off.
5. Make a carpet “fluffer.”
Some places in our home get used way more than others do. This often results in these areas being worn down or pressed. For an easy solution to this, just mix together some vinegar and water in a spray bottle and apply to the areas that need to be spruced up. After it dries, run the vacuum over it and fluff it with a spoon and it should be good as new!
6. Take wax out of your carpet.
If you have wax drippings in your carpet from candles, don’t worry. There’s an easy way to fix that problem too! First, simply get a white cloth and put it over the wax. Then, get an iron and iron the wax through the cloth to heat it up (just for a few moments). After the wax is warmer, scrape it off with a butter knife. As a final step, lay a paper towel over the area and briefly iron the paper. This should get the last bits of wax!
Got any carpet-cleaning hacks of your own? Tell us in the comments area below.
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