How to Make Steam Carpet Cleaner Shampoo

All carpets need occasional shampooing or steam cleaning. They take a lot of abuse from heavy traffic, dust, mud, dander, lighting and even shifts in temperature--factors that can all affect their beauty and durability over the long haul. Commercial products used for cleaning can be rough on your carpets because of the chemicals used, which also happen to be extremely costly. And nobody wants their kids or pets exposed to potentially harmful chemicals. This environmentally friendly carpet cleaner can be added directly to your shampooer or steam cleaner without fear of harming your equipment, or leaving behind chemicals that can harm the ones you love. It cleans effectively but gently, and costs almost nothing. In fact, you can make this cleaning solution with ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.

Things You'll Need

• 1 cup white distilled vinegar 1 pint isopropyl rubbing alcohol 1 tbsp. ammonia 1 gallon container with a lid 1 tbsp. liquid dish detergent (preferably organic) Plastic spray bottle

Instructions

1. Mix together the ammonia, vinegar and alcohol in a 1 gallon container. Slowly add enough hot water to almost fill the container; fill slowly to avoid over-sudsing.

2. Add the dish detergent, cap the container, or hold your hand over the opening. Mix the solution by inverting the container, and righting it again numerous times. Don't shake it, just blend gently.

3. Fill a plastic spray bottle with the cleaning solution. Pre-treat any very soiled areas by spritzing them thoroughly. Let the pre-treated carpet set for about 30 minutes.

4. Fill the tank of your steam cleaner or shampooer from the remaining mixture. Clean your carpet the way you normally do.

5. Dry the carpet well before allowing normal activity to resume. If you have ceiling fans, use them. Adding box or portable fans to the area for circulation is extremely helpful, as is opening as many windows as possible. The alcohol in the cleaning solution will help to evaporate moisture. A completely dry carpet is more capable of repelling new dirt.

Tips & Warnings

• Dish liquid is a key ingredient to the success of this cleaner because of its detergent content. Detergents act as surfactants, which means that they activate the "wetting" action and cleaning effectiveness of the other components. Even organic detergents work very well for this.

• Don't forget to test the steam cleaning mixture for shrinkage or fading of color on a small area of your carpet.