9 DIY Solutions for Common Carpet Stains

The same liquid detergent you use to wash your dishes deserves an honored place in your stain-treating kit as well. Stir a few drops of dish soap into a cup of warm water, then use a spray bottle to mist the stained area heavily. Scrub it in with a soft cloth or a brush, then blot it up with your cloth. Dish soap is especially good at getting out food stains and anything greasy — that's what it's for — and once the stain is gone, you can rinse it away easily by blotting it up with a cloth soaked in clean water.

This is a weird one, but it genuinely works. There are foamy stain removers and soapy stain removers, after all, and shaving cream is both soapy and foamy, so it's logical enough. Spray shaving cream directly onto the affected area, then rub it down into the pile of the carpet with a cloth or brush. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes, or as long as overnight, then scrub off the shaving cream with a wet cloth. It's great for tough stains from food or coffee spills, and unlike some DIY stain removers, its smell isn't overpowering or unpleasant.

Another of the most versatile cleaning products in your house is hydrogen peroxide, and it's just as adept at sprucing up your carpets as everything else. Just spray the stained area with peroxide or wet a cloth and blot it in, then scrub at the stain with your cloth or a brush. If you want to help the peroxide cling to the carpet's fibers, make a paste of it with cornstarch or cream of tartar and scrub that into the stain with a brush. Scrub it off or let it dry and then vacuum it up. Peroxide also disinfects and deodorizes, so it's a great "full-spectrum" cleaner.

When pets or toddlers have an "accident" on your carpet, or have too many treats and vomit in the middle of the floor, baking soda is your friend. Start by wiping up the mess as well as you can, then sprinkle baking soda over the entire area and rub it in with a cloth or paper towel. Once it's dry, you can vacuum up the residue. Baking soda doesn't just clean up the spill, it also disinfects and gets rid of the odor. That's important, and not just because the smells are unpleasant. Pets are creatures of habit, and once a spot smells of urine they're more likely to use it again for the same purpose.

Vinegar is well known for its prowess as a natural cleanser, and it has a place in your carpet-stain arsenal as well. Dilute the vinegar half-and-half with water, and scrub it into the stain with a soft cloth or a brush. Blot it up, and then repeat as needed. Vinegar's acidity makes it a natural grease-cutter, so it's handy for greasy stains from dropped food or drips from messy burgers or sandwiches. You can alternate it with ammonia or combine it with salt for extra cleaning power.

If you're right on the scene when a spill happens, reach for the nearest bottle of soda water. Diluting the stain and keeping it wet helps prevent the stain from setting, and the effervescent bubbles in the soda water will help lift the potentially staining substance out of the carpet's fibers. Pour it liberally over a sponge or absorbent washcloth, then use those to scrub the stain and blot it up. Repeat as necessary. Beer, another quintessential foaming beverage, works the same way and may be even better for getting up coffee and tea stains. Both are best applied while the stain is fresh and hasn't yet set.

Some of the toughest stains of all come from spills like ink or paint, things which are intended to make a permanent mark. For those, you'll usually need some kind of solvent to remove the stain before it sets permanently. One you'll usually have around the house is nail polish remover. Use it to moisten an absorbent cloth, and then use the remover to scrub and blot the stain until it's gone. Paint thinner works much the same way, and so do gasoline and dry cleaning solvent if you happen to have one or the other in your basement or garage.