DIY carpet cleaning, with and without a machine
Home cleaning works for light soil and fresh spills, and it goes wrong with too much water, too much soap or the wrong product. WATERFALL's carpet cleaning is for when the carpet needs more, and professional vs doing it yourself compares the two. WATERFALL cleans carpet at your home from $60 a room: call (747) 214-6199.
Can I clean my carpets myself?
Yes, for light dirt and fresh spills. Vacuum, treat the spot and blot, or rent an extraction machine for a room; the risk is leaving too much water or soap behind, so work slowly and dry the carpet fast.
How do you wash carpets without a carpet cleaner?
Vacuum, then treat marks with a drop of mild soap in water, blot with a clean cloth and blot again with plain water. A home method cleans the spot and does not clean deep into the carpet, so it is a stop-gap and not a replacement.
What is the best homemade carpet cleaning?
The Carpet and Rug Institute's detergent solution: 1/4 teaspoon of clear liquid dish soap in 1 cup of lukewarm water. Test it on a hidden corner, put it on a white cloth rather than on the carpet, blot from the edge of the spot inward, then rinse with plain water and blot dry; for coffee or tea, its white vinegar solution is 1 cup of vinegar to 2 cups of water. Homemade mixes are for spots; a whole room needs extraction.
Can I use Dawn dish soap to shampoo my carpet?
For a spot, a few drops in water are fine; for the whole carpet, no. Dish soap foams and leaves residue that attracts new dirt, and it is hard to rinse out of a whole room. Do not put it in a carpet cleaning machine: the foam can fill the recovery tank and cut the suction. For a greasy spot, use the measure in the homemade recipe above and rinse it out.
Is vinegar safe for all carpet types?
No. Diluted white vinegar is a common spot cleaner on synthetic carpet, and it is not right for every carpet or dye, so test a hidden spot and do not use it on natural fibers or wool without checking the maker's guide.
Can I clean my carpet with baking soda and vinegar, or does that make it worse?
Use them separately, not mixed: together they fizz and cancel each other out, leaving mostly salty water that soaks the carpet. Baking soda sprinkled on dry carpet and vacuumed up absorbs some odor; for a spot on synthetic carpet, the Carpet and Rug Institute's solution is 1 cup of white vinegar to 2 cups of water, blotted on with a white cloth and rinsed with plain water. Test a hidden corner first and keep vinegar off wool and natural fibers.
How do you clean carpet with baking soda?
Vacuum, sprinkle a thin layer, leave it for a while and vacuum it up. It absorbs some odor and it does not clean the carpet, so do not count on it for dirt or stains.
Should I vacuum before or after spreading baking soda on the carpet?
Both: vacuum first so the powder works on a clean surface, then again after to lift it. Skipping the first vacuum mixes the powder into loose dirt.
I used baking soda on my carpet and cannot get it out: what do I do?
Vacuum slowly over the area, several times from different directions, and use a brush to lift what the vacuum leaves. Do not wet it to start with, because wet baking soda turns to paste that sticks in the pile. Empty the vacuum and check its filter often, because the fine powder clogs it fast. If it has already turned to paste or left a white film, blot with a cloth barely damp with plain water and lift the moisture with a wet-dry vacuum or an extraction machine; do not add vinegar or more cleaner.
How do I steam clean my carpet myself the right way?
A home "steam cleaner" is a hot-water extraction machine, and it works best slowly, with as little water as the job needs, in this order.
- Check the carpet's label or maker's guide; wool, sisal and viscose are not for a rental machine.
- Test the solution on a hidden corner and let it dry.
- Move the furniture out; put plastic or foil under legs that stay.
- Vacuum slowly, twice in busy lanes.
- Pre-treat spots with the product made for the machine, at the label's dilution.
- Start at the far corner and work toward the door in slow, overlapping passes.
- Make one plain-water rinse pass, then dry passes until little water comes up.
- Run fans, open windows or run the air conditioning, and stay off until it is dry.
- Carpet soaked by a flood or sewage, or carpet that has grown mold, is not a DIY job.
Can I clean a really dirty carpet myself in one afternoon?
The cleaning, yes, for a room or two of synthetic carpet; plan the drying as well, because a rug or carpet usually takes longer to dry than a couch, and the pile, the pad, the weather and the airflow decide it (drying times). Clear and vacuum the room, pre-treat the darkest lanes, clean with slow passes and extra dry passes and keep fans running, because furniture goes back only on dry carpet. Very dirty carpet may need two rounds, and wool, sisal or viscose, a urine smell that stays or carpet soaked from below are not rental-machine jobs; for a professional clean, WATERFALL prices carpet per room; see prices.
How many times should I go over my carpet with a carpet cleaner?
One slow wet pass and one or two dry passes is enough. More passes put more water into the carpet and make the drying slower, without cleaning it better.
Why does the water never run clear when I clean my carpet myself?
Because each pass brings up a little more of the soil bound deep in the pile, so on older or busy carpet the recovery tank stays grey. It stays dirtier when the carpet was not vacuumed slowly first, when too much solution holds dirt in the fibers, and when a home or rental machine extracts less water than professional equipment. Vacuum first, use the measure on the label, make one plain-water rinse pass and then dry passes, and stop when the dry passes bring up little water, not when the tank looks clean; if the carpet stays soaked or brown marks come back as it dries, text a photo to (747) 214-6199.
Can I use a little bleach in my carpet cleaner?
No. Bleach removes the dye from carpet and weakens fibers, many machine makers prohibit it, and it can leave a permanent pale patch.
Can I use a steam mop on carpet?
No. A steam mop is made for hard floors, it puts in heat and moisture without taking it back out and it can leave the carpet damp and the backing weak.
How often should I use a DIY carpet cleaning machine?
Once or twice a year for a busy home is typical, and more often only for a spill or a busy household. Too frequent wet cleaning leaves residue and wears the pile.
How do you clean a white carpet?
With a plain, uncolored cleaner, little water and a good rinse, because soap residue turns grey. Test a hidden corner, blot spills quickly and ask a professional for a large area.
Can you deep clean carpet that has not been cleaned in years?
Yes, though it can take two passes and some of the marks may stay. The first water will be very dirty. Text a photo to (747) 214-6199 and we tell you what to expect.
Questions and answers
What is the best homemade carpet cleaning?
1/4 teaspoon of clear dish soap in 1 cup of lukewarm water, the Carpet and Rug Institute's recipe, blotted on and rinsed by blotting. Homemade mixes do not replace extraction for a whole carpet.
Does vinegar and Dawn clean carpet?
On a spot of synthetic carpet, yes, used one at a time rather than mixed: the Carpet and Rug Institute's detergent solution is 1/4 teaspoon of clear dish soap in 1 cup of lukewarm water, and its vinegar solution is 1 cup of white vinegar to 2 cups of water. Blot either on with a white cloth, rinse by blotting with plain water, and keep both out of a carpet cleaning machine.
What is the best way to clean carpet without washing it?
Vacuum slowly and often, sprinkle baking soda on dry carpet for odor and vacuum it up, and blot spots with a barely damp white cloth. A dry compound sold for carpet lifts light surface soil, but none of these reaches the dirt bound deep in the pile.
What can I wash my carpet with?
For a spot, a mild detergent solution or diluted white vinegar on a white cloth, then a plain-water rinse by blotting. For a whole room, a carpet cleaning machine with the solution made for it, at the measure on the label; never bleach, a steam mop or a squirt of dish soap in the tank.
Can I just use water in my carpet cleaner?
For a rinse pass, yes; for the cleaning pass, water alone lifts less oily dirt than a solution. Use the solution made for the machine, at the measure on the label, and finish with a plain-water rinse.
Do I need to rinse my carpet after cleaning?
Yes, with a plain-water pass, so no solution stays in the fibers. Then make dry passes.
How to clean carpet at home by hand?
Vacuum, treat spots, work mild soapy water in with a soft brush, blot, rinse by blotting and dry with air moving. Use very little water, because carpet that stays wet smells and browns.
Should I clean carpet before moving out?
Check your lease, which says what is required. WATERFALL cleans carpet in move-outs too, at a fixed price per room; see prices.
Prices and booking
More guides
- Carpet care: all guides
- How carpet cleaning methods work — Hot-water extraction, shampoo, dry, bonnet and encapsulation differ in how much water they use and how deep they clean; we use shampoo, then extraction.
- How often should carpet be cleaned? — Clean carpet about once a year, sooner in busy rooms; replace it when the backing, the pile or the smell has failed, not by its age.
- How to clean an area rug at home — A sturdy synthetic rug can be washed at home with mild soap, little water and fast drying; wool, silk and large rugs need a professional.
- How to clean a couch at home (DIY) — Read the tag, test, use as little water as possible and blot; stop when the dirt is in the cushion.
Sources: The Carpet and Rug Institute (The carpet and rug industry's trade association, for how carpet is made, cared for and cleaned.)