Modified: by Vanessa Goodpaster-Beaty · This post may contain affiliate links · 29 Comments
Ah, those wonderful carpet stains. Whether you have pets, kids, or just know some really messy people, if you have carpet, then at some point you are going to have carpet stains. There is a great homemade recipe for getting organic stains out of your carpet.
Note that organic stains are those made of food, dirt, and the like. This is really not a good choice for ink or dye stains because it contains vinegar, which could potentially make the stains worse.
For the carpet cleaner, you will need the following:
- 1 part vinegar
- 2 parts water
That’s all there is to it. Just mix the water and vinegar together in a spray bottle. Spray it over the stain and cover it with a damp rag. Put your iron on the steam setting and iron the rag for about 30 seconds or so, depending on how bad it is.
You may have to repeat if the stain is really dark, but this will work wonderfully to remove common foods and dirt from your carpet and the vinegar is a good odor eliminator as well, so it works really well on pet stains. Photo via Babble.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Patty
How about Kool aid spilled on the carpet? Will vinegar be worse for that?
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Shell
Kool aid I use windex and let soak in then a white towel and iron on low. The stain transfers to the towel.
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Nicci
'Juice out' works great too! 7 or 8 bucks on Amazon. Pet stains use 'stain and stink' also on Amazon for less than 20 bucks for a spray bottle
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BRITTANI
Also salt helps if you pour it on after you've wiped up it should soak it up.. don't be liberal with it.
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Brenda
Just pour peroxide directly from bottle on stain, and forget it. Also chocolate milk will disappear like majic. I stock pile peroxide from Walmart. It's 88 cents for large bottles. Good for urine pet stains and smell. I pour on urine lavishly, then go over with my carpet cleaner. I add Fabulous and water to my cleaner for a fresh smell. Also makes laundry smell fresher than Gain with just a few cap fulls!
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Edwina
Does peroxide bleach your carpet?
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Bernadette
Yes it can bleach out color from caroet or any fiber. Spot test ALWAYS when using peroxide.
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Deb
what kind of vineger
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Rhissanna
White vinegar. Works really well for vomit stains, too. Never, ever use on kool aid, though. U dye wool with kool aid and use a little vinegar to set the dye.
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Vanessa Beaty
Thanks for the tip Rhissanna.
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angel
So I spilt wax from a scentcy outlet burner on my white carpet , any idea what I should use or how to get it out?
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Misty
An old t shirt and an iron. Turn off the steam setting. Start with low heat. Cover wax spot with old t shirt and iron over. The idea is to melt the wax into the shirt. Don't put iron directly on carpet. Once it starts to transfer to t shirt, move to a clean area on shirt and repeat. Do it until wax has melted onto the shirt.
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Courtney
Using a brown paper bag instead of the t shirt works also. Had bright red candle wax on my tan Carpet used the bag and iron and it came right up!
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Sabine
Any kind of brown or packing paper will do the same . Lay paper over the wax . I usually put a cloth over the paper, turn of the steam and keep iron on high as you do not burn the paper. Wax will melt in to the paper.
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Yvonne
Will spirit vinegar work?
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Angie
What about coffee stains?
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BUFFY
This is an amazing tip, thanks so much!
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Kim
Will this recipe mess up my Kirby? Or should I use a spray bottle? Paid way too much for it to ruin it. Also, the stain is an old vomit stain that I have tried to clean oh so many times and of course, it's right in the doorway, so I can't cover it up with furniture.
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Patty
I just wanted to show my appreciation for all the inspiration you have passed on to so many. Thanks doesn't seem like enough but I do enjoy ALL your DIY projects and thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am soooooo glad I am retired so I can play more and try different things. There is so much, sometimes it's hard to decide on what I want to do! So again, thank you so very much and I've passed your website around. You can never have too many fans!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Connie
Yes Patty retirement is wonderful!!!!
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Susan Renaud
The 'Carpet Cleaning' title is misleading. This is a stain -remover. I couldn't imagine using this treatment on an entire carpet
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Cheryl
Just tried this on my stair landing. Followed instructions exactly, but nothing came up. I am dealing with a lot of ground-in dirt from mu sons dirty socks. Any suggestions?
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Lauren
We are moving into a home that has really bad stained carpets. Atleast 2 year old carpet stains, maybe even longer. Whats the best way of attacking these stains??
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Sandie
Vacuum cleaner salesman said to never sprinkle baking soda on the carpet and them vacuum up. It will mess up your vacuum cleaner!
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Paul Brown
A great recipe for carpet cleaning. One thing I do for tough stains or dirt is that I use shampoo instead of vinegar, as high concentrated acid could fdo damage on your carpets. So, I use shampoo recipe which, if prepared using organic methods, can prove really useful.
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Paul Brown
A great recipe for carpet cleaning. One thing I do for tough stains or dirt is that I use shampoo instead of vinegar, as high concentrated acid could do damage on your carpets. So, I use shampoo recipe which, if prepared using organic methods, can prove really useful.
Reply
Jeremy Parker
Nice DIY. very simple and effective. Thanks for sharing!
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jane silberfein
How do you get printer toner outof light carpet?
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