How to clean carpet without hiring it off to somebody else?

[TopHatFox]

It seems the only way to clear a carpet of crumbs and other small bits and pieces is through a vacuum cleaner, but what about cooking oil spills or small bits of sticky food like avocado or even oatmeal? I doubt a mop and soap would be very effective....

[Chad]

I bought a used/reconditioned Hoover carpet steamer/scrubber off of Ebay for $60. Works great. Took some dark beer stains and some tar like stains I tracked in once out of the rug.

[jacob]

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Arm-Hammer-Pe ... s/15610471

[TopHatFox]

Thank you for the suggestion Jacob. I likely should've specified that I prefer non-synthetic, homemade alternatives if possible (or mechanical ones like the steamer suggested, but that takes up a lot of space, too).

[jacob]

Not sure what you mean by "non-synthetic". The active ingredient is sodium percarbonate which is made from sodium carbonate (aka washing soda which is made through the Solvay process ... but if you consider baking soda to be "non-synthetic" you can just heat that in the oven and presto) and hydrogenperoxide (which you can also buy ... and if that's considered "synthetic" I hear that passing farts (methane) through high voltage---I'd strongly recommend against the direct approach here---results in some H2O2 which I'd definitely consider to be organic).

Now, since oxiclean is no more synthetic than baking soda or soap, you can just relax your constraints and buy it already as this would be vastly easier than trying to make it at home.

Or did you mean non-chemical? Because very likely your carpet is made out of synthetic fibers.

[TopHatFox]

Not sure what you mean by "non-synthetic".

Or did you mean non-chemical? Because very likely your carpet is made out of synthetic fibers.

I use baking soda, vinegar, washing soda, borax, castille soap, rubbing alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide without concern. "Non-synthetic" is the best term I have thus far for referring to the often laundry list of man-made, commercial, harmful, and unnecessary ingredients accompanying food, cleaning products, or other consumer goods. Most of the time, I find I can meet my need for sustenance, cleanliness, or other needs with a non-synthetic alternative to the commercial product. I can't seem to find the ingredients list of the Oxiclean product; I'd be better able to determine whether I'd buy it or not with an ingredients list.

On the point raised between the discrepancy of the carpet and the cleaning product I use on it, If I have the choice, I'd like to make the choice that most aligns with my values on sustainable living. This room design, including the carpet--whether made from synthetic fibers or not--was less my choice than what I choose--especially buy--to clean it with. Moreover, by buying from Walmart, I'd be supporting a multinational store which predominantly sells second-rate products at a multi-national scale.

I by no means know the answer to everything, nor do I pretend to think that I can be consistent with my values in every aspect of my life (some values conflict with one another for goodness sake!), but I'd like to try my best to align my life with my values; it brings me personal joy, and that reason is reason enough for me to continue trying. (:

This person seems to share some of my concerns and triumphs if you're interested in understanding my reasoning further:

http://everyshadeofgreen.blogspot.com/2 ... clean.html

[jennypenny]

Vinegar and salt--shake, spray on stain, vacuum up when dry. If the stain won't come out, mix in something like oxiclean or borax and try again.

If you spill something like cooking oil onto the carpet, don't rub at it. Dump baking soda on it to absorb most of the oil and vacuum it up. Then clean with the vinegar solution.

[TopHatFox]

Vinegar and salt--shake, spray on stain, vacuum up when dry. If the stain won't come out, mix in something like oxiclean or borax and try again.

If you spill something like cooking oil onto the carpet, don't rub at it. Dump baking soda on it to absorb most of the oil and vacuum it up. Then clean with the vinegar solution.

I'll try it and see what happens, thank you all for the suggestions.

[jacob]

@Zalo - Oxiclean is the brand name for sodium percarbonate which is made directly out of washing soda and hydrogen peroxide which are both on your list. You can buy this under other brand names and from other distributors than Walmart. You're unlikely to find a local manufacturer since it would be wasteful to make such simple chemical products on a small scale. In terms of values, though, the manufacturing of washing soda results in large quantities of calcium chloride as a byproduct which is quite polluting. Overall, though, the manufacturing and usage of a few milliliters of sodium percarbonate is definitely less polluting that the wear & tear depreciation and electric use of a mechanical steam cleaner --- unless you're cleaning the entire carpet, such as when you're moving out (do you have a deposit down?!). So in the name of saving the planet, maybe accept a little 19th century style applied chemistry instead of increasing the demand for more appliances. Remember, no rules without exceptions!

It's not easy being green.

PS: If sodium percarbonate is out of bounds for "idiosyncratic" (No offense intended, I totally get it) reasons, go with wath jp suggested. I think my values are somewhat aligned with yours but not absolutely. I think I'm much weaker on the social dimension (e.g Walmart) than you.
PPS: An optimal solution would be to figure out how to avoid carpet stains in the first place.

[Tyler9000]

I bought a used/reconditioned Hoover carpet steamer/scrubber off of Ebay for $60. Works great. Took some dark beer stains and some tar like stains I tracked in once out of the rug.

You can also rent them from the hardware store. The cost of renting one in my area for 4 hours is $20 at Home Depot.

[KevinW]

Yeah you can rent these things (or equivalent) from grocery stores and hardware stores:
http://www.rugdoctor.com/

[Kriegsspiel]

A true permaculturist would tell you goats, but I think that's absurd. Lambs are more gentle on synthetic fibers.