How I used a homemade carpet cleaning solution, with hydrogen peroxide and soap

The last time I rented steam cleaning machine to clean my carpets, I used a homemade carpet cleaning solution. I didn’t plan this ahead of time, as I hadn’t thought about it. When it came time to buy the carpet chemicals is about the time when it first occurred to me. Since I generally avoid chemicals in cleaning products and body care products, the idea of using the usual carpet products seemed kind of weird.

So, here I am with this plan to clean my carpets, but wondering what to use, and wondering whether to use the carpet cleaning gunk they sell. First, I thought it would be good to use some peroxide in cleaning the carpet, because it would do a good job and be a good addition to whatever soap I would use. It would be mildly disinfecting, and might pull some junk out of the carpets that other cleaning solutions would not. That was my thinking. And then I thought I should replace the chemicals in the commercial carpet cleaning product with a simple non-chemical soap.

So that’s what I did! My homemade carpet cleaning solution was made up of Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap, hot water, and 35% hydrogen peroxide. I used enough peroxide to make the solution about 1% to 2% hydrogen peroxide. Since I was using 35% peroxide, I could use hot water to make a nice hot solution to use in the carpet cleaning machine.

Obviously, I don’t know if this worked better or the same or not as well as some other kind of cleaning solution. I didn’t do a controlled study, I just washed my carpets. I do know that it worked fine, and I got a lot of very dirty yucky looking water coming out from the carpet cleaner. (Gross.) I went over most of the carpets more than once, as the water looked so dirty!

So, my homemade carpet cleaning solution? It is: simple soap, hot water, and hydrogen peroxide.

HOW TO USE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE:

Mix HOT water, and liquid soap, preferably a simply biodegradable soap, such as Dr. Bronner’s. Add enough hydrogen peroxide to make the overall solution from about 1/2% to about 2% hydrogen peroxide. For 2 gallons of water, this would be approximately 1/2 cup to 2.5 cups of 35% hydrogen peroxide.

CAUTION! In theory, hydrogen peroxide could bleach the color in the carpet, depending on the kind of dye. This is unlikely using 3% peroxide, or lower concentrations. I have poured 3% hydrogen peroxide on carpets in my home and have not had any problems. However, you can test on a small hidden area to be sure. Use caution with 35% hydrogen peroxide.

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