Homemade All Natural Carpet Steam Cleaner Liquid

As we prepared to move into the new place, I kept thinking of the gross industrial carpet laying wall to wall in there. I ripped up a section only to find the sub floor and dirt, so there was no ripping it up. Money has too many places to go to think about replacing it, and we do have a beautiful selection of area rugs. The new house has not had a woman in it for years. It was a guy's hideaway and it smelled like it, too. Beer, does stain apparently, as does coffee, bike grease, foods, and goodness knows what else.

We rented a carpet steamer at the grocery store. The clerk tried her best to up-sell the carpet cleaning goo for the machine. I can not handle synthetic scents in my world. My eyes burn just walking down the detergent/air freshener isle. There was no way I was washing my rugs in something that smelled like perfumed Tide. "It won't work without it.", is what the clerk said. I didn't listen, since I knew better.
Soap attracts dirt to carpet fibers...I spent allot of time working in the family rug shop, trust me on this. Plain water is better than soap. The best all natural option? White vinegar and lavender oil. Really. Once dried, the vinegar smell disappears 100%. The lavender oil leaves a antimicrobial layer with a light, natural scent for us to plop our nice wool rugs on top of.

It's very simple. To every 2 gallons of warm water (the capacity of most rentals) add 1/2 cup of distilled while vinegar and a teaspoon (or more) of lavender oil to the warm water.

Make up a mix of the vinegar and lavender oil and rub directly on stains, let rest then continue with the steaming...they will come right up! This is the only natural solution that kills skunk odor and cat pee, too. Always test your carpet first, but we have used this on both natural and synthetic fiber carpets with much success over the years. If you own your own steamer, use it in that too. The mix works on most washable fabric furniture and when added to the wash with the dog bed. I also use it at the end of camping season to clean and deodorize the tent and to add to wash the when I prep the sleeping bags for storage.