Our house does not have any carpet in it with the exception of the family room where we have a beautiful 8 x 10 area rug. I recently received this area rug which I absolutely love and want to make sure that we take good care of it so that it lasts for many years to come.
Here is a picture of our area rug, I love it and can you see why I want to keep it clean?
This got me thinking about how I'm going to take care of it since we haven't had any carpet in our house for about 10 years now. I do have a vacuum of course but what happens if it gets stained or just needs a good cleaning? I have allergies and we have two dogs and a cat so you can believe that it will need to be cleaned sooner than later. I know that in the past in previous homes we had the carpets cleaned by a professional carpet cleaning company. I also remember the chemical smell it left behind and while my carpets were "clean" my allergies suffered for days and the smell was there for quite a while too.
Fortunately today with many people including myself using only eco-friendly non-toxic cleaning supplies you can also find yourself an eco-friendly carpet cleaning company too. If I'm only going to use eco-friendly cleaning products in my home that should also extend to what is being used to clean my area rug. I've looked into a few different eco-friendly carpet cleaning companies and the ones I've found are not any more expensive than other carpet cleaners. So there is not reason why we couldn't eliminate the use of harmful toxins and still have a nicely cleaned carpet. I love that there are all these healthier and affordable options available to us now.
What do you do to eliminate toxic cleaners and other not so eco-friendly products in your home? We'd love to hear your ideas!
Disclaimer
I was compensated for this post but regardless I always provide my own honest opinion which may differ from yours.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR POST ON ECO CLEANING FOR CARPETS. I RECENTLY NEEDED AN AREA RUG BUT HAD THE SAME CONCERNS AS YOU REGARDING ITS CLEANLINESS WITH PETS ETC.. I AM ALSO AN ALERGY/ASTHMA SUFFERER. IT NEVER EVEN DAWNED ON ME THAT THERE WOULD BE ECO FRIENDLY SOLUTIONS FOR THIS PROBLEM. SOME OTHER COMMENTERS HAD SOME GOOD IDEAS AS WELL!
Thanks for Sharing This Great Post
I use a mixture of dishwashing soap/vinegar on my carpet to avoid chemical 🙂
I loved reading everyone's ideas here. I have been contemplating throwing out one of our rugs and replacing it. Maybe I will try some of these ideas first!
I don't know about rugs, but I use a lot of white vinegar for natural cleaning. Beautiful rug by the way!
I have been thinking of pulling up all my carpet and putting in hardwood. One of these rugs would be awesome to invest in.
I love Mohawk rugs I have one in my living room, I eliminate using chemicals on my floor by using a steam mop and a steam cleaner with an Eco friendly solution
i love ur rug! is it from lowes?
Hi Shawna, it's a Mohawk rug and I believe Lowes, Home Depot and possibly wal-mart has it. I'll have more info soon on that rug as I'm doing something with Mohawk 🙂
I use a Steam Cleaner and a Hard Dishwashing Scrub Brush along with hot water to clean my Carpets, along with some not to friendly products
we so new our carpets cleaned but just never enough hours in the day!!!
I have really enjoyed your blog and liked the part about carpet cleaning.I will come back and read some more go job.
My carpet is horrible. I've steam cleaned and vaccumed. Would love to hear any ideas
That's so cool! I would love to redo our carpets! 🙂
Good to hear that more people care about what they're cleaning their homes with. Harsh chemicals can make their saying into our skin, altering our DNA and cause mutations which can lead to disease.
I would love to rip out this old carpet in this house!!! We have shampooed it several times & it only looks clean for a month or so & not even totally clean at that! I would love to clean them up if I can't rip them out!
Way to go on yours!!!!!!
I lucked out and found a deal on an eco-friendly carpet cleaning company on Groupon. You're right, it wasn't any more expensive than the alternatives. It was actually much cheaper since I found a deal.
way to go Dorothy! yep it can be the same or cheaper we just have to look.
i just had to throw out my only area rug due to not being able to clean it adequately without harsh chemicals - next time i think i'll get a steam vac and do it weekly so it doesn't get as bad as this last one had gotten - i'm sure if i just kept with it, i wouldn't have had to toss it.
I worry about this too! All the toxic chemicals, it's scary
That rug is pretty enough to be in a frame on the wall! 🙂 I lysol products but I have no children living at home anymore. Whwn I was watching my neice I used Go Green products to clean with. I have my brother-in-law clean my carpets with something that is kid friendly. 🙂
I use a Steam Cleaner and a Hard Dishwashing Scrub Brush along with hot water to clean my Carpets, along with some not to friendly products. Thanks for the suggestion, I will definitely look into Eco-Friendly services from now on.
WOW! That's a carpet?! I thought it was a piece of art.....
I have a Brissel Quick steamer that I LOVE....grant I'm not sure how you feel about their chemicals but I can tell you this...WHATEVER YOU DO-DO NOT USE VINEGAR on your carpet THEN use their chemicalscuz it will GUM AND I MEAN GUM 9like chewing gum) up your cleaner.
I know I love it Mia and thanks for the advice 🙂
such a pretty rug & I just bought my mom a steam cleaner to clean her rugs with; does it cause or use toxins? the steam cleaner
Hi MIchelle I wouldn't think so as you can decide whether to put anything in it besides the water 🙂
I think your rug is pretty! And that is a really good idea, and smart to have your rug cleaned by an eco-friendly carpet cleaning company! I do not like the strong smells and odors of using professional grade carpet cleaners. I bet the smell would be more pleasant cleaning eco friendly!
rawr 😉
Your rug is beautiful. I have three cats that would think it was a nice scratching area...I would love to have a nice rug like this one. Love the colors!!!
eco friendly carpet cleaners are better for you...with chemicals they can make you very sick .
i agree with you i dislike harsh chemicals as well they make my head hurt.By the way love the rug it's beautiful
Thanks Sheila 🙂
One of the best things I did about 2 years ago was invest in a Shark Steam cleaner for all the hard surface floors in my house. No chemicals at all, just good old water. I love mine!
I think eco-friendly carpet/floor cleaning is so important when you have little children. I think our children spend more time on the floor than actually sitting or standing anywhere in our home.
so true Darwin even at 11 my daughter is constantly sitting or lying on the floor