Your carpet is probably the most vital floor decoration for your home. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most dirty items in the house and often requires cleaning. Carpet cleaning is expensive and often involves harmful chemicals being used. Thankfully though, there is a sustainable solution. Here are the top 5 eco friendly carpet cleaning methods that will help you clean your carpets sustainably and responsibly.
Vacuum clean
Probably the best way to avoid using chemicals for cleaning your carpets is to vacuum clean them every few weeks. Vacuum cleaning can help remove dirt and dust that is often not visible, and it’s not until you open the vacuum up to dish out the trash collected when you realize that there was more dirt than you could ever see.
Although vacuum cleaning is a relatively eco friendly carpet cleaning strategy, it isn’t entirely environmentally friendly. Vacuum cleaners use electricity, which more often than not is produced using fossil fuels. Unless you’re powering your home using a renewable source, this would only be a partial eco friendly carpet cleaning method.
Carpet shampoo
Sometimes, there’s more than just dirt on your carpet, and so vacuum cleaning just won’t cut it. Naturally, when you have a toddler around you’re probably going to expect a few cereal stains on your living room carpet! The next best eco friendly carpet cleaning method in this case would be to use a carpet shampoo to clean those tough stains that a vacuum just won’t be able to do any proper cleaning.
However, most carpet shampoos today contain chemicals that may not be safe for your children and could potentially include chemicals harmful for the environment too. Thankfully, several companies have started manufacturing eco friendly carpet cleaning shampoos that are made with natural ingredients and are also safe for children. One of the more popular ones is the Biokleen natural carpet cleaner, which can easily be found on Amazon. (Find out more about the Biokleen carpet cleaner on Amazon here)
Steam clean
If you want to get rid of the stains on your carpet but don’t want to scrub and ruin its look, then a steam clean can be a hassle-free eco friendly way to help keep that new carpet shine and get rid of the stains at the same time. Once you’ve added a good helping of your eco friendly shampoo, you can turn on the steamer which will soften the stain on the carpet and help remove them without the need to scrub hard.
Although steam cleaning is a great eco friendly carpet cleaning method, it does have slight drawbacks. Firstly, you need to have the right equipment (i.e the steamer) which you can either buy or rent (if you can find one). Secondly, you’re probably going to use a significant amount of electricity while the steamer is on because it needs to heat the water as well as run the blower.
Another problem with steam cleaning is that you’re still going to need the carpet shampoo besides your steamer, so it isn’t going to be the most economical way to clean your carpets
Clean with cold water
Heating up the water to clean your carpet requires energy which can be used somewhere else, more efficiently and more effectively. Cleaning your carpet with warm water doesn’t necessarily make a lot of difference as compared to cleaning with cold water, but it certainly does consume unnecessary energy which makes it definitely not worth it.
A good eco friendly tip for cleaning your carpets is to use cold water instead. Cold water also helps prevent any chemicals that may exist in your cleaning agent to escape into the atmosphere as fumes. Certain chemicals have a tendency to breakaway from the solution when heated, and warm water can be a trigger of such a reaction. Using cold water can help mitigate that risk and prevent unnecessary usage of electricity.
Use natural cleaning agents
You might not know this, but things lying around in your kitchen can actually be used as great cleaning agents for carpets. This is especially helpful for those who only have a slight stain on the carpet and don’t want to go through the hassle of cleaning the entire carpet.
Examples of common cleaning agents already found in your home are soap, sparkling water and cornstarch. These can help remove the stains without the need to soak, scrub or steam clean the entire carpet. However, you should beware of the types of stains each cleaning agent can remove. For example, salt can help remove wine stains, but if you have spilled coffee, sparkling water is the more appropriate option.
Using natural cleaning agents found in your home is probably the most eco friendly carpet cleaning method you can come across. It saves water,electricity, and does not require you to buy specialized cleaners, so it saves you money and a trip to the grocery store too!
Carpet cleaning can be expensive, tricky and hazardous; but it doesn’t have to be. With these easy eco friendly carpet cleaning strategies, you can take that next step to a sustainable lifestyle without necessarily cutting your wallet in half.