Just like curtains, bedding and sofa covers, when carpets are unattended to, they may lead to foul air quality in your living space. This is because they can easily trap mold spores, pet dander, and dust mites circulating through the house; and cause allergies or even respiratory problems. 

To be fair, taking care of carpets or floor rugs can be relatively tough and boring but with the advent of technology like robot vacuums, handheld vacuum cleaners, and handheld automatic sweepers, a relatively tiring and uninteresting chore can be done in a rather easier and fun way. 

Nonetheless, paying anything above GHS500 for any high-end automatic floor cleaner can be expensive. That’s why we put together a number of simple ways to clean carpet by hand below. Most of the items you would need are items you may already have at home anyway.  

READ ALSO: Easy Ways to Improve Your Indoor Air Quality 

Vinegar Can Do Magic

Who would have known that with vinegar, you can get your carpet smelling fresh without steam cleaning. Yes, get your white vinegar out of the kitchen, a bucket, some warm water, a scrub brush, and you should be on your way to a fresher smelling carpet in your living space. 

Start by filling your bucket half way with warm water and add a reasonable amount of vinegar to get the water concentrated. Apply some of the concentrated solution to the carpet with your scrub brush. Note to apply enough of the solution to get it moist but not soaked.

When you are done scrubbing the carpet, refill the bucket with fresh water. Here you will need an absorbent rug or a terrycloth to scrub the carpet. Just soak the absorbent rug or the terrycloth in the water, and wring it afterwards before applying to the carpet. Repeat the process one more time and allow the carpet to dry. You can turn on your fan to expedite the drying process.

Use Carpet Brush and Kitchen Degreaser

In case you don’t know what a kitchen degreaser is, it is a liquid formula used to get rid of grease (as its name suggests) and other oil stains in almost all situations. You can simply spray the degreaser unto the stains on your carpet. Allow it to settle, then go on to absorb it out with a warm damp cloth. 

To avoid the difficulty in removing some stains and dirt from your carpet, you should be brushing dirt and using the kitchen degreaser on stains weekly to keep your carpet neat and make it easier to clean. 

Baking Soda Works

Like the palm nut, baking soda can help in many aspects of the African daily life. From being used for pastries, whitening teeth, to cleaning carpets. It’s more like a magical powder, don’t you think? Anyway, baking soda is affordable, environmentally friendly, and can take on tough stains and dirt easily.

Just as the other directives, you can dust a reasonable amount of it on the carpet (wet but not soaked) or the stained area. Leave it for 30mins for it to soak and absorb the dirt/stains, then apply a warm absorbent rug or a terrycloth to the carpet by wringing it somewhat to sop up the stains. You can also go through this same process but with a baking soda liquid solution. 

Clean Your Base-floor

This is not a way to clean your carpet by hand, but practicing to regularly clean your base-floor on which your carpet lies is a great way to get rid of dirt. This is because when you only clean your carpet, the residues collected under it overtime stays and creates more of an undone job. So it is better to thoroughly clean your base-floor as well whenever you clean your carpet, as it also saves time and your energy. 

READ ALSO: Free Simple Home Workouts You Can Do Right Now 

Cleaning your carpet by hand can be uninteresting and tough, but with these simple ways to clean carpet by hand, you can easily get your carpet into a much presentable state and get your living space to smell fresh while at it.