Shampooing the carpet

Being a dog owner and living in a pasture means that there's a lot of vacuuming done at our house. But, even with all of the vacuuming I still need to shampoo the carpet every few months. We invested in a good shampooer a few years ago that is for carpets, hard floors and furniture - something I recommend if you're going to shampoo your carpet or clean your furniture every few months, it's much more cost effective. I know I'm a clean freak, but let's face it, even without the dogs, is shampooing your carpet once a year (or less) really often enough? I think not. I want to get the carpets clean before Jakob's family arrives next week and I may do it again before the baby comes. Yes, clean freak, I know. Today was the day to clean!

Things were great until I ran out of carpet shampoo thirty minutes into my carpet shampooing endeavor. That'll piss you off. I guess next time I'll check my stores of shampoo before I begin. However, the light at the end of this tunnel came when I remembered someone telling me that vinegar or Windex could be substituted - both of which I have plenty of. I'm not into smelling vinegar (peeeee-youuuuuu) unless I'm cleaning my drains at the beginning of the month, so I went with Windex. Good old, plain, blue Windex. I actually used the Walmart generic brand, but it's the same stuff. It worked awesomely! Just as well, if not better, than the high dollar carpet shampoo I've been buying! I didn't even use it full strength, I diluted it just like I would if I'd used the 2X concentrated shampoo. And no, my house does not smell like chemicals. Honestly, I don't smell the Windex at all. And it didn't discolor the carpet, either. I was told once that the commercial shampoos will leave a residue on your carpet that over time will actually attract dirt (I have no idea if that's true or not), but that vinegar or Windex won't do that. Time will tell.

So, today's tidbit of homespun wisdom is that you can save yourself a lot of money by subbing generic Windex ($1-$2 per bottle) over the high priced carpet shampoo ($10-$15 or more depending on what you buy). Happy shampooing, peeps!