Using Homemade Cleaners in a Hoover Carpet Shampooer

I like these ideas, but I have a bisssell will these mixers work as well? I have heard using anything but the recommended carpet shampoo will destroy my shampooer? I would like to use something else besides the commercial shampoo as it is so expensive! and I am constantly cleaning up pet messes (training a new puppy).

I have 5 dogs n 5 cats. Often there are messes. I use mr clean with frebreeze in my machine, and it takes out all oders and stains. trust me on this one-it really works. i use the hottest water in my tank with the recommended amount. I wouldnt use baking soda or anything powdery as it could clog ur hoses.

I use everything in my Hoover and I've had it for over 10 years. However, I let my sister borrow it and she used Oxy-something and boy what a mess in the machine that made. I'm hesitant to use the vinegar on my new carpet though. I have used it on my older carpet with good results, however a few years ago I used it to clean up blood off a medium blue carpet, then soaked it up with the Hoover and after a few weeks those spots turned pink!

I have terrible pet stains on my carpet from a new puppy. Does vinegar get rid of those stains and smells?

I have used this mixture for about 2 years - always works great! My carpet cleaner is one with the container on the side to fill with water and mix in the solution. I mix in 1 cup ammonia, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup baking soda, mix with the water. The baking soda/ vinegar solution does fiz a little, but not enough to cause problems. More like soda does when you first open it.

Hi my Grandmother used seltzer water to clean her carpet for the stain pots she use shaving cream it smells nice too.

Thank you all so much. This is the first site that I've found that has given me a green solution with positive results.

I use vinegar and sudsy amonia and rinse the entire carpet afterwards with water and fabric softener and it works well -- even remove traffic dirt that stanley steamer could not remove

Thanks again for the input everybody!

Our goal is to not use commercial shampoo at all. We have a cat and don't want to use the chemicals. Also, a friend of mine that cleans carpets professionally says to not use soap at all because the residue will attract dirt faster. So never spot clean with soap! That spot will get dirtier faster than the rest of the carpet.

We used vinegar and water in the soap dispenser, about 50/50 mix, but I think we could have used stronger since you could barely smell any vinegar. Since the machine automatically mixes the soap with water, this weekend (still have half the carpets to finish) we will try straight vinegar in the soap dispenser for even better cleaning power. We are also going to spray baking soda/water mixture on spots that need extra cleaning. We won't put baking soda in the machine and definitly not mix vinegar and baking soda!


Thanks again, I'll put up our final results of using straight vinegar and spot cleaning with the baking soda when we're finished.

Mike

Go ahead and use what ever carpet shampoo you wish it won't hurt your machine. I have one and even make up my own solutions to use in it. By the way, water and vinegar is a great after shampoo rinse for the carpets as it takes out any detergent residue and leaves the carpet softer. It also helps keep carpets from attracting dirt as readily, which is in fact the residue that does it. Learned this from a professional housekeeper long ago. Also don't put baking soda in the machine.

I'm going to be cleaning my carpets soon. How much vinegar to water do I use?

I have not tried this but I heard you can even use a little bit of laundry soap mixed with water as your carpet shampoo as it will clean really well and also leave a great smell!! I heard that Gain works the best. Good luck!

Thanks for the input!! We went ahead and tried the vinegar on Monday. It works great! We kept increasing the amount we put in the soap dispenser with each new tankful and found you can use a lot!

Thankfully, I remembered what happens when you mix baking soda and vinegar before trying it in the machine! (remember the volcano experiment?) I like the idea of just sprinkling it on the carpet for 20 minutes before. We still have half the carpet to do and will try that. Thanks again all!!

I have used all kinds of stuff in my Shampooer, from Vinegar and Water to Fabric Softener and I make a point of rinsing it real good, when I'm finished. I use "that other Brand of Shampoo also" , whatever works right?

We also have a Hoover carpet cleaner and we use a mixture of white vinegar and water as our cleaning solution. We haven't had any problems at all doing this. I haven't tried using baking soda in my carpet cleaner. If I want to use baking soda to deoderize my carpets, I sprinkle it straight out of the box onto my completely dry carpet and let it sit for about 20 minutes before vacuuming it up.

Of course they tell you to only use Hoover products they make more money that way. I have used other products in My Hoover cleaner and it has not fallen apart yet. Give it a try. Barb