My Easy Way to Clean an Area Rug

Like I said recently, I'm in Spring cleaning mode over here and I've discovered another way to save money while getting my house sparkling clean!

People who live here are somehow allergic to wiping their feet before entering the house and I've given up begging them to do so.  So, if you have people in your home that are "allergic" to wiping their feet too, please keep reading.

Why I bought a mostly white rug for a high traffic area in our home is still a mystery, even to me! Hey its really pretty, it matches my curtains and I wanted it! That's good enough, right?

At first I was thinking I was going to use THIS RECIPE and method, which is good, but then I remembered my new Bissell portable carpet cleaner and I went and grabbed it.

This little rug lives right in front of the sink area so it gets lots of traffic.  You can see the nice dirty spot there in the middle.  SOMEONE had mud on their feet.

Ok, now to cleaning it and get it back to looking new again.  To start with, vacuum your area rug to get all the loose debris off of it.

Dirty spots, here I come....you are getting ready to be outta here!

This is the back of my rug, this is not one you can just toss in the washer, which I would do if I could. I vacuumed both sides just to make sure I was getting all the dust and dirt from it before I got started with the cleaning.

As you can see, I'm cleaning the rug on my kitchen floor, that way there will be easy clean up when I'm done.

I'm using the same DIY cleaning solution that I used right here for removing a week old coffee stain from our light colored carpet. 

DIY Carpet Cleaning Mixture (for smaller cleaners):

1 cup of vinegar
1 scoop of OxyClean
Warm/Hot Water to the fill line on the tank

The clean water tank on this particular machine is 3/4 gallon capacity so its quite a bit smaller than the full size cleaner tanks.  If you need the recipe for a full size machine, look right here.

NOTE:  Although this mixture worked for our light colored carpet, I'm not sure about using OxyClean on darker colored carpets, so be sure to test it before you start just to be safe.

Yes, there will be a slight vinegar odor, but it dissipates in about 24 hours time.

First, I treated and scrubbed the really dirty spots.
1. Spray with solution
2. Scrub with brush
3. Suction the water from the rug.
After I got all the spots done, I sprayed the entire rug with the solution, let it set for a minute or two, scrubbed it with the brush all over.  Starting at the upper left hand corner suction water out of the rug working in straight lines from top to bottom, moving over each time until you get the whole rug done.  I did the last suctioning step twice.

Lucky for me it was a nice sunny day so I took the rug outside, laid it on the patio and let it dry.  It looks so much better!

This is the place where the dirty spot was, but not anymore! Yay!  I'm so glad this worked because I really like this rug!

Here it is all dry and looking new again.  Its seriously like brand new again!

I didn't really realize how dirty it was until it was clean again and then I did this side by side picture and I was amazed!

This is the smallest  Pioneer Woman Country Garden Rug that matches the curtains that I made from a Pioneer Woman Tablecloth.  You can read about that post right here.

Want to see more of my cleaning tips for using vinegar? Just click on the links below.

Cleaning an HE Washer with Household Products

Remove Hard Water Buildup Naturally 

DIY Carpet Cleaning 

Cleaning Your Hairbrush the Easy Way 

Cleaning Your Oven

Cleaning Your Sink's Spray Nozzle

THIS JUST IN: Did you know you could use COUPONS on Amazon? Me either, but look right here for all your favorites and start saving, you know I am!

GREAT NEWS!  I now have an Amazon Storefront!  If you ever want to purchase anything I'm showing you here, you can pop over to my shop and see what I've picked out for you! Click right here to visit.

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
The Dedicated House  - (I was featured)