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Fact: For 5 out of the 7 years I’ve been married, I’ve lived in apartments with nasty carpet.
Fact: It’s not my fault. (I swear!) The carpet in the first apartment was incredibly cheap (as was everything in that apartment, come to think of it), and seemed to collect stains like some people collect coins. And for some reason that I cannot comprehend for the life of me, apartment complexes seem particularly determined to floor all the dining rooms in their unit with carpet. I would take linoleum from the ’70’s over carpet in the dining room. Any. Day. (Of course, that would have nothing to do with the fact that I have 2 small boys who, every meal, end up with more food on the floor than in the tummy.)
The carpet in our current apartment is actually of very high quality, but it appears to have been around since the dawn of the house itself (say, 20 years?), and has apparently experienced its fair share of toddlerhood spills and other merriment. Oh yeah, and it started out as a lovely off-white color, I’m sure, but has long since faded to a dingy sort-of-something-color. I’m determined to cover it up with rugs, but so far all I’ve managed is a second-hand rug in the dining room. Hey, anything to cover up the handiwork of my two little blessings!
At any rate, I’m way more familiar with carpet stainage than I really actually care to be. And I am so beyond thrilled to be able to share with you the solution I have hit upon within the past year, because it’s one of those things that actually works. A lot of the solutions I see online for X-Y-Z and this-and-that tend to work for everybody else but me. (Anybody else have that problem?) So when something actually works (and works every time!) for me, I want to shout it from the rooftops.
So here’s my online rendition of the rooftop shout:
Clean your carpet stains with Oxygen Bleach!
(Hey, at least I didn’t use all caps.)
It’s really actually quite easy. Take a spray bottle and put a tablespoon or two of oxygen bleach in the bottom. (I never was a good one for specific measurements - I honestly just dump some until I think I have enough.) Fill the bottle the rest of the way with warm-ish water (never was good at temperatures either) and shake until the oxygen bleach dissolves (being sure to replace the nozzle on the spray bottle first, of course).
Spray the stain liberally with the oxygen bleach mixture and let it sit for a few minutes. (I don’t time it exactly, either. Bet you’re surprised by that.) Come back with a white rag and rub at the stain until it disappears.
And the amazing thing? It will disappear. Right before your very eyes. Like magic. I actually find it oddly entertaining, and am always secretly excited when I spot a new stain that needs to be cleaned.
This stuff has not failed me yet, and I’ve attacked many a stain with it. However, your mileage might vary - it depends on your carpet, the stain, and you. I also recommend testing just an unobtrusive corner of your carpet first to make sure you won’t ruin the color. I’ve only ever used this spray on nondescript beige-ish colors, so I’m not sure how it would react with a colored carpet.
Note: Do not use the oxygen bleach you can buy at the dollar tree. I don’t know exactly what’s in it, but it smells like chemicals and is blue (and sometimes pink, which is kind of funny), so I don’t trust it. Get the pure white unadulterated stuff from places like Tropical Traditions or Amazon.com.