Effective DIY Carpet Stain Remover

Before you pull out the big carpet cleaning machine with harsh chemicals to tackle carpet stains, try this super simple best stain remover for carpet homemade recipe that is proven to be the easiest way to remove tough carpet stains. Oh, and the best part it is that this DIY carpet cleaner is quick and easy.

DIY Carpet Cleaner that is a Stain Remover

We found the magic stain remover for carpet for tough stains even with tough odors.

Our van floor was nasty – the carpet was covered with stains. I needed to find the best way to remove those gross stains that took the least amount of effort on my part!

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The thing with carpet stains on the floor in the car is they could be literally anything if there are kids and pets involved producing a wide variety of stains: oil stains, fruit juice messes – grape juice and apple juice are my kids favorite, chocolate stains, urine stains (don’t judge me…), carpet spills of everything you can imagine from blood stains to pet messes! Every single one of these are tough stains!

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Homemade Carpet Stain Remover

I can’t remember where I first got the recipe, but we shared it here on Kids Activities Blog over 5 years ago and it remains one of our most popular articles because it allows you to clean carpet stains without spending a ton of money (actually it is super cheap) and it really works on dirty carpets and even old stains and stubborn stains while giving the best results.

2 Ingredient DIY Carpet Cleaning Solution

All you need are two simple ingredients plus water and a tiny bit of elbow grease for tough stains. One is a common household item, hydrogen peroxide & the other one of our favorite essential oils, lemon oil! The peroxide breaks down stains and the lemon oil helps release sticky particles.

Oh, and if you are in a hurry, you can leave out the essential oil which makes it a 1 ingredient homemade cleaning solution ! <–can you call it a solution when it is that simple?

What is Hydrogen Peroxide?

Hydrogen peroxide is a colorless liquid at room temperature with a bitter taste. Small amounts of gaseous hydrogen peroxide occur naturally in the air. Hydrogen peroxide is unstable, decomposing readily to oxygen and water with release of heat.

–NIH

There are commercial product, commercial cleaners and commercial carpet cleaners used by professional cleaners that contain hydrogen peroxide at concentrations from 5% up to 90%. Today we are going to make a simple DIY recipe to make your own carpet cleaner for carpet stains.

Which Essential Oil?

As you may have noticed on Kids Activities Blog that many of our homemade solutions have natural ingredients like essential oils. We love essential oils for many things including carpet cleaner solution. We usually use lemon essential oil, but the good news is any of your favorite essential oils is great in this combination of ingredients. You can control the amount in the DIY carpet cleaner recipe to your liking.

Some favorite essential oils to try instead or in addition to lemon essential oil: Purification, Thieves, Citrus Fresh, Tea Tree Oil and Lavender.

Homemade Carpet Cleaner Solution Supplies

How To Make DIY Carpet Cleaner

Step 1

Start with a dark colored bottle. Clear or semi-translucent bottles will break down the hydrogen-peroxide neutralizing the cleaner.

Fill the dark colored bottle with 1/3rd Hydrogen Peroxide

Step 2

Fill the remaining 2/3rd of the bottle with warm water .

Step 3

Add 5-10 drops of lemon essential oil depending on the size of the bottle and how strong you want the homemade cleaners lemon scent.

Step 4

Shake lightly.

Test Your DIY Carpet Cleaner Solution to Treat Stains

1. The first step is to choose a hidden section of carpet (inconspicuous place) the first time you use your homemade carpet shampoo recipe to spot test to make sure you won’t be bleaching or changing the carpet color.
2. Choose a small area of carpet (or area rugs) and spray area with the solution recipe to the carpet fibers and blot with a clean cloth (white towel or white cloth) or paper towel.
3. Check back once it has dried for color fastness. We have not had a problem with this best carpet stain removers recipe, but our house generally has light carpet .

We add this word of caution because everyone’s rugs are different and will react differently with hydrogen which can bleach things and the last thing you need is a bigger carpet mess! Results may vary with how fresh stains might be or what type of stain you have on your hands.

You can add more water to dilute it if you’re worried.

How To Use Homemade Carpet Cleaner

1. Liberally spray the are of the carpet stain with the cleaner mix.  
2. After the mix has set for a minute or so, use the scrub brush or old toothbrush to loosen the carpet fibers.  The yucky stuff moves to the surface.
3.  Use a clean rag and wipe the carpet, blotting out any excess liquid.
4. Repeat a couple of times with your homemade cleaning product until your carpet is clean.
5. You can also use this cleaning mix on upholstered furniture.

It turns out they also sell Hydrogen Peroxide already in a spray bottle, on Amazon! You can approximately 10 drops of lemon oil to this size container. Shake lightly to mix!

More Easy & Natural Cleaning Ideas from Kids Activities Blog

How did your DIY carpet stain remover turn out? Were you able to use your homemade carpet cleaner to remove the stubborn stains at your house?