Carpets and the Environment

I'm staying with my sister right now. She lives in an apartment that has white carpet. She also has three kids. Need I say more? A few months ago she had her carpet clean (If you ever run out of things to do with your kids and it's raining, remove all the furniture from the biggest room you have and let them at it. They had so much fun before the cleaners got here.) In this apartment, the pool is right outside the door. Literally. One day they were cleaning it and somehow (I'm not quite sure how this works) they flooded the entire courtyard where the kids were playing. While, might I add, we were on a drought awareness level, which means a drought could be imminent and you can't water plants before dusk. At any rate, they came back inside with very muddy shoes, and it was impossible to keep them off the carpet to take off their shoes. It was a dreadful sight. The entire entryway was brown. Now my sister is not very into environmental causes -- she would rather buy something and than try to mix it up herself. However, she did not have carpet cleaner. However, one of her friends told her what they used. And she passed it to me. And here it is. :) (Isn't the suspense killing you?) :)
Now I did it when it was dry because, frankly, I was afraid of people walking on it again so I had to wait till the kids were in bed. First, you have to pick up or vacuum all of the pieces you can. Like dried bits of mud that aren't actually on the carpet. If you have a stiff brush and the mess is small, that would help. With a washcloth, pour some regular dishsoap on it. All we had was orange but I'd recommend using the lightest color possible. The dye came out but it really worried me at first. Rub it in really well with a damp washcloth. Mine lathered a lot, maybe I put too much, but it came up with maybe a slight tinge to it. Then you pour straight vinegar on it. Work in small sections if it's a large mess because then you have to then take paper towels (had I some here I would have used small rags, but alas I was forced to add to the dump) and quickly blot the mess till all the vinegar is up. It really works wonders. A few days later a piece of cheese fell on the floor and was promptly stepped on. It had been out for a while before that so it was all gooey. I did the same thing practically, except I used a butter knife to scrape it up first, then used the dishsoap and vinegar to get the non-solid pieces up. I also waited till it was dry, I don't know how it would have worked if it was wet. I know this isn't purely original but it is very practical and works very well. If it's not well ventilated though you might want to think about that before making it, the carpet smelled like vinegar for a while.

So to break it down for you

1 stain on carpet

Pick up, scrape, or vacuum off any solid pieces you have

pour dishwashing liquid on it

Rub vigorously with damp washcloth

Pour vinegar on it

Blot up

Carpet should be original color again. Works with old stains.

Update: My sister wants it to be known that she couldn't clean the carpet because she's pregnant. But I did it because I knew she wanted a clean looking carpet and couldn't do it. Besides I am the one who took the kids out when it was muddy and didn't realise it to take off their shoes so it was all MY fault that the carpet got muddy. MINE! Oh yeah and that she has tan carpets. Tan, white, what's the differance? Besides like 80 years ago when the apartments were built they might have been white :P