Vinegar and Baking soda tackle the carpet stains

 So, today is the day I decided to tackle those creepy "mystery" stains on my homestead carpet. I heard a hot tip that baking soda and vinegar would do the job, so I decided to put these two superheroes to the test against prefab carpet cleaner. I like to call it:

Baking soda vs. Resolve
To start out, I made a rough mixture of baking soda and water and rubbed it all over the mystery stain. (I didn't use exact measurements.) Then I let the baking soda dry overnight. Then I planned on making a 2:1 vinegar to water mixture to finish the cleaning process. This is what it looked like with dried baking soda:
Resolve was a bit simpler: spray, wait 3 minutes, and scrub with towel. This is the mystery stain I treated with Resolve (it is freshly sprayed in this picture, so the carpet looks clean. It's really not)
After I put the prefab on, I finished the baking soda treated carpet by pouring the vinegar/water mixture on the dry baking soda, which, yes, is like the exploding volcano experiment that everyone does in elementary school. I kept pouring vinegar on the spot until the baking soda stopped reacting. (You may think that this would make your house smell like vinegar: surprisingly, it doesn't smell at all once it is done reacting). This is what I ended up with:
Spot GONE! Resolve (below) also did an admirable job (you can see the clean part of the spot at the bottom right of the stain), but it make the room smell funny.

So, is the Deadly Duet (baking soda & vinegar) worth the extra effort? I will rank them in these areas:

1. Time: Resolve was quicker, it took about 6 minutes max start to finish.

2. Effectiveness: Decide what you will, but Baking soda & vinegar did a better job.

3. Cost:

Bottle of Resolve: $4.00 on amazon (32 oz.)

Baking soda: $1.00 (16oz box)

Vinegar: $2.00 (24 oz bottle)

SO: baking soda and vinegar are definitely cheaper (they also multitask!)

4. Other: Smell. Baking soda definitely wins in this category.

Overall: Baking soda & vinegar kicked Resolve's butt. Definitely worth the effort. 

Microfiber Miracle!

So, this isn't really a new discovery for me, and it's not really "homestead", but I LOVE microfiber cleaning cloths! They can literally do anything and everything, and the best part is, for most of the jobs you can eliminate cleaning products! (Sounds weird, but I will explain).

These are my weapon of choice. You can buy them at Lowe's for a little less than $3, or on Amazon for even less than that.

To give you just a little taste of what they are capable of, I will clean my filthy sliding glass door with nothing more than water and 2 microfiber cloths. Here is what I am up against: 
Technique: I wet one cloth and rung it out, and left one dry. I wiped the whole window down with the wet cloth, then dried it with the dry cloth, and... voila! A masterpiece! 
Here is another shot of the masterpiece: 
I hate to admit it, but I was extremely surprised at how clean my doors were! The best parts:

1. it was quick. No buckets to fill and lug around, no juggling clean and dirty towels.
2. it was cheap. Since I already had the cloths, it was free.

3. it was healthy for me. NO chemicals, fragrances, fumes, etc.

4. it was healthy for the environment. No chemicals touch me, no chemicals touch the environment. WIN, WIN, WIN situation.

Note: they also clean mirrors with excellent results.

Other Note: I also use them to clean my counters. I am pro-germs, so I just wet them down and scrub. (I do still use Clorox on them when I need to disinfect something, like if raw chicken juice gets on the counter.) But for the most part, it cuts down on the number of chemicals you use, gives your immune system a boost (if you want to know the science, Google "Getting the Dirt on Germs", an article by USC's health magazine), and saves you money!