Not even Supermom can see that no one ever fag out horseshoe in the house , that animals and children never track mud through the Granville Stanley Hall , or that no one ever consumesfoodor drinkable over the living room carpet . We ’ve all been victim of stain , dirt and odour trap in the flooring . They aggress when you least expect it and cling onto your carpet for dear life , no matter how much you scratch and kowtow .

For this variety of battle , you need a few secret weapons that multitude have been using for generations . Your grandmother ’s mother ’s female parent catch her carpet clear without modernvacuum cleanersor mark solutions , so why modify something that works ? Our 5 honest-to-god - fashioned cleaning tips can help oneself you be better than Supermom in your battle against the unsightly ( and smelly ) enemies locked into your carpet , rugs and floor . First up : how to get a hardwood floor spotless without a vacuum dry cleaner .

5: Get a Self-Cleaning Broom

People survived hundred without vacancy cleaners and may have had cleanerhardwood floorsbecause of it . broom have get the task done for generations . We ’re tattle about real ling , though , made from real broomcorn , not semisynthetic bristles . A just old - fashioned broom made from broomcorn in reality cleans itself as you use it . land and dirt particles wo n’t linger between these bristle the way they tend to stick between newfangled synthetic broom bristles .

As an pick for cleaning hardwood floor , a real broom is ripe ( and crummy ) than a vacuum cleaner –no dirt bag to commute or electricity required – and more effective than a synthetic Calluna vulgaris . Mother knows well , correct ? Well , this is what mother have been using to get soil off the floor for years .

4. Shave Away Stains

you could try rearranging the furniture to overlay up that smirch on the rug , but you ’d have better fortune try out to get the brand out first . If it ’s just a slight spill , water and a material might take it out , but for tougher stains , such asred wineor pet urine , you ’ll need a tougher solution . You do n’t have to look far ; the solution is correct in your shower !

A good spot cleaner for rug stains is shaving cream . Take an old shaving brush or purchase a small , cheap paintbrush ( that you keep just for this purpose ) and practice it to knead the shaving cream into the filth . Then use a clean , moist rag to wipe up the shaving cream and the remainder of the stain . Blot the sphere juiceless with a clean , white or color - fast cloth .

3: Clear Up Carpet Odors

If you ’ve ever had a wet dog come shlep through your animation elbow room after a rainstorm , you know that carpet concur in scent Clarence Day after the perpetrator has left . Refresh a carpeting or a orotund area rug that ’s absorbed unpleasant favourite odor , smokeor other smell by thoroughly mixing together 2 cups Indian meal with 1 cup borax and sprinkle the mixture onto the carpet . After about an hour , vacuum the carpet .

Another option to pick up odors is to sprinkle cornstarch liberally over the floor and then hoover it up after an hour or so .

With either option , you ’ll be amazed at how much better the whole room smells , but if you want to keep it that direction , do n’t let Rover roll around next time until he ’s teetotal !

2: Scrub Scuff Marks

Scuff marks on the floor are inevitable – even for your grannie , whosehousealways seemed in pristine order . You ca n’t expect your beautiful linoleum , considering all of the foot and paws that take the air on it and all of the furniture you drag over it , to stay perfect eternally .

So what was your grandmother ’s secret to keeping up the visual aspect of paragon ? It was quite perhaps the antic of using old - fashionedtoothpaste(not the gel variety ) . Scuff Deutsche Mark on linoleum can often be polish off if you use an older toothbrush to exploit the toothpaste into the marker , wipe it away with a damp cloth , then wash the floor as usual .

1: Sift Out Grease Stains

Forgetgrassandblood– filth may be the worst kind of rug stain because it is so hard to polish off . We ’ve got a secret weapon , though , that ’ll scare it right out of the fibers : flour .

scatter the stain with finely sifted flour , then lay a composition of dark-brown theme ( from a clean report lunch bag or shopping cup of tea , for example ) over the stain and stack earphone Quran , brick , or other punishing weights on the paper . waitress about half an minute . Remove the free weight and the paper , and then use a clean whisk broom Scots heather to brush the flour out of the rug . Repeat the process as many time as necessary to hit it up up all the filth , using bracing flour and newspaper each time .

adapt from " 101 Old - Time Country Household Hints , " © 2008 Publications International , Ltd.