Ewwww...

[BirdOfPray]

Today I learned just how gross carpet gets after almost two years of having a kiddo around the house. My husband got white carpet when he first bought the house (before we were married). It's very nice carpet, but... well... toddlers are toddlers. Ours is relatively neat for his age, but some mess is just unavoidable, and he was also pretty impressive in the spit-up department as a baby. Add that to normal traffic and wear, and the carpet, specifically in the dining room, has been driving me nuts for the last few months.

My mother-in-law just bought a carpet cleaner and she finished her carpets this morning and brought it over for me to use this afternoon. We moved all of the furniture out of the dining room and I got to work. This carpet cleaner uses a tank of hot water and then sucks the water back up into a separate tank. I don't think I've seen grosser water than the stuff that came back up out of that carpet! Yuck! Even in the areas that looked nice, it was pretty impressive, let alone the obviously soiled areas. It took me two hours and my shoulders are pretty tired, but I'm tempted to go back over it all again tomorrow and see if the water comes back any cleaner. The carpet really looks great, even in the areas that were pretty bad. There are a few stains that survived, but I'm going to see if a little Resolve will do anything for those.

I guess you know you really are an adult when you're thrilled that your husband watched the toddler for two hours so you could clean the carpet. :hmm3grin2orange:

[smaug]

We pulled up all the carpet in our house.The amount of filth in them even after steam cleaned is still too much for my taste.

[BirdOfPray]

I've definitely thought about all tile... but the finances aren't there right now (paying off the house first!) and carpet is a little easier on crawling/toddling kiddos. We may reconsider down the road. One of the houses I lived in as a kid was all tile except the bedrooms, and it was great. A little echo-y, but nice and cool in the summer and it was easy to clean up any spills.

[smaug]

We were fortunate to have southern pine floors under the carpet and it was already finished,very old and rough but still had a smoothish finish.With 2 dogs and a cat and astd other critters as well as a preteen,this is much better.

[HeatherB]

I don't know what we would do without our own carpet machine! Invest in one for yourselves now! It will come in handy with potty training, pets, fishtanks, everything!!

Get a little carpet pretreater (or resolve) and spray it on the spots. Take a spoon and work it in REALLY good and then let it sit and stay damp overnight. In the morning, do a couple passes. It should take most of the stain up!

[Rue]

Yes...I love my carpet cleaner too. I also have a Bissel Green Machine for spot cleaning (much easier than hauling out the big boy)...

Acerage living - no matter how anal you are about shoes and what not...also turn your carpets icky...and the dogs...etc.

One rule I had when the kids were little that helped was that they were only allowed to eat and drink at the kitchen table. Along with helping keep the house clean and un-sticky, it foster good eating habits...

Not a hardship either, in our case, the kitchen is beside the family room and you can watch TV from it (er, even though eating in front of the TV is technically a no-no...(blush) ).

[BirdOfPray]

Heather, I may not actually buy my own since my mother-in-law lives only a couple of miles away with hers. thumbs2: I'll have to try that tip with the Resolve, though! The stains that stuck around are mostly from when a not-so-thoughtful friend gave her small children juice on the white carpet a couple years ago, so there may be no hope for them.

Rue, the kiddo only eats in his high chair or at the table, or occasionally I'll give him bites of things while I'm working in the kitchen -- definitely no wandering around with food. I do let him have his cup elsewhere in the house, but he only drinks water so it's nothing sticky or smelly if it does drip, and he's pretty good about setting it down nicely (i.e. upright) when he's done with it. He really isn't that messy for being a toddler, but occasionally he'll accidentally knock his bowl off the table or something, and he's still learning to use a spoon.

Trying to figure out the balance between teaching the little guy good manners and tidy habits (his wife will thank me someday!) and being relaxed enough that he can enjoy life and have fun without always worrying about the mess. I'm especially trying to be laid back about genuine mistakes, but I think I've got some work to do... last time he knocked over my glass of water I left on the table, he exclaimed, "Uh-oh! Water! Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh! Water! Water! Uh-oh!" and so on while I cleaned it up. Wonder where he learned that? (blush)

[Rue]

I failed at being laid-back about messes...(mini-meltdowns)...so to try to keep calm I took a preventative approach...

Can't have a mess-meltdown if there is no mess...:hmm3grin2orange:

So? Obviously not ideal...but then what is?

Anyway...my kids have survived me...and none of them are as anal as I am...and none of them are super-messy either...so I think I did okay...

[VoidParadigm]

Yeah, it can be kinda disgusting.
We switched to hardwood with rugs years ago and have never looked back!
:lol:

[Zilla]

We have hardwood floors throughout the house. The few scatter rugs I do have are subject to the cats puking on them ( ironically they always puke on them after they've been washed or cleaned) so the idea of putting carpeting down is a no go.

Hubby and my son who is 13 don't know the meaning of wiping their feet nor do the dogs. I couldn't live with wall to wall carpeting anyway as they are allergy magnets, but hats off to those that do with kids, pets and husbands that do. This is not to say all husbands are total slobs, but mine was raised by wolves and had to learn things like eating over his plate over the past 15 years.

Hardwood is easy. Somebody makes a mess, the mop gets dragged out, the mess is cleaned up and that's the end of it. There is no stink factor because something soaked into the padding under rugs, staining, ect.

[Rue]

We have some parquet in the house too (not my favourite, but it's in too good shape to think about changing...maybe down the road)...and we've had hardwood in other houses...

Hardwood is more sanitary...but it's way more work to look after. Carpet you just vacuum...hardwood you need to sweep up, vacuum and then mop...*blech*...takes forever...

However, when we redo the floors, I'll be putting hardwood in the family room (because of dogs). Not sure what to put in the hallways. The bedrooms and living room will stay carpeted...in the country hardwood is too cold too have throughout the house...

[Mith]

Hey, regarding the black water... don't feel too bad. Those carpet cleaners wqork REALLY well! I'm the only person in my house and there are areas that I almost never walk on, but when I steam clean those areas, well...the water's BLACK!

I LOVE my steam cleaner (and vacuum for that matter). Just like a freshly mowed lawn, a freshly vacuumed/steam cleaned carpet is a wonderful thing!!!!

[Rue]

Clean is a wonderful thing...:1luvu:

I relax when things are clean...

It's a struggle to find the balance between being able to live and have life's little messes...and still have it blissfully clean...

It's a long-term goal I'm working on...