Vinegar
# Vinegar can be used for environmentally safe cleaning. To be truly green, use vinegar derived from a natural source in a carpet steam cleaner (see Resource 1). Use it full strength for really dirty carpets, but be sure to do a test on the carpet in an inconspicuous spot beforehand. Use hot water in the steam cleaner to remove the vinegar. For standard cleaning, use 1 cup white vinegar in 2 or 3 gallons of hot water. The vinegar mixture will do an excellent job to safely clean your carpets. In many cases, vinegar will clean a carpet better than commercial formulas. Vinegar also will remove odors from your carpet while it cleans.
A mixture of vinegar and water in a spray bottle can be used to remove small spots on your carpet in between steam cleaning.