Homemade carpet cleaner so good that it remove stains

I have a so called carpet steam cleaner.  It's too big too heavy and too troublesome to use.  And it's not that good.

People put baking soda on their carpets to clean.  People put vinegar solution on their carpets.  Some people put both.  The question is how good it is and how practical than carpet shampoo and steam cleaners.

After hand wash using microfiber cloth only, it's as good as oxiclean!  And I tried at the heavy traffic area that looks almost black.  Originally it's beige. We use to use oxiclean solution to remove stains.  The problem is that it will create a light spot on the old carpet.  After the baking soda and vinegar treatment, it's the same color as the oxiclean treated spot.

Now the practical process.  Sprinkle baking soda all over the carpet.  Work the power evenly with a brush, or use the electric brush of a steamer.  Spray the carpet slightly wet with a solution of 1 part warm water and 1/4 part distilled vinegar.  Then use a brush to clean like a shampoo, or use the electric brush.  Work more on the stains.  Wipe away wetness and lift the dirt with a microfiber cloth.  I don't even have a brush so I did everything with a microfiber cloth.  It doesn't look much when finished.  But when it's completely dry after a while, it will look the same as treated by oxiclean.

I don't know what's the long term effect on the carpet.  And you should try in a small area first.  But our carpet is almost black and worn out at the high traffic area.

Baking soda is mildly alkaline and itself a good cleaner for grease and water stains on the bathroom.  If you leave it on the carpet it will absorb odour.  It is also an abrasive power but it's too fine and soluble to damage any surface.

Vinegar is mildly acidic, and a good cleaner to dissolve grease and water stain.  You should dilute it because of the smell, and the cost if you buy it from the supermarket.

When they react, carbonic acid is first formed with heat giving out.  I would think that provide extra cleaning effect.  The carbonic acid should be stronger than vinegar and highly reactive.  The carbonic acid will then disintegrate into water and carbon dioxide.  What left is sodium acetate, a salt that is also used to replace salt and vinegar in fish and chips.  A salt is like common salt, which is transparent but white when in power form.  It will not turn into anything or change colour.

I use a microfiber cloth to lift the dirt because in repeated use, the microfiber cloth is less dirty than say cotton.  If the cloth is not too dirty I rinse it once in water.  Once a while I put it in the washing machine.

Update: It is always a mystery of using both baking soda and acid. Actually the reaction absorbs heat. When you combine both you neutralize each other. But many people swear they saw better results and so do I. Now my thinking is that the extra cleaning effect is not chemical, but physical. It's like you rub acid into hard to reach areas of the surface. And the fine baking soda powder do the rubbing.