Tips For Choosing a Carpet Cleaning Shampoo
If you talk to anyone who knows much about carpet shampoos, youll hear them talk about foam, anti-resoiling additives and optical brighteners. Regular carpet shampooing will extend your carpet lifespan, provided you know your shampoo, and you’ve asked the right questions about whats actually in the carpet shampoo you’re about to use on your carpets. Do your shampoo research, but also check with the carpet manufacturer for recommendations. And then go to a specialty shop, and ask for an ecologically-friendly carpet shampoo. You want an effective product that’s safe.
Here are three pointers when it comes to choosing a carpet shampoo:
No. 1: Choose a foam generator. Carpet shampoos ware supposed to be foamy, or rather theyre supposed to create thick foam because its the foam which will attract the dirt particles in your carpet pile. Then once the dirty foam has dried, the residue can be vacuumed away. This means the more long-lasting foam, the more effective your carpet cleaning will be. Look for a chemical called sodium lauryl sulfate in the list of ingredients on the bottle. This ingredient is similar to what you find in hair shampoos.
No. 2: Make sure your shampoo has an anti-resoiling additive. One major concern about all carpet shampoos is the possibility of resoiling, which is when the carpet shampoo leaves behind a sticky residue, which actually attracts more dirt. If you’ve inherited an old carpet as a family heirloom, you might actually want to rent a shampoo machine and clean it with warm water and vinegar (1 cup vinegar per 2 ” gallons of water) as the vinegar pulls out the old shampoo.
No. 3: Avoid shampoos with optical brighteners or with high levels of brighteners. The brightener is actually a dye added to the shampoo to create a temporary brightening effect. This can cause permanent yellowing of the fibres.
Carpets need shampooing or cleaning every 12 to 18 months, and they also need spot cleaning. And if you get a stain, you want to deal with it immediately so the dirt does not get too deep into the pile. For stains, just blot them, rather than rubbing them, or you’ll damage the fibre. Apparently shaving cream works wonders on food stains and club soda helps remove red wine stains. Similarly baking soda helps remove carpet odors, and ice cubes help freeze gum so that you can scrap the gum off with a kitchen knife.
Incoming search terms for the article:
