Pros of Cleaning Your Own Carpet

Most of us can say that we don’t have time to call an expensive carpet cleaning service, wait for them to get there, and move all of our furniture around for a few hours before moving it all back. It is much more cost & time-effective to set up a DIY carpet cleaning routine when it comes to getting rid of stains. However, there are a lot of factors that we have to take into consideration before we start mixing chemicals to put in our carpet. If we accidentally use the wrong mix, we can actually make a stain worse to the point where it becomes impossible to get a stain out, even by professional standards. 

Dangers of DIY Carpet Cleaning

Wrong PH Levels: When it comes to cleaning carpets there are 101 things to take into consideration before you start putting strong chemicals on it. One of these factors that determine how well a chemical can remove spots and soils is PH levels. On the other side of the coin, if we use the wrong level PH level we can potentially damage carpet fibers making them look dull in color.

How Both Ends of the PH System Can Affect Your Carpet: PH levels range from 1-14, 7 Being water. The lower numbers would be the extremely acidic chemical found in lemon juice and battery acid. The higher number would be alkaline chemicals like bleach and liquid drain cleaner. As you can tell when it comes to either end of the PH scale, they can both be damaging to carpets. In some cases, they can even be corrosive and release toxic fumes into the air. Use chemicals with a near-neutral or slightly acidic PH level to clean carpets. If you know what products you want to use, make sure to google what its PH level is before using it. 

Buffers in Cleaners Can Change PH Levels

While PH levels are important, choosing a cleaning solution solely on the basis of PH alone is not good enough. There are many active chemicals that companies put into soaps, and these “buffers” can change the PH level in your solution. Getting a cleaner with fewer buffers is very important for carpet cleaning in order to get the desired outcome.

Over-Shampooing: Putting too much shampoo into your carpet makes it hard to properly rinse it all out and vacuum. The chemicals left behind can damage your carpet, and leave residue behind that turns your carpet into a dirt magnet.

Using Too Much Water: Soaking your carpet in water isn’t the solution to getting a clean surface either. Not only do you run the possibility of growing mold & mildew, but your carpet could shrink which will cause it to tear at the ends. In any case, if you are DIY’ing your carpet, it’s important to dry your carpet as fast as possible. Turning the fan on, vacuuming out excess water, and making sure the air isn’t humid is a good start.

Too Much Deodorizer: We all want our carpet to smell its best when we have guests, but it isn’t a substitute for cleaning. In fact, the powder can get stuck in your carpet fibers making your carpet look dull and messy. If your vacuum can’t remove it, it could build up over time making the situation worse. 

How to Clean Your Own Carpet Safely

Things to Remember Before You Start: Check with your carpet brand if there is a specific way you should clean your carpet. Neutralize the PH Level of bigger stains before vacuuming the rest of your room. It’s important to treat bigger stains separately because when it comes to carpets, there is no one-chemical fits-all solution. (Check out our detailed guide for removing stains of different acidity). 

Now that we got rid of the bigger stains, the goal of our carpet cleaning solution is to clean and create long-term protection. To do this, we want to make a slightly alkaline cleanser. Here are the ingredients: 

• 1-gallon plastic or glass container with lid (you can use an old milk jug or a bucket)
• 1 cup hydrogen peroxide
• ⅛ cup dish liquid
• 1 tablespoon Oxiclean
• ½ cup fabric softener

Insert all these ingredients into your container then fill the rest up with water.

Professionals have put years of research into learning about and creating the best possible solutions for carpet cleaning. If you want a fuller clean, use these chemicals to avoid damage to your home so you can get back to actually enjoying your space. Theochem provides a large range of carpet cleaning chemicals, and is happy to work with businesses in providing affordable products in bulk!