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Pristine Cleaning Gal

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4 Cleaning Products to Avoid

Never Use the Following Products on Carpet

4 Cleaning Products to Avoid

Like many people, I have a Pinterest account, with all sorts of boards including one on cleaning. I love finding cleaning tips but am careful to research which cleaning tips could cause damage to the item I am cleaning before I proceed.

Bad Information

People think that they have found the holy grail of home cleaning products, and post their ideas on Pinterest. Unfortunately, they are giving advice that actually causes damage to the items they are cleaning. I see this a lot with carpet cleaning tips. The most cringe-worthy tips include the use of hydrogen peroxide, bleach, dish soap, or ammonia (window cleaner).

If you run across a tip containing any of these 4 products you should ignore them. These products can do serious damage to carpets. If you are using a mixture of these, I urge you to stop. While you may not see the damage you are causing right now, eventually, you will be wishing that you hadn’t used them.

Hydrogen Peroxide, & Bleach

These are bleaching agents (Peroxide is used to lighten hair). They remove color and not just the color from the spots you have spilled, but the color from the entire carpet. If the mixture is concentrated or laid down heavier in one area than the other, the carpeting will start to appear blotchy. It will be lighter in some areas even on the white carpet. This is not something that can be repaired. Once it’s bleached, you can’t “unbleach” it.

In addition, unlike your hair carpet doesn’t grow. Each time you apply a cleaning mix containing peroxide or bleach you are causing damage that dries out and makes the fibers brittle. Over time the fibers will start to break and fray at an accelerated pace. This kind of damage leads to early replacement. 

Important side note: Any time you use a bleaching agent on the carpet, any warranty the carpet has will be voided.

Dish Soap

Carpet manufacturers recommend a mixture of white vinegar, water, and dish soap to help remove spots. While we agree with the white vinegar and water, we disagree with using dish soap. Using dish soap adds a cleaning agent that can have bleach, petroleum, and other items that can leave residues. These residues can attract soil, bleach out the color, and cause other problems. While carpet manufacturers may recommend this, we suggest you use only half and half white distilled vinegar and water to clean spots. Not all dish soaps are created equal, so it is better just to avoid using them altogether. In most cases, you will get good results with just vinegar and water.

Ammonia

This product is not meant for carpets. It will leave your carpet smelling terrible. Ammonia is the primary ingredient in cat and dog pee that cause bad odors and sets stains. Just don’t use this product.

Additional Links

Emergency Spot Tips

4 Signs Your Carpet Needs Replacing