After our dog stepped in his own poo last weekend and came in our house, I'd had it. Our carpets were FILTHY and with people coming for Christmas, they HAD to get cleaned.
I wasn't able to locate an environmentally friendly carpet cleaning service off hand, and was desperate to get the carpets cleaned, so I found a locally owned company, owner-operator, with a website and scheduled them to come out ASAP. Chris was here when they were cleaning, and said they said this to him after they were done:
"I'm going to spray this lemon scent on your carpets, because often when carpets are really dirty especially with dog dander, the house can smell like wet dog while they're drying."
Seems harmless enough, right? WRONG!
I would have preferred the smell of wet dog over the chemical nonsense that was sprayed on my carpet. (If I wanted my house to smell like effing Pledge I could have sprayed the carpets myself!) I have a sore throat and think it's due to the chemical cocktail that was unleashed on my carpets today. It's no wonder the average newborn baby's cord blood tested has 200 man-made chemicals in it...
So you can be sure that I will be doing some research so next time they're cleaned, it will be environmentally friendly. Even if that means my house will smell like wet dog for a few hours. Beats the alternative.
Dec 21, 2007
Environmentally Friendly Carpet Cleaning?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I have never heard that before about the wet dog smell. My dog spends most his time inside and I have the carpets cleaned once a year. Thats just weird
Jamie - yeah, that's exactly what I thought.... we can't smell it today though, thankfully. But I know it's still on my carpets!
Thanks for visiting PG! Glad the smell is better.
The whole carpet cleaning thing makes me want to swear off carpets altogether. I cannot promise anything, but we have a carpet cleaner person who uses a cleaning product called Procyon. Supposed to be safe, nontoxic, non soapy, unscented, etc. So far, it has been better then other times we've had carpets cleaned. He leaves us with a little powder we can mix in a spray bottle for treating spots. With a cat who eats things she isn't supposed to and throws them up later, we've found it has worked well on spots.
Someone recommended this person to us, but perhaps you could search for a cleaner using this product in your area. Good Luck!
PG - Thanks so much for the tip! I will look into this for sure. Beats the nasty fake lemon smell!
A comment was removed because I do not allow folks to advertise on my site without my permission. Especially for products that aren't environmentally friendly or local.
Katie
After 16 years working in the carpet cleaning industry and hearing many strange stories (not to mention what I've seen) I have come across this sort of thing quite often.
The so called "wet dog smell" is actually a common phrase know in the carpet cleaning industry. It is typical of a woollen carpet (wool fibre) to have a damp smell when wet. This is what is called the wet dog smell in the cleaning industry.
As for the spraying of chemical on the carpet when finished the cleaning the two correct ways this should be done is
1. To first invest (as the carpet cleaner) in a quality antimicrobial or deodoriser to lightly spray over the carpet.
2. To invest (as the carpet cleaner) into a totally chemical free solution based on plant extract to lightly spray over the carpet when finished the cleaning.
The damp or wet dog smell should always be 100% gone once the carpet is totally dry. If it has not gone then it would most likely be the chemical residue left in your carpet which simply needs to be rinsed out.
As the author of the carpet cleaning consumer guide I get to witness many stories every week and the wet dog smell thing is definitely a common thing in the carpet cleaning industry.
Until next time all my best,
Mark Briody
www.CarpetCleaningConsumerGuide.com.au
Check out the HOST Dry Carpet Cleaning System @ www.hostdry.com
I've been using this system professionally for two years here in Lincoln, NE. It creates zero waste water and never saturates your carpets. The cleaner is non-toxic, organic, and biodegradable. To top it off the cleaner is actually Green Seal certified. You could eat this stuff and it won't hurt you but it cleans like you wouldn't believe! No more wet carpets and no more toxic chemicals.
Contact the host website to find a professional HOST carpet cleaner near you.
-Byron Jacobson
Owner, Interior Dry Cleaning Systems, LLC
Post a Comment
I hope to reply to comments, but don't always get around to it. Please know they are all read and appreciated. Spam and otherwise icky messages will be deleted at my discretion.
Thanks for visiting!