Sometimes, after hot water extraction cleaning a carpet, a white powder on the surface of the carpet will show up the next day after the carpet has dried! And then, you get a very angry call from your customer!
The first three are quite commonly used to get rid of spills, urine, bad odors, etc., and are often way over-used. In fact, it’s a good idea to ask whether the customer has a pet. If they do, they are probably using such products. These powders accumulate in the base of the carpet, sometimes to the point where they are visible and to the point where the carpet even becomes stiff.
After warm water extraction (steam cleaning), as the carpet dries, the remaining powder wicks to the surface where the white powder is now visible.
Follow these steps to remove this white powder residue on the carpet:
- This white powder is usually easily removed simply by pile lifting or by thorough vacuuming.
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If you know or suspect in advance that these powders have been used, we strongly suggest using a Pile Lifter on the carpet to pull all of this junk out. - It would also be wise to forewarn the customer that white powder might still appear in the morning and it would be wise for you to check on it.
- Remember - A problem explained up front is called “education”; a problem explained after the fact is called “an excuse”!
- Other possible causes of this problem are: concrete dust (efflorescence), construction dust, detergent residue, ice melt (especially calcium carbonate) and breakdown of the carpet backing latex.
- If the carpet is a direct glue-down on concrete slab, the concrete efflorescence is a definite possibility. For that and for ice melt, do a Brown Out®® flush (sometimes call “acid rinse”) at about 4-6 ounces per gallon of water.