On 8/21/2013 1:13 PM, nestork wrote:
;3109969 Wrote:

I usually use ... a bit of ... vinegar in the final rinse.


Clare's right here.

Theoretically, the ideal way of shampoo'ing a carpet is to go over it
with carpet soap first, and then do a second pass with an acidic rinse.

The reason for that is that soap tends to be basic in pH and most foods
tend to be mildly acidic. So, acidic food spilled on a carpet with some
residual soap in it will tend to cause the food to stick better than it
otherwise would.

The idea behind the acidic rinse is to neutralized that alkalinity of
the carpet caused by the residual soap, and even leave the carpet
slightly acidic. That, theoretically, will result in mildly acidic food
spills not sticking as well to the carpet.

You can buy acidic rinse concentrates at any janitorial supply store,
but putting one to two cups of vinegar per 5 gallons of rinse water in
your solution tank before doing the final pass will work equally well.

NOW, there isn't a carpet cleaning contractor in North America that will
do a final rinse unless you pay extra for it. What they'll do instead
is say:
"Not necessay Ma'am. I'm using a friable soap".

What's a "friable soap"?

A friable soap is a carpet detergent that, under laboratory conditions,
dries to a brittle film on the carpet pile so that normal vaccuuming
will remove the soap film from the carpet pile.

The idea here is that once the carpet is dry, normal vaccuuming will
agitate the carpet pile to cause all the flakes of residual soap to
break off and be sucked into the vaccuum cleaner's filter bag. CUZ,
that's what happens under laboratory conditions when they test that
soap.

But, when you have who knows what spilled onto your carpet over the past
6 months, those aren't laboratory conditions. I won't believe that any
soap is truly friable until they test that soap under real life
conditions where they pour the soap onto carpets with dried up milk,
orange juice, vomit and beer in the carpet as well as the usual amount
of dust, pollen and road grit. THEN, if the soap dries to a brittle
film that breaks off the carpet pile easily to be sucked into the
vaccuum cleaner bag, I'll reconsider.

The way it stands now is that it's best to do a second pass with an
acidic rinse, but no one does unless you pay extra for it. But, at
least most professionals don't use so much soap that it creates problems
for the home owner, wherease that could easily happen with homeowners
that shampoo their own carpets with rental machines. And, that goes
double for those homeowners that think: "The instructions say to use 10
fluid ounces of soap per 5 gallons of solution tank water. But, I'm
going to forget where I put this soap the next time I need it, so I'll
pour the whole jug in to get the carpet really clean."

Anyhow, now everyone who's kept up with this thread knows more about
shampoo'ing carpets than 99% of home owners.

PS:
One GALLON of carpet shampoo'ing soap should be considered a lifetime
supply for your typical home owner.





What about Woolite? That is what I used on a wool Oriental rug
(expensive, and very dirty)....cleaned in place with watering can, scrub
brush, Shop Vac, fan.

We had a vacuum cleaner salesman stop by; my idiot husband let him in
the door. Don't recall the brand, but the price was around $1300. He
did the usual spiel and demo with filter paper to show me how much dirt
my vac. left in the carpet. He was in no hurry, so we chatted quite a
while. Very friendly guy. I asked him if I could have a piece of his
filter paper. Sure. I hooked up my 40 y/o Electrolux, put a piece of
filter paper across the nozzle, and showed him how much dirt HIS sweeper
left on the carpet. )