How to Remove Winter Salt Residue From Carpet

Cold. Snow. Sleet. Slush. Winter is bad enough when it is outdoors. You don’t want to see signs of winter indoors either. OK. Maybe a nice fire in the fireplace is an exception, but specifically, you don’t want to see messes and stains associated with winter in your home.

One mess that can occur during winter is a carpet stain caused from salt residue from ice melt. Salt residue stains stand out due to their almost bleach white appearance and can significantly damage carpet fibers.

In order to prevent or remove salt residue stains from ice melt, you will want to follow these tips from Kenosha Carpet Cleaning Blog:

Prevention

There are two ideal ways to prevent salt stains from appearing in your home during winter. One way is to start a rule in your home where your family and your guests are not allowed to wear shoes in the house. Simply set up an area near the front door of your home to keep shoes when people aren’t wearing them. If you’re a prepared host, you can offer guests slippers for their feet when they come over to visit.

Another prevention method is placing welcome and doormats outside and inside your home around your front and back doors. Doormats prevent up to 60% of outdoor contaminants from entering a home and can be used for family and guests to scrape the slush, mud and salt residue from the bottoms of their boots or shoes.

Cleanup

General cleaning and maintenance also helps prevent salt stains and winter messes in your home. If you have a wet/dry vacuum you can use that over your doormats or carpeted entryways to try to soak up all of the slush or snow where some salt might remain. Depending on how bad the weather is, you might want to use the wet/dry vacuum multiple times in a day.

Once the mats or carpet are completely dry, use a traditional vacuum to pull up any dry salt residue left behind. The best vacuuming method is to use a back-and-forth diagonal pattern over the carpet fiber.

If you see crusted salt embedded in the mats or the carpet you can use a dry brush to dry to loosen the salt. Once the salt is loosened, run the vacuum cleaner over the mat again and you should have the results you want.

If you aren’t able to remove the salt stain you will want to call a professional carpet cleaner in Waukesha. Carpet cleaners are often equipped with specific solutions and methods designed for salt stains and similar winter stains found in homes.

Nature’s Way Chem-Dry in Burlington equips their technicians with first class equipment and green-certified cleaning solutions known to clean all the stains related with Wisconsin winters, including ice melt and salt stains. Their methods have seen amazing results throughout Kenosha, Racine, Green Lake, Marquette and surrounding WI counties.

What are Carpet Filtration Lines?

Filtration soiling, otherwise known as “draught marking” or “filtration lines”, is a common occurrence in homes and businesses with carpet. Filtration soiling is not an indicator of inferior carpet quality but, due to the dark lines it creates, it is much more pronounced on lighter fibers.

Soiling occurs when dust and airborne pollutants accumulate in areas of the carpet with concentrated air flow or where there cracks in the subfloor. It’s most often seen beneath interior doorways or around the baseboards of a wall and is most common on entryways leading to lower levels of the home.

The volume of pollutants in the home and the level of air flow the carpet is exposed to will impact the level of soiling and how fast it occurs. Some common airborne pollutants known to cause filtration soiling in carpet are cigarette and cigar smoke and cleaning chemicals. The airborne pollutants trapped in the carpet attract oils, dirt and residues which then lead to the dark coloring and lines you will see in your carpet.

When Should You Have Your Carpets Cleaned?

Carpet is an investment and like most investments it requires constant care and attention in order to maintain its quality. Without proper care carpet will deteriorate at a much faster rate.

To properly maintain your carpet you will want to vacuum regularly, treat spots immediately and have your carpets professionally cleaned at least once every 12-18 months. You might even want to consider having higher traffic areas cleaned once every 6 months due to the wear and tear that foot traffic can have on carpet fibers.

The longer you wait to call a professional carpet cleaner, the more time you allow dry soils, dirt, grime, toxins and allergens to accumulate in your carpet. Built up soil within carpet causes the fibers to wear and take on a dingy hue whereas the toxins and allergens reduce air quality in your home and potentially lead to unwanted health issues.

Benefits of Carpet in Your Home

The most obvious benefit of carpet in your home is for décor purposes. Carpet lets you add a splash of bold color to a room or a fun pattern, whereas a clean, pristine white carpet can be the perfect foundation for an elegant ambiance. In the end, carpet offers a lot of variety when decorating a home.

But, did you know there are many more benefits associated with carpet besides the style it provides? That’s right. Carpet can serve multiple purposes in your home, including safety elements, noise reduction and warmth.

Learn about the many advantages of carpet in your home from Kenosha Carpet Cleaning Blog:

The Chem-Dry Carpet Cleaning System

Nature’s Way Chem-Dry provides a drier, cleaner, safer and healthier alternative compared to other types of professional carpet cleaning in Kenosha. Learn more about the Chem-Dry carpet cleaning method and how it compares to steam cleaning and other options:

The System

Nature’s Way Chem-Dry carpet cleaning uses “the power of carbonation” throughout their entire cleaning process. Your carpet is covered with millions of microscopic carbonated bubbles from a green-certified solution known as The Natural®.

Similar to a clothing stain dabbed with club soda, carpet fibers respond to The Natural carbonating cleaner and release dirt and grime, which are then raised to the surface of your carpet where they can easily be extracted and swept away by a Chem-Dry technician.

Common Allergens Found in Dirty Carpet

Dirty carpets can store several common household allergens. After allergens and pollutants circulate throughout the air in your home, they then fall to the ground and are trapped in the carpet.

It might not sound like it, but carpet is the best flooring choice for a healthier home since the allergens and pollutants will not recirculate into the air again or be breathed in by you or your family members.

Once trapped in your carpet, allergens can be removed with routine vacuuming and scheduled professional carpet cleaning once every 6-18 months. 

Here are some of the most common allergens in carpet: