What Is Environmentally Friendly Carpet Cleaning?

Recently, you may have noticed an uptick in prospective or current customers asking you about what methods and chemicals you use to clean their carpet and upholstery.

Environmentally friendly or eco-friendly are terms that refer to services, goods, laws, and guidelines that help to reduce, minimize, or produce no harm on the environment. This term is most often used when referring to equipment or products. Eco-friendly also refers to the protection of humans and animal health from exposure to toxins and chemicals, which is often where your customers’ concerns are originating.

Chemicals used in carpet cleaning can be quite harsh. This is not uncommon since the methods used to remove stains and debris from carpeting is arduous. Because the chemicals used in carpet cleaning are often left on the carpets, people now get concerned about this more than ever. Carpets are walked on daily, they experience a lot of temperature changes, and absorb a lot of spills. This gives carpets the opportunity to become quite dirty—and, in turn, quite difficult to clean. 

To adequately lift stains, pretty strong chemicals were used. However, with the shift in views and guidelines put in place by the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies, most chemicals used in commercial carpet cleaning equipment today are much more environmentally friendly.

To find effective carpet and tile chemicals that are still environmentally friendly, look for chemicals with a stated pH value. Between 7 and 8 is usually where you want to be. Steer clear of chemicals with a pH below 7, since this will mean that product is much more acidic. Extremely acidic chemicals can negatively affect dyes and fabric in a carpet as well. 

Also, look for carpet cleaning chemicals with no VOCs (volatile organic compounds). While people are often asking for paint with no VOCs, they may not be aware that many other cleaning chemicals or mixtures have VOCs as well. VOCs emit gases that may have short-term or long-term negative health effects.