How to Effectively Remove Ice Melt Salt From Carpet
Here's an efficient and simple way to deal with the problem of calcium chloride residue in carpets. Ice salt causes headaches for cleaners up where the white stuff piles up during the winter months. And even though we're down in the sunshine state, our Releasit Encap-HydrOx can easily tackle the residue problems associated with calcium chloride.
Calcium chloride (commonly referred to as "road salt") is commonly used in place of salt for melting ice and snow. Calcium chloride is hygroscopic (readily takes up and retains moisture). If you attempt to clean it with an alkaline detergent it will turn to calcium hydroxide (lime). The white powder residue from calcium chloride will track through the building; and since it attracts moisture, the residue can rapidly cause intense soiling. It is imperative to remove calcium chloride as quickly as possible.
Here's a simple remedy for dealing with ice melt residue in carpet:
- If the carpet is dry, vacuum slowly and thoroughly.
- If the carpet is damp, blot and/or bonnet clean with microfiber bonnets.
- Apply Encap-HydrOx following the "pre-spray" dilution on the label.
- Brush ample Encap-HydrOx into the carpet, and allow 10 minutes of dwell time.
- Extract and/or bonnet clean (with microfiber bonnets) using Encap-HydrOx.
- As a final step: Apply Soileze Protector to the carpet. Soileze is an effective way to resist re-soiling that could occur as ice melt gets tracked into the building.
