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The Detrimental
Effects of Soap Residue on Carpets and Upholstery |
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| Soap Residue is one of the most common problems
that people face in the battle to have clean carpets.
Soaps or shampoos that are left behind from previous cleanings
can cause a list of frustrating problems for people. Such
as, spots reappearing, the carpet looking dingy shortly
after cleaning, premature re-soiling of the carpet, and
browning of the carpet in some cases. The following is
a brief explanation of why soap residue is so detrimental
to carpets and upholstery. |
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Oil is an excellent product
to use for absorbing dirt and soil,
but it is extremely difficult if not impossible
to rinse out with water. Therefore, soaps were first
made by heating an oil based substance, such as
animal fat, cotton seed oil, sunflower oil etc…
in a large pot. Once the oily substance was hot
enough they would then add in a very alkaline product
like pot ash or lye. This helped break down the
fat or oil into a product that not only absorbed
dirt, but was easily rinsed out with water. |
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Modern science has changed
the way soaps and shampoos are now made,
And although these new soaps are much more effective
at cleaning and removing dirt from the items they
are used on, the principle of how a soap works is
generally the same as it was when grandma made homemade
soap in a big black pot. One part of the soap attaches
to the dirt and the other part of the soap attaches
to the water. |
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| The following diagram shows
the chemical structure of a soap molecule that is
found in many modern day shampoos. Its name is Sodium
Lauryl Sulfate or Sodium Dodecyl solfate. |
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The long carbon chain (c-c-c-c-c-c) is the oily
part of the molecule that attaches, absorbs or attracts
the dirt and soil particles and holds it to the
soap. The Sulfate group at the end of the molecule
(NAS04) is the part of the soap that attaches to
the water. So when a soap molecule is used to clean
carpets the idea is that one part holds the dirt
and the other part attaches itself to the water.
Then the water is sucked out with a strong vacuum
and it pulls the soap, soil and water out all at
once.
Theoretically this process would work perfectly.
However, the problem is that most types
of cleaning is either not done thoroughly
enough to remove all of the soap, or the process
itself does not actually remove any of the soap
at all.
When ever soap is left in the carpet it still
continues to do its job. Which is attract and
hold dirt to it. So as long as the soap remains
in the carpet it continues to attract dirt to
the carpet. That is why so many people say that
once they clean their carpets they seem to get
dirty faster after they were cleaned. Now instead
of the soap cleaning the carpet it acts as a dirt
maginet, attracting and holding the dirt to it. |
So what are your options?
- First, you can make sure you completely rinse out
all of the soap from the carpet during the cleaning,
which may then cause over wetting of the carpet. This
may cause other damage to the carpet and may also
take hours if not days to dry.
- Second, you can use a non-soap base product like
Protects exclusive Carpet
and Upholstery Cleaner.
It dissolves dirt and stains on contact and will never
leave behind any type of soapy residues.
So ORDER NOW and
enjoy fresh, clean and worry free carpets all year
long.
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