How harsh are the “Harsh Chemicals” that your carpet cleaner uses?

How harsh are the “Harsh Chemicals” that your carpet cleaner uses? I heard and add today claiming a chemical free clean using some kind of super duper water.  First lets all agree that nearly all manufactures of textile flooring require a “deep Clean” every year to a year and a half. You would find this documented in your warranty information when you buy your carpet. (Most of us never ask for it and as a result never read it. We trust our sales person.) Manufactures definition of deep clean is almost always hot water extraction. (Aka; steam clean) So let’s compare the average chemical used when Steam Cleaning to what’s in our food supply. 

We will us the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for my medium strength pretreatment, and then present the information from Aspartame a common food sweetener.  MSDS ranks hazards from 0-4. 0= insignificant, 1-slight, 2=moderate, 3=high, 4=we will call methyl ethyl death. :

Potential Health Effects of carpet cleaning solution:

Health = 1, Flammability = 0, Reactivity=0

We have a slight health risk and nothing else is significant. This is how the risk is broken down.

• Inhalation: May cause slight respiratory tract irritation
• Ingestion: May cause slight gastrointestinal irritation
• Skin contact: Frequent or prolonged contact may cause temporary irritation. May aggravate an existing dermatitis condition
• Eye contact: May cause temporary eye irritation: injury to eye unlikely
• Chronic Exposure: No comment presented
• Personal Protection: Safety glasses, gloves when repeated contact, No respiratory protection

Now let us compare that to Aspartame!!

This is the product used in your food and drink.

Potential Health Effects of Aspartame:

Health = 1, Flammability = 1, Reactivity=0

We have a slight health risk and a slight flammability risk. This is how the health risk is broken down. The flammability risk is eliminated when introduced to our food.

• Inhalation: May cause slight respiratory tract irritation
• Ingestion:  May cause slight gastrointestinal irritation
• Skin contact:  May cause slight irritation
• Eye contact:  May cause slight eye irritation
• Chronic Exposure:  Possible hyper sensitization
• Personal Protection: Safety glasses, gloves when repeated contact
• Personal Protection:  Safety goggles, gloves, dust respiratory protection

There is no significant difference in the Safety sheets as far as health hazards are concerned. (My translation not a chemist’s translation) The most concerning is we are allowed to consume Aspartame. Then we are told that our cleaners are hazardous to us when they are equal to or less hazardous than those in our food source. Let’s face it: I have no intention of sitting down and eating or drinking either one.  By simply following the directions for use and rinsing and extracting the product, you should not be left with any product that would be hazardous to you, your family or your pets.

It sounds dramatic to make claims of hazardous chemical are left in your home. It is great for sales. The bottom line; you the client want a clean carpet. Why not use your manufactures advice and have it cleaned per their instructions? Trained, caring, certified (IICRC) Technicians clean carpets not magic dust, super water or any other latest sales gimmick.