There’s only one better feeling than having a fresh clean carpet, and that’s the feeling you get after you’ve finished cleaning it!
But, wait! You’re not quite finished yet. It is important now to rinse your carpet after the cleaning process.
In this blog post, we will look at the best ways to rinse your carpets after the initial clean. There are cheap ways which work fine, and there are slightly more expensive ways that can help the drying process even more and leave a fresh smelling carpet.
Why should I rinse carpet after cleaning?
The main reason is that, even though your carpet is clean, you may still have detergent inside your carpet fibres.
This can lead to:
Slower drying times
Carpet feeling ‘weird’ or sticky after cleaning
Carpet potentially getting dirty faster if anyone stands on it
A customer wondering why their carpets aren’t dry yet!
For these reasons, it is important to rinse your carpet well after a clean. If you are a professional carpet cleaner, the last thing you want is complaints from customers about a sticky carpet.
Best Ways To Rinse Your Carpet
There are a few ways you can do this. We’ll start with the cheapest option first and then consider some other options that you may want to go for:
Run Clear Water
The cheapest way to do this is to run clear water over the freshly cleaned carpet. This will help to remove that detergent back into the carpet cleaning waste section.
The problem with using this way is that it takes longer. First you need to pass over the carpet with fresh water but then you need to go over it again a few times to make sure the carpet isn’t soaking.
This is a time consuming process and while it works fine, may not be the best option for everyone.
Apply A Commercial Carpet Rinse
There are a lot of commercial carpet rinse aids that you can apply to the tank of your carpet cleaner which will help neutralize and get rid of that detergent.
The great thing about using carpet rinse is that you won’t need to worry about the carpets being too wet and potentially developing mould.
They can be wet and allowed to dry naturally, it will also speed up the drying process since the detergent has been removed.
We personally use prochem natural rinse. This isn’t an option for everyone due to the cost but for professionals we absolutely recommend it.
Homemade Rinse Aid
You can make your own rinse aid to apply to carpets if you like. It won’t have the same fresh-smelling finish, and you won’t be able to apply it directly into your carpet cleaner but it is a good option nonetheless.
To make it:
Dishwasher rinse aid 2 tbsp
salt 1tbsp
Essential oil drops
warm water
spray bottle
Mix all of your ingredients together and apply to your carpet. Allow to sit for 5 minutes and then run your carpet cleaner over it, don’t apply any water, this is just to vacuum the rinse aid up.
This is a good option for homeowners who have rented a carpet cleaner but don’t want to spend the extra money on cleaning solutions.
Conclusion
Rinsing your carpets is an essential part of the cleaning process so don’t get lazy at the last hurdle!
While you can just rinse with water, for best results, using a rinse aid is advised. It will leave your carpets feeling soft, fresh and smelling great.