Carpet cleaning

A long time ago, I remember either seeing or reading a comedy bit about the tag in clothing that gave the instruction "professionally dry clean only" and how that would imply that there was some sort of amateur dry cleaning process going on. Turns out, there is.

For nasty stains in carpet or other cloth upholstery, regular old brake cleaner is a fantastic product. Apparently most of what makes up brake cleaner also makes up dry cleaning fluid -- even if that does sound like an oxymoron. I use CRC's Brakleen in the red can and am able to get out spots in carpet that laugh at Resolve, Oxi Clean, and the Rug Doctor.

For lighter stains, just shooting some Brakleen on the stain and blotting with a paper towel gets the job done. If it's pretty nasty, spray on the cleaner and then scrub it with a stainless steel brush. If it's really awful, spraying on the brake cleaner, then spraying down with plain water, hitting it with the stainless steel brush, and then blotting with a paper towel works well.

I just did the carpet in my conversion van:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

is the red can the chlorinated or the non-chlorinated?

I've used the non-chlorinated stuff on nylon and poly carpets for years. As always, try it in an inconspicuous spot first.

I first tried this when I tracked garage grease onto the house carpets. SWMBO nearly had a cow, but I got them all out.

Jack

The red can is the chlorinated stuff. I've never bothered with the other stuff.

Thanks !

Sadly, many (most, all) are reformulated now, and no longer contain perc.

Just another reason to not buy new cars. If the beginning of 1984 started with cars, this would be it.

I have always used dish soap a little water, a white rag,and elbow grease. There are a few spots that doesn't work on, so I will have to give this a shot.

I believe carpet cleaning should be a stickied subject. I can only imagine how many people's carpets are as dirty as mine.

Zombie thread, canoes deleted.

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wae wrote: The red can is the chlorinated stuff. I've never bothered with the other stuff.

don't weld after using this … really bad things happen

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