It has been a while since we have written any carpet cleaning tips and we have had a few situations that have initiated the reason for this blog post. Aside from us just wanting to be helpful and educational. We have already covered grocery store spotters, but we haven’t covered powdered deodorizers.
What Is In The Deodorizers
I think it is safe to assume that most people know the main ingredient in powdered carpet deodorizers and that is baking soda. The reason it is the main ingredient is because baking soda is great at absorbing unwanted odors. If you look inside the refrigerator of most homes across America, you will find a box or two of open baking soda. It’s purpose to keep any unwanted smells at bay because multiple foods sitting in a confined(yet cold) space can still have an unpleasant odor. The powdered carpet deodorizers use this same principle to remove unwanted odors from your carpets. For the longest time(and still today), there were these deodorizers that were meant to be used for pet urine and odor.
Pet Odor & Deodorizers
If you have been following our blog you will know that we covered the use of enzymes to treat pet urine, and how store bought enzyme products don’t completely work. There is a reason behind why they don’t work and why sprinkling carpet deodorizer on your carpet isn’t a great long-term solution. Honestly, it isn’t a great short-term solution either and we’ll get into why in a little bit. The best way to deal with odors is to remove the source of the odor. Using store bought enzymes and deodorizers is only masking the problem. When we treat pet urine issues we allow the enzyme to break down urine and then we have a special tool that allows us to extract the urine from the pad, carpet backing, and the face yarns of the carpet. It is this type of professional equipment that is really needed to solve these issues.
Powdered Deodorizers – Your Vacuum and Your Home
To be very straight forward, powdered deodorizers will eventually destroy your vacuum. Yes, even the vacuums with the washable filters. Baking soda is a very fine particulate and 90% of the vacuums on the market do not have the proper filtration to keep it from getting the vacuum motor. Over time this will cause your vacuum to work harder and die out early. Since most vacuums do not have the proper filtration – even some of the “HEPA” ones; this means that you’re atomizing the powdered deodorizer in the air for you and your family to breathe. We like to promote improving your indoor air quality and not something that can make it worse.
Lastly, 99% of people who use these products do not vacuum enough to remove the baking soda from the carpet, and it can damage your carpet depending on how much is in there. When we encounter a home or business that has used these deodorizing products. We have to go above and beyond to make sure that we can get it out and then it becomes more of a restorative cleaning rather than a maintenance cleaning.