Salt on carpets?

**lalaland** · 02-17-2003, 12:52 PM

Winter is really taking a toll on my car up here. I am wondering if any of you know of any product that will take care of those nasty white dried salt stains that are left on the carpets when snow and slush evaporates?

I try to protect my carpet as much as I can, but it`s just not possible to keep it clean with the conditions we have going on right now.

**Jngrbrdman** · 02-17-2003, 12:54 PM

Ever used Prestone carpet cleaner? It has always done the job for me.

**Accumulator** · 02-17-2003, 01:02 PM

lalaland- I`m getting good results with Griot`s Interior Cleaner, worked in with a carpet brush attachment on the RO, and rinsed/suctioned with hot water and a carpet extractor. An old trick is to use white vinegar, but I haven`t needed to try that myself.

A set of dedicated, winter-use floor mats might be worth the $.

**lalaland** · 02-17-2003, 01:54 PM

Originally posted by Accumulator

A set of dedicated, winter-use floor mats might be worth the $.

It`s the actual carpet that is getting stained. I always replace the original mats before winter starts, they are too pretty to mess up. But even with rubber mats, snow still finds it`s way down to the carpet.

Thanks for the tips! Now I just gotta tough it out until spring.

**Accumulator** · 02-17-2003, 04:37 PM

lalaland- OK, I get it now. You really might need to look into some kind of extractor. Either buying the small/affordable kind or renting something. It`s a handy thing to have around anyhow, especially if you have pets and/or kids

**imported_Intel486** · 02-17-2003, 05:02 PM

A carpet extractor seems like your best option here. If you just scrub and spot clean the areas you`ll simply be forcing the salt deeper into your carpet. Might not be able to see it but it is still in your carpet.

**boywonder** · 02-17-2003, 05:11 PM

You might want to use an extractor for this because, as intel and others have said, you are only going to wind up grinding the salt in the carpet fibers. However, you might want to consider using something to pre-treat the carpet to make things easier (e.g. EF Spot Remover).

**imported_Luster** · 02-17-2003, 05:19 PM

I use our home SteamVac...

It has an attachment for furniture and steps, that I use on the carpeting in the cars.

Another option might be a wet/dry Shop Vac. Use a good carpet cleaner and shop-vac it while it`s still wet.