Low-Odor Carpet Cleaning Suggestions

[whoispat]

I have a Bissell Spotclean ProHeat and was planning on using it to clean the carpet and cloth seats of my sedan. My main concern is, I don`t want to leave the Bissell carpet cleaner smell and residue all over my interior. Does anyone have a suggestion for a cleaner/detergent that would work well in a portable cleaning machine and won`t leave too much behind? Should I just run the machine with straight water in it to `rinse` the seats once they`re clean? My concern with water alone is that I don`t want to promote mildew or other growth, and since the Bissell doesn`t really heat the water, it will not sanitize the way a hot water extractor would. Any suggestions or personal experience is greatly appreciated.

[Lonnie]

whoispat:
Just use distilled water in your Bissell Proheat cleaner as you mentioned as a rinsing agent to suck up (extract) the dirty residue from cleaning/scrubbing your carpets or clothe/fabric seats.
Two things you need to do:
1) DRY brush and vacuum repeatedly (IE, more than once) the carpet and fabric seats BEFORE wet carpet/fabric scrubbing and extracting. WHY?? To remove any larger (and smaller) dirt and debris particles that are DRY before getting them wet with carpet cleaner. The shop vacuum (or your house vacuum) that you use will have an easier time sucking up that DRY debris and dirt than when it is wet (and heavier) with your weakly-powered Bissell.
2) Use a low-foaming carpet-and-fabric cleaner that you can find at any major carpet retailer. You mention the smell from the either the chemicals in the cleaner itself OR the fragrance-added chemicals found in many over-the-counter carpet cleaners. I doubt you can get away from either of these in most OTC cleaners. You may find one at a carpet retailer or a place that sells carpet extractors. Currently I use DSC Products Inc. (Muskegon, MI) Steam Plus Carpet Detergent that I got as a sample from a carpet retailer who deals in Persian rugs and hi-end wool carpets, along with industrial and commercial carpeting. You may find something similar at other carpet outlets. Poor Boy`s World had just come out with a Carpet Cleaner and a Enzyme Stain Remover/odor eliminator that may work well for you, available from the store in this forum.
Just dilute the detergent in water as directed and apply it BY HAND-BRUSHING it into the carpet and fabric. Do not use the detergent in your Bissell!! Wipe the carpet and fabric with an absorbent-type microfiber cloth, rinse the microfiber, wring it out, and repeat. You`ll be surprised how dirty the rinse water gets. THEN use your Bissell with distilled water to rinse and extract the remaining dirty film leftover. You should do this one area at a time, like one seat or one carpet area. You may skip using a microfiber to absorb the detergent and leave that to the Bissell to extract the dirty debris. That`s up to you. However, the Bissell is NOT powerful extractor, so you may need to go over an area several times before it is "clean". Just do not over-saturate an area with rinse water, as this is a common mistake many (inexperienced) individuals make when using an extractor.
One cheap cleaner to try is LA Totally Awesome (Yes, the cleaner you find at Dollar Tree or Dollar General) that works pretty good for general fabric cleaning without leaving a lot of fragrance-smell behind if that is your concern.
Also, it you have stains (like road tar or asphalt sealer) you will need to treat them separately BEFORE any carpet cleaning. I have found that WD-40`s Spot Shot from Walmart works well without the fishy smell of regular WD-40 that some use for removing petroleum-based stains (which it does quite well). You may also try citrus-based GooGone, BUT, it may be difficult to blot dry and tends to discolor lighter-colored carpets (like tan).

[ShakingHorizons]

Poorboys Carpet Cleaner is AWESOME!

[PRND[S]]

You could also sprinkle baking soda on the Bissell`d mats to help absorb the smell, let that sit overnight, and then vacuum the mats.

A completely odor-free method of cleaning mats and killing mildew would be to use a dry steam machine instead of a carpet extractor.

[65chevy]

poorboys carpet cleaner

[Lonnie]

Looks like I need to get on board and try Poor Boy`s World Carpet Cleaner and their Enzyme Stain Remover specifically developed for car`s for detailers (and novice enthusiasts, like me) .

[ShaneB]

Use just water in the bissel. Spray cleaner and use bissel to rinse. No worries of residue this way.

You will not promote any mildew or mold growth as long as you don`t over saturate the material and just let it air dry with the doors or windows open. Fans help too.