Switch to Green for Clean Carpets

Lund’s Carpet Cleaning is EnviroStars certified and Spokane’s Premier Green Cleaner since 2001. Follow these tips to help protect your health, home and Spokane River/aquifer system. Using green products can mean different things to different people. Begin by looking at the chemicals on the product’s label. Chemicals are used to release soils from the fibers in your clothes or carpets. If you’ve ever forgotten to add laundry detergent to the washing machine, you probably had to re-do the load with detergent to get the dirt out. Plain water won’t do it. Examples of chemicals that can be used in the carpet cleaning business are: Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH). Also known as lye or caustic soda, but promoted as a non-toxic “special” water. The properties of the chemical make it ideal for use in a number of different cleaning products, water purification, and the manufacture of paper products. NaOH can affect you when inhaled and by passing through the skin. It is a strong irritant to the skin as well and must be handled very carefully. NaOH is highly corrosive and can damage your eyes, irritate your mouth, nose and throat and burn your skin. Inhaling it can cause a buildup of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema), a medical emergency. If it comes into contact with water it may generate enough heat to ignite combustibles. Other chemicals in carpet cleaners may include dibutyl phthalate, nonylphenol ethoxylate and octylphenol ethoxylated. The last two are surfactants. Surfactants are wetting agents that lessen surface tension, helping to release dirt from the carpet fiber.  Some of these ingredients may cause eye and throat irritation and must be used in a well-ventilated room. What is safe to use? Green cleaning products do not rely on toxic and dangerous chemicals to get carpets clean. Green products use active ingredients like water, surfactants, fragrance and peroxide. Biodegradable, non-toxic cleaning chemicals are available.  For your own safety, before you choose cleaning products and services, find out what ingredients are used. Lund’s is family owned and quality matters! We clean carpet & upholstery, tile & grout, air ducts & fogging and hardwood floors & fefinishing. For residential applications we use a phosphate free, biodegradable product that meets or exceeds EPA guidelines and is Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) approved. We look forwards to earning your business. Please view our website, www.carpetcleaningspokane.com.