One of life's inevitable annoyances is a dirty carpet. Your rugs and carpets can suffer a lot of abuse if you have people moving through your house regularly, rowdy pets, or even just visiting kids. There's also the danger of spills, people with unwiped feet, and plenty of other ways for your carpet to stop looking its best. That means that even if you take really good care of your floors, you'll have to have the carpets cleaned, or clean them yourself at some point. Unfortunately, not all the products available for cleaning carpets are healthy or environmentally friendly.
Many carpet cleaners, like other cleaning chemicals, contain toxic ingredients. However, they aren't always listed on the labels. If the ingredient is a trade secret, manufacturers are allowed to place only health warnings on their labels. That means that you won't necessarily know just what's in the bottle of carpet cleaner you're using. Spot removers and some carpet cleaners contain chemical solvents, much like those used at the dry cleaners. Recently, statistics have shown that people who work at dry cleaners have much higher rates of cancer than the usual, as do people who live near these facilities. That's enough to make you think twice about putting those chemicals on your carpet. While they're able to dissolve dirt without using water or soap, the fumes from these chemicals can be harmful
Other ingredients you might find in common carpet cleaners include formaldehyde, lye, disinfectants, acids, and artificial fragrances. Not all of these are harmful to everyone, but if you have chemical sensitivities or allergies, even an artificial perfume could be a problem. Avoid fabric guards or stain repellents, too. They often contain plastics and other ingredients that were once thought to be inert, but have recently been shown to have been harmful.
This doesn't mean that it's not possible to clean your carpets without toxin exposure, or that you have to live with a dirty carpet. Methods that use primarily hot water and pressure are better than those which use detergents. If you're doing your own cleaning, or trying to remove spots and stains, use the mildest chemicals and cleaners that you can. Plain old water does a lot for cleaning your carpets, as does baking soda or a vinegar solution. For pet odors, peroxide can be a big help, too. There are plenty of non-toxic, safer substances you can use instead of commercial carpet cleaners that will keep your carpets looking good.
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