I moved into a new apartment a few months ago and noticed the carpets felt a little grungy. I vacuumed with an older model vacuum and used a steam cleaner (no soap/detergent) to try to clean the carpets. If I didn’t clean the collection canister on my steam cleaner immediately, white crystals would form on the edges of the container.
The carpets still felt grimy, so I bought a stronger, bagless vacuum last week. After vacuuming a 6′ x 6′ area of carpet, the filters and canister filled with a fine, white powder, I lost suction and the vacuum got pretty hot.
When I cleaned the canister and filters, I noticed that the powder turns dark gray when I wash it from the filters. Also, when I washed the filters with cold water, some of the powder would clump and feel frozen before dissolving.
The next day, I vacuumed the same area of carpet and again filled the canister and filters with the white powder.
What is this stuff and how can I get rid of it???
There’s a white powder a lot of people use to freshen their carpets — I used it once when I was helping someone prepare for her first family-get-together at her new house.
You’re supposed to sprinkle it onto the carpet, leave it there a while, then vacuum it up — but if often doesn’t get vacuumed all the way.
If it bothers you, the only way I can think of that would be easy is just to continue vacuuming; you should notice less and less of it.
If it really concerns you, you COULD have the carpet professionally cleaned, or even replace it. But if it is that powder, it’s nothing to worry about — it won’t hurt anything, and may even help keep it fresh — so I wouldn’t bother.
it sounds like the ppl who lived there b4 you used carpet fresh an didn’t vacuum it up ot had a bad vacuum cleaner that didn’t pick it all up only way to get it all up is repeated vacuuming