How to Remove Detergent Residue From Carpet

Carpets, like all other surfaces in a home, need to be cleaned on a regular basis. What makes cleaning carpets more difficult are the fibers that make up the carpet since products or dirt can often build up in the fibers, leaving the carpet feeling undesirable to the touch. Learning how to properly clean and care for your carpet is important. It will help you avoid further problems, like unwanted odors, residue, and extra cleaning.

Having a carpet with a sticky feeling may be due to the carpet not being properly rinsed after cleaning it. Once a cleaning product has been used on a carpet, it needs to be rinsed so that as much is removed as possible. Once the rinse water has dried, any leftover product adhering to the carpet fibers creates a sticky feeling.

Luckily, there are a few techniques that you can use to remove the sticky residue from your carpet without having to rewash the whole thing. Note that you should avoid saturating your carpet in water to wash out the stickiness, as this could essentially ruin it.

If you still have the carpet shampooer, run the rinse cycle over your carpet again. There is a possibility that you did the rinse process too quickly or that the fibers of your carpet are so dense that a double rinse cycle is necessary to remove the detergent you used to clean the carpet. Let the carpet dry and test the fibers. If they are still sticky, repeat the rinse process until the fibers come out clean.

Re-rinsing your carpet with plain water might not get rid of the detergent residue, so you can use vinegar to help remove it from the carpet fibers. Add water to your carpet shampooer per the manufacturer's instructions, replacing the carpet cleaner product with about 8 ounces of vinegar, and run the machine over your carpet to fix the problem of sticky residue. You may need to run a second rinse cycle once you have removed most of the residue. Once you've properly rinsed the carpet, let it dry before checking the fibers for stickiness.

If you no longer have access to the carpet shampooer for an additional water or vinegar rinse, you can try removing the sticky residue by hand. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to 1 gallon of water and use a clean towel dipped in the solution to scrub the problem area, moving in one direction only rather than back and forth. When you've finished scrubbing the sticky area, use clean, dry towels to blot up as much moisture as you can and let the carpet dry completely, using a small fan if necessary to speed the drying process. Follow up by vacuuming the carpet thoroughly before walking on it.