serious heavy-duty carpet cleaning

[mavery]

We had a sewer backup in the basement and the plumbers who came to fix it made a HORRIBLE MESS in our bathroom and on our natural-colored carpet. Little spots and big smears of black, greasy sewery stuff. They said they would send a cleaning company (courtesy of our water company, whose responsibility the whole thing is) and they came. They were called "Disaster Restoration Services". I was not home, they went ahead and cleaned the bathroom. In order to get up the black gunk they used a horrible heavy chemical solvent which stank the house out and gave my non-sensitive chemical-proof dh a horrible headache (we had to borrow two big floor fans from our neighbours to air the house out). They said they would come back to do the carpet and my dh (who knows me well) said "let me talk to dw (once she smells this awful TOXIC CRAP you use) ... we might prefer to do it ourselves..."

So, does anyone have any idea of a non-toxic way to get this horrible horrible gunk off the carpet? I tried some hydrogen peroxide carpet cleaner this morning, but it's really for spot treatment (and it didn't even get everything up on the little spots I tried). What can I do to get it clean without having the disaster people come back???

[Leta]

Honestly? If it were me, I'd tear the carpet out. And replace it with tile.

To clean it to get to a place where I could do this, I'd use generic oxyclean and Simple Green, in all likelihood.

[Naturalyst]

Considering what might have made-up that sewer sludge, not to mention the grease, I'd let the company come in and do the rug - telling them, first, that you cannot tolerate strong odors and that, if they need to use stinky "stuff", they'd better go over the rug afterwards to rinse and remove it all. Nothing short of a cleaner with *punch* is going to get that stuff out of your carpet. And, you don't want sewer sludge remaining in your home.

If they can't/won't, I'd still let them clean the rug. Then, I'd follow-up myself with a gentle rug cleaner (like Earth Friendly Products Carpet Detergent) - with a rented or borrowed a machine, if you don't have one yourself.

[mavery]

Thanks. The company hasn't got back to us yet, but I think we'll talk to them about what they use. We may well replace the carpet in the long run, but it's in pretty decent shape and we have other parts of the house that need flooring more urgently.

How would I use oxyclean and simple green on this fairly large area of carpet? (Like, can someone describe a cleaning method to me?)

[Naturalyst]

Originally Posted by mavery

How would I use oxyclean and simple green on this fairly large area of carpet? (Like, can someone describe a cleaning method to me?)

I'd use the simple green in a carpet cleaner/steamer, in place of the usual carpet detergent. (Though, I'd prefer the Earth Friendly Products carpet detergent because you know it's safe to use on carpets and it has very little fragrance.) Add the oyclean to the cleaning solution, making sure to dissolve it all in hot water first - otherwise, it's liable to clog the system.

[mavery]

Originally Posted by Naturalyst

I'd use the simple green in a carpet cleaner/steamer, in place of the usual carpet detergent. (Though, I'd prefer the Earth Friendly Products carpet detergent because you know it's safe to use on carpets and it has very little fragrance.) Add the oyclean to the cleaning solution, making sure to dissolve it all in hot water first - otherwise, it's liable to clog the system.

Thanks! I've never used one of those steamers but I guess it's time. (We didn't have any carpets until we moved to this house.)