Road Salt Ground into Carpet

[Smitty660]

Hello,

My wife's car has road salt ground into the carpet around her floor mats. Despite much effort on my part I am unable to get the salt to release from the carpet fibers.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Scott

[jmsc]

What have you tried so far?

I too had salt on my newer carpets from last winter's onslaught, primarily on the driver's side. Tried APC, Folex/Sonax carpet cleaner, vacuum to no avail. Will end up buying a new set in a few weeks, unless someone can recommend a permanent fix.

[Jpatchley]

Extractor maybe?

[MDX Detailing]

Try treating with an acid like vinegar, or lemon juice. Letting that soak in and agitate. Rinse with clear water.

Salt away is a product for salt stains. Hard to find though

[Audios S6]

Start by scraping off as much as possible with brushes and windshield scraper. Then vac it up.

Then, apply an acidic solution, acid will help dissolve salt. Preferable vinegar or citric acid.

Then use an extractor with just water. It will likely take many applications and extraction to remove it all. Done over soak the fabric or you will just spread the salt.

[damaged442]

Road salt is normally a mix of sodium chloride and magnesium chloride. They are both highly soluble in water. Use water with an extractor. Do not waste your time with anything else. It will not be faster. Water is more polar and will dissociate them fastest.

The temperature of the water doesn't help much with sodium chloride but warmer water will help a bit with magnesium chloride.

Solubilities are as follows: (amount of stuff that will dissolve in 100mL of water)

Magnesium chloride (54.3 g/100 mL (20 °C) ; 72.6 g/100 mL (100 °C))

Sodium chloride (35.65 g/100mL (20 °C) ; 38.99 g/100mL (100 °C))


Unfortunately, I have spent way more time in a chemistry lab than most...

Good luck!

[MDX Detailing]

You need to use more than just water. Water will dissolve it, but what will happen when the water dries? You need an acid or you will have reoccurring salt stains. It will be like when you get toothpaste on your shirt, you can get it wet and it looks like it is gone, (its dissolved) until it dries 20 minutes later and your friend tells you there is toothpaste on your shirt.

My family had been in the carpet cleaning business for decades here in western PA, we know road salt stains and how to remove them.

Personally, I use lemon juice almost everyday on customers cars in my business. If you don't want a returning customer complaining about salt, or crunchy carpet (from salt that has been dissolved, not treated with an acid, and dispersed throughout the carpet) then use the lemon juice or vinegar.

[Mike Phillips]

Road salt is normally a mix of sodium chloride and magnesium chloride. They are both highly soluble in water. Use water with an extractor. Do not waste your time with anything else. It will not be faster. Water is more polar and will dissociate them fastest.

The temperature of the water doesn't help much with sodium chloride but warmer water will help a bit with magnesium chloride.

Solubilities are as follows: (amount of stuff that will dissolve in 100mL of water)

Magnesium chloride (54.3 g/100 mL (20 °C) ; 72.6 g/100 mL (100 °C))

Sodium chloride (35.65 g/100mL (20 °C) ; 38.99 g/100mL (100 °C))


Unfortunately, I have spent way more time in a chemistry lab than most...

Good luck!

Nice answer.


To the OP... if you don't have an extractor consider contacing any of the established detail shops in your area. If road salt is used in your area as a common procedure then the local detail shops should be up to speed with how to remove it and should have an extractor and know how to use it.

[MDX Detailing]

Also, there are way more compounds used for salt removal than just rock salt. These are not all used in every area or on roads, but you never know what is brought into a car from parking lots or the vehicle owners property.
This is a list of different ice melts.
Sodium chloride#(common table salt, NaCl)Calcium chloride#(CaCl2)Potassium chloride#(KCl)Magnesium chloride#(MgCl2)Ammonium nitrate#(NH4NO3)Ammonium sulfate#[(NH4)2SO4]Potassium acetate#(CH3COOK)Urea#[(NH2)2CO]Propylene glycol#(C3H8O2)Calcium magnesium acetate(C4H6O2Ca and C4H6O2Mg)Sodium ferrocyanide#(hydrous, Na4Fe(CN)6•10H2O)Methyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside(C7H14O6)#[21][22]

A lot of these will permanently stain carpets, especially light colors. Commercial buildings deal with this problem often.

[damaged442]

Also, there are way more compounds used for salt removal than just rock salt. These are not all used in every area or on roads, but you never know what is brought into a car from parking lots or the vehicle owners property.
This is a list of different ice melts.
Sodium chloride#(common table salt, NaCl)Calcium chloride#(CaCl2)Potassium chloride#(KCl)Magnesium chloride#(MgCl2)Ammonium nitrate#(NH4NO3)Ammonium sulfate#[(NH4)2SO4]Potassium acetate#(CH3COOK)Urea#[(NH2)2CO]Propylene glycol#(C3H8O2)Calcium magnesium acetate(C4H6O2Ca and C4H6O2Mg)Sodium ferrocyanide#(hydrous, Na4Fe(CN)6•10H2O)Methyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside(C7H14O6)#[21][22]

A lot of these will permanently stain carpets, especially light colors. Commercial buildings deal with this problem often.

I love how you put the chemical formulas in addition to the names. Thanks! A chemistry dork like myself always appreciates that.

You are correct that when other compounds enter the equation, it can make things trickier to remove. The ferrocyanide will definitely stain yellow. Inorganics can tend to be more stubborn. Well, and urea will smell...badly. But, all the compounds you listed above also have a pretty good solubility in water.

In practice, in my vehicles, I have always had good luck with using water, but I have also taken extra time to extract the crap out of it. I also went with the mindset that water is least expensive and most readily available. Luckily, I have not had much of an issue with recurring staining. I felt if it came back, I didn't completely dissolve it, or I didn't completely remove it.

Bottom line is, when you have a system and/or something that works, go ahead and use it! I may have to give your ideas a try. I sure do love experimentation! With all those years in the carpet cleaning business, I am sure you and the family have certainly seen some doozies!

Thank you for your input! Another great reason I love this site.