What Is Citrus-Based Cleaning And Why Should You Care?

People are filthy. We have oils in our skin, we shed dead skin cells, we drop food and we spill drinks. We even keep pets that spread dander and have accidents.

All that yucky organic matter ends up in your carpet and on your furniture. The problem is, it’s sticky and oily, which means your vacuum can pick up some of it, but not all of it. So eventually, your carpet and upholstery need to be cleaned.

When you clean something—your car, the laundry, even yourself—you need soap or detergent, and carpet and upholstery are no different. Before being cleaned, they need to be pretreated.

Pretreatment is the key to this article and the secret behind citrus-based cleaning. You see, when people talk about “carpet cleaning chemicals”, they are actually referring to the pretreatment. Therefore, citrus-based cleaning refers to the use of citrus-based pretreatment.

Unfortunately, most professional pretreatments contain butyl, a toxic chemical that also happens to be excellent at dissolving the sticky, oily, organic matter found in your carpet and upholstery. Since butyl is cheap and effective, it’s the most commonly used pretreatment in the carpet cleaning industry.

It’s true that safer, plant-based alternatives exist, but historically, they don’t work as well as butyl-based products, which is why plant-based pretreatments are not popular among professional cleaners. As a result, most pros barge into your home or business and—without asking you first or explaining what they’re doing—start spraying your carpet and upholstery with butyl-based pretreatment.

Later, you wonder why you get headaches while playing on the floor with your kids or sitting in your favorite recliner. You’re actually having a reaction to butyl-based pretreatment that soaked into your carpet and leached into your furniture. This is exactly why I don’t allow butyl in my home, and you shouldn’t either—especially if you care about your loved ones, your own health and our precious environment.

You might be wondering if there’s a safer alternative. Well, as I mentioned earlier, there are plant-based pretreatments, but you might have noticed I said they don’t work as well… HISTORICALLY. That “historically” is very important, because times have changed. Recently, there have been some exciting new developments in plant-based cleaning technology.

Of course, you’d never know about these new developments if you’re not looking for them. For example, since my hapless competitors are incurious, they continue to blindly use the same butyl-based pretreatments they’ve always used. I, however, have been searching and yearning for safer alternatives for two decades. Which is how I discovered an incredible new plant-based carpet and upholstery pretreatment that actually outperforms butyl-based products. It’s all-natural, completely harmless, affordable, outrageously effective and—most important—butyl-free. After more than a year of extensive testing, I now use it exclusively.

The active ingredient is an essential oil called d-limonene. Limonene is a naturally occurring oil extracted from plants. There’s l-limonene, which comes from conifers like pine trees, and d-limonene, which comes from citrus fruit like oranges, limes, lemon and grapefruit.

Both types of limonene are fantastic natural degreasers that easily dissolve the oily organic matter found in carpet and upholstery. However, the L-type smells like turpentine, while the D-type smells like fresh oranges. Therefore, my pretreatment is made from d-limonene, thanks to the delightful citrus fragrance.

D-limonene cuts through anything sticky, greasy or oily, so it’s perfect for carpet and upholstery cleaning. In fact, it’s actually a BETTER degreaser than butyl, rendering that dangerous chemical obsolete, as far as I’m concerned.

Of course, breaking down oily soils is only half the battle. The soil must also be suspended so it can be rinsed out with fresh water and extracted with powerful vacuum suction. That’s why my pretreatment also contains two plant-based detergents, powerful food-grade enzymes, washing soda and baking soda. The limonene breaks up oily soils, the detergents, enzymes and sodas suspend the soil, and my softened rinse water whisks it all away.

The best part is, my pretreatment is fully customizable, meaning I tailor-make a fresh, hot batch specifically for each job.

For example, if your carpet is full of pee from a naughty pet, I can add more enzymes to digest old and new urine deposits. If your teenager’s bedroom smells like a high school locker room, I can add more d-limonene, which is a natural deodorizer. If your husband sits on his favorite recliner in his dirty work clothes, I can add more detergents to suspend the extra soil load. The possibilities are endless!

In years past, pretreatments like this didn’t exist, because the technology simply wasn’t good enough. But thanks to recent developments, we can enjoy the best of both worlds: Incredible cleaning performance AND the safety of citrus-based chemistry.

To my knowledge, no one else in or around Indianapolis exclusively pretreats carpet and upholstery with anything like this. As I said earlier, most of my competitors don’t even know this exists. Since they like using butyl-based products and have no intention of stopping, they’re blind to the advancements made in plant and citrus-based cleaning.

For you, there are multiple benefits.

  1. When you hire CitruScrub, you never have to worry about toxic chemicals in your home. My citrus-based cleaning agent is the only pretreatment I use for carpet and upholstery. Even my spotters are citrus-based, and so is the pretreatment I use for tile and grout cleaning. In other words, no matter what I clean, I never use harsh, dangerous chemicals. Virtually every product I use is safe and citrus-based.
  2. Citrus-based cleaning leaves carpet and upholstery feeling soft and fluffy, because it’s so gentle. Traditional pretreatments made from butyl are harsh and aggressive. They chemically fry your carpet and upholstery, leaving them stiff and crunchy after cleaning.
  3. My pretreatment is so gentle, it never damages the stain resistance of your carpet or upholstery, which means they stay cleaner, longer. In contrast, butyl strips the built-in stain resistance of your carpet and upholstery, making them resoil quickly—often within mere days.
  4. And finally, there are environmental benefits. Butyl is a terrible chemical that harms people, plants, animals and waterways. I would never use such a chemical when safer, more effective alternatives exist. My citrus-based pretreatment and spotters are just as safe for the environment as they are for you, your family and your pets.

So there you have it. Hopefully I’ve made clear what citrus-based cleaning is and why you should care. It all revolves around my safer, healthier, citrus-based pretreatment that works better and is fully customizable. It doesn’t damage your property or hurt the environment, and you won’t find it anywhere else

Of course, pretreatment covers just one aspect of professional carpet cleaning. There’s a lot more to consider when looking to hire a pro. For example, you need to know who will actually perform the work and whether or not they are qualified.

Do they lack experience because they are new to this high-turnover industry? Do they maintain and clean their equipment so it works properly and doesn’t contaminate your home or business? Can they remove stains? Will they detail edges, nooks and crannies? Do they know how to get your carpet and upholstery dry?

What happens if they break something? Will their van leak oil on your driveway? Will they flip cigarette butts in your mulch? Are they rude and intimidating? Are they overly friendly to the point you feel uncomfortable?

These are all important things to consider. To find out more about me and whether or not I’m qualified to work for you, click here. And to see more reasons why you should choose CitruScrub Carpet Cleaning, click here.

Or, if you’d like to schedule, call or text me, Ross, any time at 317-370-9075.  I look forward to hearing from you!

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