Steam cleaning casita

[jenbooks]

Hi all. I was thinking of buying a carpet steam cleaner (the Bissell is on sale for $89) to steam clean my new to me casita. The previous owner said he had it professionally cleaned when he got it and they injected these little plastic beads? He had no better explanation than that and I wonder if anybody knows what it was?

My casita carpet has a slight odor, not of mildew or mold or perfume, but perhaps from whatever coating those plastic cleaning beads deposited? It's a 2003 so it shouldn't otherwise have an odor. I would like to remove it and just do a good steam clean, I will probably use Branch Basics, it's a nontoxic all purpose enzyme based gentle cleaner that I use on my truck and even clothes sometimes.

Any advice and anybody have a guess as to what the plastic beads were? thanks


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[jenbooks]

PS I mean my walls and ceiling carpet, not the floor.


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[Bob Miller]

Actually, unless it's visibly dirty. I'd just use a good hand spray carpet cleaner with a brush, and vacuum it afterwards. Using anything hot or that soaks the pile may lead to failure of the adhesive.


I use a product called "OdoBan" when cleaning out my rental units and it cleans everything and kills every possible odor, even the ultimate odor. I know you may have never heard of it, but it's available most places including WalMart and it really works.


Juist my take

[jenbooks]

Thanks Bob, but odoban contains isopropanol and benzyl ammonium chloride so I definitely do not want that all over my trailer interior.
I like Branch Basics which is nontoxic and works well for me.

Just wondering if anybody knows what type of professional cleaning would have used beads of some kind?


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[Glenn Baglo]

Probably have micro beads in your hair shampoo at home. They are being phased out. Used in all sorts of cosmetics too. Accumulates in marine animals.
Google "micro beads" and you'll find they are everywhere.

[jenbooks]

Ah, thanks Glenn, I know about microbeads. They're not in my shampoo but I use a natural product.


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[Mary F]

I would be concerned about adhesive failure during a steam clean, too. I wonder if there's anyone at Casita Enterprises who would/could advise on this? In their service department, perhaps?

I'm assuming you've already vacuumed the walls...

[jenbooks]

Good idea, Mary.
I get the sense the odor-- which is not so bad but could annoy me 24/7-- is from some kind of coating or scotch guarding type thing.


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[jenbooks]

By the way, I did have a gray water odor in the bathroom too and it was totally solved by the hepvo valve mod.


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[jenbooks]

I should add to clarify I have a very sensitive nose...I am sure most folks wouldn't care.


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[ArtWrangler]

The hand tool on a rental carpet cleaner is your best best bet. Use a just a small amount of cleaning solution first, than go over it with clear water. Your adhesive with be fine. Stay away from 'odor removers' as they will leave an perfume. Although, Fabreeze is a good product in a pinch.

[jenbooks]

Thanks, Art! I will look into that.


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[steelypip]

I used ammonia-water in a spray bottle first to get 20 years of cooking grease off, and vacuumed it up with a shop vac using mostly the upholstery tool off of our house vacuum.

The next night I switched to a diluted biological odor destroyer product used for pets and crime scenes. That took care of the dog and mouse nest smells. Shop vac removal again.

The third night I went after it with a very dilute bleach/water solution to kill the odor of the many, many artificial air fresheners that we found in the camper when we bought it. Vacuumed that off with the shop vac as well.

Now it smells of almost nothing, which was the goal. It's vastly whiter inside, too.

I did get some white fuzz in the shop vac, but given the amount of carpet in the interior, it was a miniscule amount. The carpet stuck resolutely to the shell regardless of what I did to it. I would think that a beater head or shampooer would probably shake loose more carpet fuzz than just vacuuming did.

The pile's not really very thick and is imbedded in a foam rubber insulation layer. The foam is what's glued to the shell. The stuff isn't all that willing to come loose.

[jenbooks]

Thanks, steely pip. Very helpful.


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[jenbooks]

PS what was the biological odor destroyer?


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[steelypip]

Probably worth mentioning that the nozzle I used was like a miniature floor nozzle, not the one with the brush end. In narrow spaces and angled areas I took the nozzle off and just used the wand. The goal was to suck as much of the cleaning solution and dirt back out of the carpet as possible.

In all cases I sprayed until it was wet, waited at least 10 minutes for 'better living through chemistry' to happen, and then started vacuuming. It was hot (80-90F all three nights). I had my ceiling extractor fan running on high during the whole process, as the cleaning chemicals are fairly noxious in a small fiberglass box.

[ArtWrangler]

However you clean your trailer, you'll want to get it thoroughly dry. One or more LARGE fans blowing the air around for a day or more may be necessary to prevent a 'musty' smell from developing down the line.

[Darwin Maring]

Art: I use a dehumidifyer in our camper. It keeps it dry and mold free.

[steelypip]

The Casita is parked in a sunny spot on a blacktop driveway. I've had an exhaust fan running continuously in it whenever it's been plugged in ever since we got it. It had some evidence of old mildew here and there, but none since the great cleaning. I leave the bathroom window open all the time. There's nothing in there but fiberglass, so rain in there is a non issue. As a result, there's a steady airflow running from the bathroom through the trailer and out the fan in the rear roof vent. I did crack all the other windows 1/2" or so to make sure there was no stagnation during the carpet washing process.

I did, and do, have a small electronic air filter on the floor under the rear table. It dried the floor carpet out quite quickly.

The synthetic carpet on walls and floor doesn't really hold that much moisture - if there's air going over it with less than 100% humidity it will dry out pretty quickly. The problem, of course, is stagnant air.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by jenbooks

PS what was the biological odor destroyer?


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We have an old dog.
Have had to use RugDoctor Urine Eliminator. Uses enzymes for human and pet odors and for urine, blood, perspiration stains.
You should be able to find it on a display rack next to rental steam cleaners at your Safeway or equivalent.