Casita carpet flaking gritty white sand when u touch!

[WeeFamilia]

Hello!
We have a 2002 13' Casita that we recently purchased, second hand of course.
The carpet is stock, and seemed to be in good condition, but when we bump our heads on ceiling we noticed a gritty sand coming off on our heads. When we rub the carpet with our hands a shower of grit rains down! We have vacuumed, but the grit is endless.
I have looked on various forums, but no one else seems to have this problem, which leads me to believe perhaps previous owners did something to i, some kind of glue?, but I don't know.
We are considering just cutting a straight strip down the ceiling of the camper to replace with a similar foam backed carpet. The grit is everywhere, on the sides, etc, but this is where we keep knocking our big heads against.

Anyone else encounter this issue?
Any suggestions appreciated!

Other than the grit we LOVE our Casita!

[Mary F]

Yikes! Haven't heard of it doing this before. Ours was a '99, and as far as I know it hasn't done this (sold to friends who haven't complained about it); but if Casita started using a different carpet...

Hopefully someone helpful will chime in here soon.

[WeeFamilia]

Originally Posted by Mary F

Yikes! Haven't heard of it doing this before. Ours was a '99, and as far as I know it hasn't done this (sold to friends who haven't complained about it); but if Casita started using a different carpet...

Hopefully someone helpful will chime in here soon.

Thanks Mary! Yeah I've not read any similar complaint to ours. The carpet appears to be very clean and in excellent condition. We're scratching our heads 😁
I have read that replacing the carpet is a huge effort, that's why I'm thinking maybe we will just do a strip.

[David B.]

have you tried vacuuming it several times? I know some cleaning methods have used cornstarch rubbed into the fabric and then vacuumed off. Best of luck. Dave and Paula

[thrifty bill]

Originally Posted by David B.

have you tried vacuuming it several times? I know some cleaning methods have used cornstarch rubbed into the fabric and then vacuumed off. Best of luck. Dave and Paula

Good thought here. May well have nothing to do with Casita and everything to do with a cleaning method of a prior owner: baking soda, corn starch, or whatever.


https://www.angieslist.com/articles/...et-cleaner.htm

[DebCost]

Sounds like the carpet backing is breaking down.

[Lisle]

I’ve seen the backing on an old rug emit white grit. Perhaps previous owners did a lot of carpet cleaning and the backing is now dried out and gritty?

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by WeeFamilia

Hello!
We have a 2002 13' Casita that we recently purchased, second hand of course.
The carpet is stock, and seemed to be in good condition, but when we bump our heads on ceiling we noticed a gritty sand coming off on our heads. When we rub the carpet with our hands a shower of grit rains down! We have vacuumed, but the grit is endless.
I have looked on various forums, but no one else seems to have this problem, which leads me to believe perhaps previous owners did something to i, some kind of glue?, but I don't know.
We are considering just cutting a straight strip down the ceiling of the camper to replace with a similar foam backed carpet. The grit is everywhere, on the sides, etc, but this is where we keep knocking our big heads against.

Anyone else encounter this issue?
Any suggestions appreciated!

Other than the grit we LOVE our Casita!

Our 1986 didn't do that and it was old when we got it. Our 2007 doesn't do that. Maybe the po cleaned it with something that dried it out. Best to clean it with only water using a carpet cleaner. When we got new carpet in our house in January they said it would void the warranty if we did it ourselves and never to use soap of any kind.

[sharon_b]

I agree with DebCost. When carpet padding gets old & goes bad it turns to crumbs like sand. I wonder if someone cleaned it with chemicals that dried it out? Or has this camper been out in full sun/ high heat for a long time? Either way, it sounds like sagging eminent.

[georgesass]

Yes, the carpet backing is breaking down and no amount of vacuuming will help. I'm afraid it will have to be replaced.