How To Clean Stains From Carpets With Ammonia?

Ammonia (NH₃) is a strong cleaning agent which has been used by people for generations.  It is an easily available and relatively cheap cleaning agent for domestic and commercial use. People use it to clean kitchens, bathrooms, bathtubs, toilets etc. It is found in two forms such as pure ammonia and ammonia based commercial cleaning products.  

If you have pure ammonia at home, then you can clean different types of stains from carpet with it. In this case, you have to make a dilute solution with it by adding water and work with it more cautiously. Ammonia is not considered for carpet deep cleaning but good at treating or pre-treating some specific types of stains (shoe polish and nail polish stains).

Cleaning Carpet Stains With Ammonia:

Supplies Needed For The Method:

• Paper towels
• Ammonia
• Soft brush or scrubber
• Water
• Rubber gloves
• Goggles/Eye protector

Step -1: Extracting The Excess Substances From A Stain:

First, remove the excess substances (shoe polish or nail polish) from the fresh stains with paper towels, and then apply ammonia. While extracting the excess substances from the stains, do not rub them. If you do so, they will spread and sit deep into the carpet fibers.

Step -2: Preparing The Ammonia Solution:

Prepare a dilute solution of pure ammonia with water and pour it in a spraying bottle. Usually, 1 tablespoon of ammonia is added with 1 cup of water for dilution.

Step -3: Applying Ammonia:

Now spray the solution directly on the stains(nail polish and shoe polish stains). Do not over saturate the spots. Give the cleaner 3-5 minutes to sit. This will loosen up and lift the stains from the carpet. Now blot up the spot with paper towels. Repeat the whole process several times until the stains are removed completely.

Step -4: Drying:

Now let the cleaned spots dry up automatically with blowing air or, you can use a heat dryer which will save your valuable time.

Tips:

• Never mix pure ammonia with other carpet cleaners or chemicals. Because, the chemical reactions among them could lead to serious toxicity inside your home and cause health hazards to family members.
• Read the user manual or manufacturer instructions before using ammonia.
• Always do a spot test before starting cleaning carpets with ammonia.  
• Keep your windows and doors open while cleaning to ventilate out the toxic fumes or gasses of ammonia.

Advantages Of Cleaning Carpets With Ammonia:

• Ammonia becomes a strong cleaner because of its high-alkaline character. High alkalinity enables it to dissolve certain stains and dirt for effective removal.  
• It is a relatively cheaper and easily available household cleaner.
• Ammonia is available in two forms, pure ammonia and commercially manufactured ammonia based cleaning products. 

Disadvantages Of Cleaning Carpets With Ammonia:

•  Pure Ammonia is not considered for carpet deep cleaning. It is only used for treating or pre-treating tough stains like shoe polish stains, nail polish stains on carpets.
• Concentrated ammonia (which is good for cleaning) will permanently damage both the natural and synthetic carpet fibered carpets.
• The highly alkaline character of ammonia causes serious physical damages to wool carpets and rugs.
• Concentrated ammonia causes color damage to all types of carpets. 
• Ammonia is toxic to both humans and pets. Professionals merely recommend using ammonia for carpet deep cleaning at home. Ammonia causes health hazards like respiratory problems, headaches to children and pets.