Mark,
What is the best way to remove white salt stains from carpets?

Hi Charlie
Salt spots? You mean you've had snow in Maine this
winter? Gosh, that's hard to believe!
I can't recall that salt residue has ever been a
particular problem. The salt should all pretty much
dissolve in water. So perhaps you may want to pre-
spray a little heavier than usual. If it's a small
area, try scrubbing with a hand brush to break it up.
If it's a larger area, use either the green-stripe
scrubber, or a beige FibrePlus encapsulation pad, if
you have these. Then scrub out the salted area in the
usual manner. It might also be a good place to use
an encap product, such as Encap-Clean or Encap-Punch.
Then the salt residue that didn't absorb out in cotton
pads would crystallize and vacuum up later. If you
still could see some salt, you might want to try
heating up a pot of water, then wet a cotton pad with
the hot water and see if the rest will dissolve via
the heat.

boy heavy salt residue (more like abuse) is tuff to get out, at least for me. southerners don't know how to get it out too effectively cause they've never experienced it.

i've never tried HOT water, that might help some....sounds like a good idea. some other things that help some is a THOROUGH prevac with a vacuum beater-bar that gives heavy-duty agitation. maybe throw your carpet brush on your OP and pre-agitate the salt crystals, helping to break them up, then pre-vac. others have mentioned using one of those laminate rollers, ya know those heavy 100+ pound floor rollers. this helps break up the salt crystals good i hear, then prevac.

i still have a hard time getting HEAVY salt and ice melt out of carpets and i am looking at new ways of solving the problem.

anyone know if salt residue in carpet is an acid or alkaline?

same question for ice-melt (like calcium chloride)?

noob questions i know, but i've no clue. knowing this might help me in the battle...neutralizing it may help to break it up i figure.

great topic, thanx --- Derek.

Try an acidic rinse like Fab-Set or All Fiber Rinse to neutralize the high alkalinity. I've padded with these in the past and removed hard water rings where water has leaked out and tracked in salt in commercial lobbies.

Jeff, thanx for the tip i will have to give it a shot!

thanx --- Derek.

Hi again Charlie
I encountered salt today in the lobby of a condo
building in the South End of Boston. I "juiced" it
(listen up, Jose C.) a little more than the rest of the carpet, scrubbed it with a FibrePlus (beige) pad,
and it disappeared. Then just cotton padded in the
usual manner.

hiyas Mark

the same happens for me when i Encap an area with salt buildup / residue. the problem is, over the next few days some of the residue will come back....not always, but sometimes depending on the amount. maybe the post-padding it is a good idea.

thanx --- Derek.