That new car smell! For people who must deal with chemical sensitivity issues this can be most debilitating. One of the contributing factors is in the carpets in the car, van, or other vehicle.

My friend and Mentor in the non toxic building products challenge must deal with extreme MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivities) and when she purchased a new luxury car she could not deal with the off–gassing of the new carpet. As she uses AFM Safecoat and Safechoice products wherever possible  and therefore commissioned me to apply the 3 Step Carpet Cleaning process in her new car.

One thing about many new carpets is that they use formaldehyde in the manufacturing process to serve as a preservative.  As these formaldehyde fumes contributed to the chemical soup air quality in the car her decision was to commission me to shampoo the carpet with the AFM Safechoice Carpet Shampoo to wash out as much of the formaldehyde and petrochemical residue as possible from the carpet fibres;  then following the 3-step direction apply the AFM Safechoice Carpet Lock-out and there after the AFM Safechoice Carpet Sealer.

We completed this process in an afternoon and found it was very easy when we followed the technical information instructions supplied by AFM on their website.

The Three Step Carpet Cleaning Process 

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First we vacuumed the carpets. As recommended we used a hand-held pump sprayer (similar to a garden sprayer) to apply the AFM Safechoice Carpet Shampoo. Using the dilution rate specified we sprayed the carpet evenly, saturating the surface and allowed the shampoo to fully penetrate the carpet for ten minutes. To extract the shampoo we used very clean, very hot water to ensure the most effective cleaning.

Before using SafeChoice Carpet Seal we tested it on the carpet in small inconspicuous area under the front seat to confirm compatibility and color fastness.

Immediately after shampooing the carpet, while it was still damp, we applied AFM SafeChoice Carpet Seal liberally but evenly, again using the hand-held pump sprayer to mist the sealer over the surface of the carpet, making certain not to over-saturate. As directed we next worked the SafeChoice Carpet Seal into the fibers with a rotary brush just enough to assure complete and uniform contact with the top of the carpet backing. (a polishing machine or clean garage broom could also have been used instead of the rotary brush). When this was completed we were certain, following the directions, to CLOTH DRY FIBER TOPS TO PREVENT FORMATION OF WHITE FILM as the product dried. We also paid special attention to make sure even coverage occurred and wiping the surface.

While we performed these tasks on a hot sunny day which helped the drying process we also used blow dryers to accelerate this before applying the third and final step of applying the Safechoice Lock-out.

After sealing the carpet and it was dry to touch we proceeded with applying the AFM SafeChoice Lock Out.  Again using the hand-held pump sprayer we sprayed a fine mist of SafeChoice Lock Out evenly and uniformly over the entire carpet surface making certain we didn’t over saturate the carpeting and allowing it to dry to touch before permitting floor traffic.

Does it work? Does the AFM Safechoice 3 step carpet cleaning, sealing and lock-out process provide for a less toxic car? Most important is that our Client thinks so. We did use a scientific device (handheld volatile organic compound (VOC) gas monitor) to measure the VOC’s after the process and found that the 3 step process did in fact dramatically reduce the level of VOC offgassing.