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Steam Cleaning Detergents

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Steam Cleaning Detergents

Postby Michael » Thu Oct 07, 2010 2:44 pm

Are steam cleaning detergents for those big rug cleaning steam vacuum cleaners parrot safe? Not only am I concerned about the parrots licking the carpet post cleaning but also the fumes created during cleaning. Does anyone have experience with these products, is the detergent necessary, are all detergents safe or only certain ones, can the parrots be located in the same room during cleaning?

What about the handheld models? All advice is appreciated.
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Re: Steam Cleaning Detergents

Postby zazanomore » Thu Oct 07, 2010 5:03 pm

Our model is hand held and is purely steam. Never let your bird go on it right after the steam, as the floor is HOT. That is my only concern with it.
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Re: Steam Cleaning Detergents

Postby entrancedbymyGCC » Thu Oct 07, 2010 6:05 pm

You mean carpet cleaners, right? They call them steam cleaners, but it is more like a spray-tepid-water-and-vacuum-it-up cleaner. They don't get very hot.

They produce very low odor IME and I think the detergents are similar to clothes detergents. It didn't occur to me to worry about them. If you wanted to be super-safe, you probably could just run it with water or a detergent you are comfortable with, although it might not do as good a job on the carpet.

The true steam cleaners get the water a lot hotter, but they have no extraction method and I doubt they'd clean carpet. Sterilize it, maybe, if you had one of the superheated ones, but the spray and extract ones actually pull dirty water out of the carpet.
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Re: Steam Cleaning Detergents

Postby Michael » Thu Oct 07, 2010 6:14 pm

I'm considering getting one of each. I have a lot of carpet but I'm also hoping to use the handheld for the cages. How is that plan? Are the carpet cleaning steam cleaners effective? Kind of like putting the carpet through the washing machine? Has anyone used this with recommended detergents around their birds without problems?
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Re: Steam Cleaning Detergents

Postby pchela » Thu Oct 07, 2010 7:10 pm

I have used my carpet cleaner around the birds without ill effects. I did it before I knew any better so I really just got lucky. The detergent I used was by Bissel. Nowadays though, lots of products are starting to put on their packaging whether they are bird safe or not. I imagine an email to the company asking if their product is safe around birds would be helpful. I'm also going to do some research and see if I can use mild laundry detergent in my carpet cleaning machine.
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Re: Steam Cleaning Detergents

Postby entrancedbymyGCC » Thu Oct 07, 2010 7:21 pm

They are pretty effective. At my townhouse I had white carpet and three cats, one of which had a chronic digestive problem. Running the carpet cleaner with the regular detergent and a dose of "Nature's Miracle" enzymatic actually kept the carpet white.

Which reminds me, I really need to run the thing at the house. Carpet is pretty heinous.

You do need to vacuum thoroughly before running the cleaner. But squirting in the hot water and sucking it out again definitely removes more gunk than vacuuming alone. As far as I can tell it does nearly as well as commecial carpet cleaning.
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Re: Steam Cleaning Detergents

Postby zazanomore » Thu Oct 07, 2010 10:41 pm

zazanomore wrote:Our model is hand held and is purely steam. Never let your bird go on it right after the steam, as the floor is HOT. That is my only concern with it.



I want to add that we use the steam cleaner on both the carpet and on the hardwood. It does a pretty good job at keeping things clean.
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Re: Steam Cleaning Detergents

Postby Cage Cleaner » Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:14 am

I actually sell some cleaning items that are enzymatic, biodegradable, and pet-oriented that I use myself. I'm not sure if I am allowed to post something like this here, as it would basically be advertisement. If a moderator or someone in charge gives me the green light, I would be happy to share.
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Re: Steam Cleaning Detergents

Postby liz » Thu Dec 08, 2016 7:54 am

I don't know. I switched to all laminant floors and use a small amount of Mr Clean apple scented.

I put all the pet stuff in my dishwasher to make sure they are sterilized but I hand rinse them again before using for my birds to make sure the dishwasher detergent is gone. I vacuum the bird room because I do not want to use the same broom in their room.
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Re: Steam Cleaning Detergents

Postby Pajarita » Fri Nov 24, 2017 11:40 am

I am sorry but I am a bit confused. Do you have any birds at all? Because, if you don't, any commercial product will do.
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