How to Stop VOC Off-Gassing From Carpet
January 19, 2020, by Lisa Powers
Carpet can be a significant source of toxic exposure in your home. According to the Environmental Working Group, carpet can contain over 100 known toxins including benzene, formaldehyde, styrene, and flame-retardants. Added features like stain resistance can further increase the range of toxins. Fortunately, there are non-toxic rugs and carpeting available that use natural fibers with natural backing or no backing and are not chemically treated. You can find recommended brands on Debra’s List.
What if I have a rug that’s off-gassing and I can’t remove it?
The best ways to avoid toxic exposures in your home are to choose products that don’t contain any toxins or remove those that do. But in reality, that’s not always possible.
There are a trio of products from AFM Safecoat that actually prevent the off-gassing of harmful chemicals in your carpet. They work together as a system.
SafeChoice Carpet Shampoo is a strong cleaner and odor remover. It has zero-VOCs and contains no harmful chemicals such as ammonia, butyl ethers, alcohols, phosphates, caustics or acids that are often found in cleaners.
SafeChoice Carpet Seal prevents the off-gassing from harmful chemicals used in the carpet backing. It has zero-VOCs.
SafeChoice Lock Out serves two purposes; blocking chemical off-gassing and repelling dirt and stains. It has zero-VOCs.
Here’s How I Sealed an Area Rug with AFM Safecoat Carpet Sealing System
I’ve worked really hard to choose the least toxic materials and furnishings for my home but as a mom with 2 teenagers, I’m learning that compromise is unavoidable. When my daughter asked for an area rug for her room for Christmas I cringed, particularly because I believe the bedroom is the most important area of the home to keep toxic-free. I bombarded her with texts of non-toxic options and got only 👎 in response. I finally agreed to her choice with the caveat that we would seal it with the AFM Safecoat products.
The process was fairly simple.
Step 1
I shampooed the rug with SafeChoice Carpet Shampoo. The directions suggest using a garden sprayer. My husband is a Master Gardener so I had one handy and it made the whole project really easy.
Step 2
While the carpet was still damp, I applied the SafeChoice Carpet Seal. The directions require working the solution into the fibers with a rotary brush or clean garage broom. I had on hand an electric rotary brush that I use to remove signs of mold in my showers. It worked great! The directions also require cloth-drying the tops of the fiber to avoid the formation of white powder while drying. I didn’t see any evidence of white powder.
Steps 1 and 2 combined took less than an hour. If you have a whole room to cover, plan for it to take longer.
Step 3
After allowing the carpet to fully dry overnight, I applied the SafeChoice Lock Out and followed the same process as I did in Step 2.
This step took less than 30 minutes including clean up.
When the rug was fully dry, we placed it in my daughter’s room and it had no detectable odor. Daughter was happy and mother was tolerant.
If You are Chemically Sensitive Try a Sample Before Using
AFM sells samples of these products for $6 each. The product itself contains no VOCs or harmful chemicals but everyone has a different tolerance. Similarly, there is no guarantee that a very sensitive person will not still react to a sealed carpet.
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