Unbelievable Results! I have struggled for years trying to find a good carpet cleaner. I’ve never been a fan of “wet” solutions. Using these types of products, I found more often than not, the stain would resurface after the carpet dried. I also believe the wet solutions damaged the carpet. For years, I used the Chem Dry professional service – and although I was happy with their results, I wanted something I could do myself during those times when I only needed a small section of the carpet cleaned. Capture Deep Cleaning Powder was the answer. I found it easy to use and was very pleased with the results. I eventually replaced the Chem Dry service with Capture. I’m saving money, and my carpets look great – and yes, it requires a little extra elbow grease, but I’m okay with the tradeoff.

Did not clean carpet–at all I read about Capture deep cleaning powder and decided to go in favor of the positive reviews extolling its effectiveness on their dirty carpets and stains. Now that I have used it, I completely agree with one of the few negative reviews (not on amazon.com I think) that stated this fine white powder doesn’t work–it only APPEARS to clean because it turns your carpet a little lighter. This is exactly my finding.We just bought a house with upstairs carpeting that needed to be cleaned. Generally, the tan carpet was dingy, and there were a few spots created by the little girls who lived there. Not sure what the spots were–magic marker or lipstick and perhaps a couple of spilled beverage stains. I needed to clean 1100 sq. ft. of carpeting and opted not to pay for a professional job because the quotes I received were a bit much. When I had talked to a professional, she told me all about how dry carpet cleaning is so much better for the life of the carpet. Wet cleaning methods can damage the carpet–pulling out fibers and leaving behind soap residue that collects dirt, plus mildew if the carpets take too long to dry. I read more about it and decided that switching to dry carpet cleaning was a good move. For years, I have used Hoover and Bissell wet vacuums. We have a dog who has occasional accidents and two daughters who also have some spills, so dry cleaning never occurred to me. Really hot water, soap, and suction just seemed like the only way to clean up carpet messes. I also have done all the carpeting with wet cleaning many times, and I never had a problem with mildew or tearing out carpeting. But, I have noticed residue and hate having wet carpets to keep the kids away from until dry. I really wanted the carpet at our new place to have a nice long life and liked the idea of no harsh chemicals left behind, no wetness, no lugging around a big machine, no soap, no emptying out dirty water and filling up with clean water over and over. Sprinkling on powder, “gently” raking it, and vacuuming sounded so much easier! Trying to do stairs with a big carpet cleaner is a nightmare, and I needed to do 16 carpeted stairs. Capture seemed like a dream come true–less work, better for carpets, and better cleaning!So, I purchased enough of the deep cleaning powder to do the four rooms (the Capture deep cleaning kit as well as the 8 lb. tub) and got to work. I sprayed the spots with the pre-treat spray and shook the powder as directed. I covered one room and looked at the amount left in the 8 lb. tub (about half) to see that I seemed to be using just the right amount considering that 1 lb. of the powder is for about 100 sq. ft. of carpet and the room was about 400 sq. ft. I attached the brush to a pole and gently “activated” the powder as directed. Because the carpeting is a low shag, I found the brush, even when trying to be gentle, really snagged and caught on the carpet, making the “gentle” raking a good workout. While waiting the 30 minutes, I did another room. By the time I finished with the second room, I had to get a drink and catch my breath (because like I said, the “no need for scrubbing” as directed turned out to FEEL like scrubbing due to the stiff brush catching on the carpet). So about 40-45 minutes was up for the first room. I was so looking forward to seeing the results that I had read about! I vacuumed and emptied out the cannister twice–lots of powder came up. I noticed it came up white in color, and I was hoping to actually see the dirt in the powder (making it grayish or tan maybe?) but it was still quite white. I remembered that one negative review and wanted to make sure the powder was out of the carpet (not the remaining in the carpet making it look clean). So, I vacuumed again, and yes, more powder, but not a large amount, came up.I stood back to view the results. Alas, every spot was still there, and the carpet really didn’t seem any less dingy. Vacuumed the other room (twice) and felt it had not been CLEANED either. Vacuumed all to hell, yes, but not clean. Two days later, I cleaned the carpeted rooms with my Bissell Pro-heat. To avoid residue and chemicals, I used hot water and vinegar. The water that came up from the carpet was disgusting–brown and murky. Why? Because of LOTS OF DIRT had remained in the carpet after the Capture deep cleaning method!! It’s amazing the dirt that came out of the carpet after doing a dry cleaning of it. I went over the spots TWICE–up and back with the Bissell, and all but two (which seem like coffee or tea) easily washed out. Then I stood back to finally see clean carpets.That’s great that so many are pleased with the results of their clean carpet thanks to Capture products, because when you find a product that works for you (and you save money), it’s awesome. But I don’t get it at all. It would have been no different had I sprinkled flour on the floor.