With a struggling economy and unemployment being really high, come high crime rates in burglary. If someone broke into your home or vehicle law enforcement must use fingerprint powder in order to try and collect evidence. The powder may contain rosin, black ferric oxide and lampblack. Some may also contain inorganic chemicals such as cadmium, copper, lead, titanium, mercury, silicon, and bismuth. Even though the law enforcement officers have honorable intentions, they will try to advise you to vacuum up the dust using your home vacuum cleaner. They are not professional carpet cleaners so do not take their advice for this kind of situation. If you are ever in a situation like this here are two methods you can use to get the dust out of your carpet.
First, begin by vacuuming your carpet using vacuum cleaner and attachments to pick up as much dust as possible. To avoid embedding the powder further into your carpet fibers do not use any sort of vacuum brush or bristles. When vacuuming also start from the outer edges of the affected area and work your way to the center to ensure that the powder does not spread. Next, in a spray bottle mix liquid dishwashing soap and warm water and then spray the area that still has powder stain. To rinse add a small amount of water to area and rub. Lastly, lay a paper towel over the area and blot dry.
The second method you can try is to begin by vacuuming the area and try to remove as much fingerprint dust as possible, this step is very important. Next, apply a solvent to the contaminated area, to emulsify contamination use a carpet shark and agitate gently. Proceed by doing a hot water extraction rinse. Repeat steps 2 through 4 until no more finger print dust will move. Apply a solvent if there is still light contamination. Using the carpet shark agitate gently followed by hot water extraction rinse.
It is very important that you know what kind of material you are dealing with; if you are unsure it is best to call a professional in to clean to try and avoid any damage to your carpet.