Preservation Vs Restoration

Over the past 20 years, consumers have begun to see the value in having their carpet cleaned on a regular basis, rather than waiting for the carpet to appear heavily soiled.

Carpet cleaners appreciate such customers, not just for their regular support to their business, but also because carpet cleaned on a regular basis releases soil more readily, and rarely had difficult stains that may be otherwise time consuming to remove.

The customer perception of textile furniture is not yet that advanced. In many cases, furniture is not cleaned in its lifetime, and if redecorating does not force them discard furniture, sometimes only when furniture becomes obviously soiled or stained is cleaning requested.

If you permit your customer to make such decisions, you are doing both you and your customer a grave disservice.

Upholstery fabrics, especially those made from delicate natural fibers, need to be cleaned when soiling is still light. Once natural fiber fine fabrics become obviously stained and soiled, the cleaning products and procedures needed to restore them might be unsafe to use.

Even with relatively safe procedures and products, "restorative cleaning" of such fabrics might involve the use of products that use mild bleaches that may damage both color and the strength of the fibers, and aggressive cleaning may also cause permanent texture damage.

Its unfortunate that the term "restorative cleaning" is likely inappropriate, as such cleaning methods do not "restore" the fabric to its new condition. They might be better called "destructive cleaning", but such terms likely are not useful from a marketing perspective, however true in nature.

If you want to "preserve" the fabric as closely as possible to keep its original beauty, you should encourage your customer to have the furniture cleaned when soil is only apparent when you shift a cushion or arm cover and reveal an area that has not been soiled.

Such lightly soiled fabrics may be more easily cleaned with the mildest of detergents and gentlest agitation. In an upcoming article I will discuss some "preservation cleaning" techniques that will help keep your customer's furniture beautiful and decrease both your risks and labor costs as well.

Holiday Spots, Spills and Stains

Starting with Thanksgiving, and through the late December holiday observances, your customers will be engaging in that riskiest of activities when it comes to carpet and upholstery textiles:

They will be serving food and drinks with bright red colors, and having their homes overcrowded with guests consuming those items.

While red stains are common throughout the year, there are two that you are more likely to encounter from now until January 2nd:

Cranberry Sauce and Red Wine.

The reason that both of these might create confusion is the uncertainty as to whether the stain is from “natural red colors” or from artificial dyes. The distinction is important to you, as the types of products you use, the order in which you use them, and the time you should predict in their use may vary widely depending on what is in the item spilled.

You should, of course, attempt to learn exactly what was spilled. If the customer still has the bottle or can, you can look right on the label and often determine if there is an artificial dye involved.

In today’s world, the assumption should be that there is a dye unless you know for sure otherwise. Unless your customer made their cranberry sauce from cranberries themselves (a more involved process), the sauce likely has an artificial dye. Even wine, which throughout history has only had natural colors, lately has become another source of artificial dye staining to carpet.

Once you have this information, first clean the carpet. With the amount of “polys” out there (polyester, polypropylene, and triexta…which is essentially polyester) as well as nylon with some of the latest advanced stain resistant treatments, many of these red stains will simply clean out of the carpet, with no further need of specialty stain removal techniques.

If any stain remains, you will then need to decide if the stain has a natural red color or an artificial one. Natural red colors come out most readily with the application of an oxidizing agent, such as Stain Zone or Stain Magic. Artificial red colors should be treated with specialty red dye removal products than contain reducing agents, such as Red Zone, Red Relief, or Red One.

Use each product by following each manufacturer’s direction carefully.

Worrying about red stains should be the last thing that should concern your valued customers. Be sure to approach the treatment of these stains with confidence and concern for their needs, and make such stains a minor inconvenience during these happy times for them.

Allow me to take this occasion to thank all of you for your support and feedback to us over the years.

Triexta, Part 3

It is only appropriate (for now) to conclude this discussion on “triexta” (better known as “SMARTSTRAND tm”) with some thoughts on how it will and is affecting you as a professional carpet cleaner. We can do this by first looking back to a another new fiber development in the 1980’s - stain resistant nylon carpet………

While many of you reading this message weren’t even in our industry in the 1980’s, stain resistant nylon carpet has had a profound effect on the way our customers and prospects perceive carpet cleaning, as well as the way we actually clean carpet today. The advent of stain resistant carpet has encouraged consumers to choose lighter colored carpets because they mistakenly expected them to stay clean longer because of their stain resistant treatment.

This increased use of lighter colors has placed carpets into a more regular cleaning cycle, which in turn has created more work for our industry, and with more regular cleaning cycles, more customer contact as well as long term loyalty with deserving cleaning firms.

Carpet cleaning chemistry has changed as well, in some ways for the better, in some not so much for the better.

To simplify my point, and for the sake of brevity: stain resistant nylon carpet caused our industry to pay more attention to the pH of presprays and detergents, and created some of the initial interest around using lower pH rinses, or for some, clear water rinses.

Now we have this new “triexta” fiber, along with its very similarity to its “older brother” “polyester”, beginning to
dominate the market. .......keep reading

Regardless of the debates about resiliency and the need for after market carpet protection, it is clear that both “triexta” and “polyester” are more oil loving than nylon, and will require products and procedures that more readily can break the oil bonds that inevitably will occur if this carpet is neglected and/or subjected to abuse.

There appears also to be some concerns about difficulty in removing detergent residues from this fiber as well, but this information has not yet been documented well enough to discuss in detail. As I have more feedback from the field, I will share it with you.

Please feel free to contact me here, or by email, if you have feedback regarding your experience with this fiber, or would like more information on how to care for “triexta” and “polyester” carpet.

Call: 1-800-342-2297
Local: 412-751-3700
e-mail – jimpem2@comcast.net

Triexta Update

I received a call today from a well informed and customer service oriented carpet cleaner I know, and the story he related spoke to both technical and marketing issues we must all be aware of.

This gentleman sends a newsletter to all of his customers, including the carpet retailers who refer him. In it, he made a point of warning his customers that the new Triexta fiber that is being so heavily promoted today may not live up to the expectations the retailers are creating.

It seems that at least one of the retailers he sent this newsletter to became very upset at his sharing this information, and confronted him about it when he met with her. While his initial reaction was irritation at her support for what he (and likely you) consider to be an inferior fiber, his “business head” thought about it a bit longer.

In our discussion, we both had to agree that Triexta does solve two problems that nylon (the cleaner’s favorite fiber) does not:

1. The Triexta fiber is inherently resistant to red dyes. Unlike Stain Resistant Nylon, which loses its stain resistance over time from abrasive soil and most cleaning processes, Triexta does not.


2. Triexta fibers also resist color loss from urine stains. Since most homes in the US today have more than one cat and/or dog, this issue is powerful, and should not be overlooked.

There remains little doubt that Triexta will continue to have the “oil loving” characteristics of its better known cousin, Polyester, but that’s why professional cleaning is needed, isnt’ it?

The cleaner is going to visit his referring stores and discuss his more balanced view of Triexta, which he should. He mentioned how annoyed he gets when retailers make comments about carpet cleaning that don’t really address the “whole story”, and he recognized that perhaps he did the same.

The lesson for you (and for me)? There are several:

1. Triexta is here to stay. Go to most carpet stores, and its “everywhere”. Its surely better than Olefin, and likely better than Polyester. The fact that we don’t like it as much as Nylon is more our issue than it is our customers, after all.


2. We might not like “oil loving fibers”, but our customers aren’t as worried about Oily soils as they are bleach and dye stains.


3. Let’s keep our dialog with those stores that gladly refer us, and make sure that while we need to serve our customer’s needs, we also need to make sure we understand the whole story.
   
   Having an open minded attitude that listens to the views and needs of all parties will keep your business not just the one your customers wish to use, but that retailers will gladly recommend!

For more information on Triexta, see my article at
http://tinyurl.com/cleantip6

Is it Wicking or is it Sticking?

What do you do when you get called about a spot that has been discovered by your customer after you have cleaned their carpet?

Before you show up with an arsenal of products, you need (and your customer needs) an answer to these three questions:

1. Did the stain remain after cleaning?
2. Did the spot come back when it dried?
3. Did the spot show up over time?

The reason that these questions are so important is that they speak to three different types of problems.

1. "Did the stain remain after cleaning?"
   If you've done everything you could to clean the carpet and a stain remains, you might need to use reducing or oxidizing agents with some of your advanced skills to remove this stain. And, in some cases, there are stains that cannot be removed regardless of your skills and available stain removal chemistry arsenal.


2. "Did the spot come back when it dried?"
   If spots disappear during cleaning, but reappear after the carpet dries, the problem is probably wicking. This needs to be treated with an absorbent powder or sprayed with an anti wicking agent


3. "Did the spot show up over time?"
   This is more likely a sticky residue than a wicking problem. When adhesive residues (such as from tape) or clear sugary drinks spills, the soil that was attracted to the sticky residue comes up easily, leading the cleaner to believe the spot is gone. If it comes back, you need to follow more extensive spotting procedures to remove the sticky residue that in the case of a spill is likely deep within the carpet yarns, and will require extensive flushing to remove.

Each of these three different circumstances requires cleaning, spotting, and stain removal skills to correct. But those products and skills are not of much use, and can sometimes even work against you, if you don't know the difference between the three.

Acid Rinses

Over the past two decades many cleaners have shifted from the use of alkaline carpet cleaning detergents to the use of acidic rinse agents. Cleaners began to become concerned about potential cleaning residues, and while some attempted to solve the problem by rinsing with clear water alone, others chose to use existing chemistry to attempt to neutralize pH as well as rinse cleaning agent residues from carpet.

The products they first tried were already available, and had been on the market for several years already: Acidic Rinse Agents.

These products were primarily used for rinsing upholstery after preconditioning, and their primary purpose was (and still is) to be used for stabilizing dyes, preventing cellulose browning, and softening velvet and chenille fabrics.

These products still work for carpet, but have mostly been replaced by products that act as cleaning agents as well as neutralizing agents. These products are acidic in pH, and do help to neutralize preconditioning agents, but have the added benefit of providing cleaning as well as neutralization. With these acidic cleaning (rather than rinsing) agents, you need not precondition the entire carpet, but instead only the parts that have heavy accumulations of petroleum, proteins, or fats.

Carpet Cleaning Detergents

Carpet cleaning detergents are an important part of hot water extraction cleaning. While cleaners sometimes use acidic rinses or even clear water after using traffic lane presprays, as we discussed last, the majority of cleaners use a carpet cleaning detergent in their portable or truck mounted carpet cleaning equipment.

Carpet cleaning detergents have been around as long as there has been hot water extraction machines. At one time they were used alone for cleaning, and some cleaners still do most or all of their cleaning by simply adding this type of product to their solution tank or truck mount stock solution.

Most cleaners, though, use a carpet cleaning detergent to clean the areas of a carpet that are not routinely sprayed with a traffic lane prespray.

The two types of carpet cleaning detergents that most cleaners encounter are liquids and powders.

Liquids have the advantage of being easy to dissolve in water, and that they often leave the carpet with a soft hand, or feel.

Their weakness is that in very hard water areas,they may not be as effective.

Powders, on the other hand, need more time to dissolve, but are often the most aggressive cleaners and are very effective in hard water applications.

So if you use a portable machine or have a truck mount that has a sensitive (translate "easy to clog") chemical metering system, then liquids make sense, especially if the water is soft.

If you use a truck mount, and if you are willing to take a few minutes to make sure you detergent is dissolved thoroughly, you might prefer the extra cleaning power that a powder can give to you.

A third category of carpet cleaning product that is NOT a detergent are the "surfactant free" or "soap free" products. These products have no detergent, but only alkaline builders in them. What they provide is good cleaning of oily soils without leaving a surfactant residue behind. Carpets cleaned with these products feel like they've been rinsed with water only, and have no odor. Such products are ideal for people who want a "chemical and fragrance free" cleaning.

Understanding Traffic Lane Presprays

At my last count, we sell over 30 different traffic lane presprays here at Pembertons! That can make things pretty confusing for the most experienced cleaners. Much of that variety exists because of brand, fragrance, and other preferences. To simplify things, you can break prespray products down into four categories:

Standard Traffic Lane Cleaners, Olefin Preconditioners, Enzyme Presprays, and High pH Presprays. The names of these categories are mine, but they give you an idea of what each one is.

Standard Traffic Lane Cleaners usually have a pH around 10, and are considered by most carpet manufacturers and fiber producers to be safe for all synthetic carpets. These products have solvents and surfactants as part of their formulation to create products that really do most of your cleaning. You'll find that they emulsify oils, suspend soil, and break down most spots so completely that you need to use little, if anything, in your extraction solution. Products such as these have lead to the use of acid rinse agents and detergents, and sometimes simply the use of clear water rinses. There remains a place for alkaline cleaning detergents of course, and we'll discuss that at a later time.

Olefin preconditioners are made primarily to cope with the issue of the way oily soils, especially oily particulates, cling to oil loving fibers such as olefin, polyester, and triexta. These products use advanced surfactant technology to break the bond of these oily soils and allow for easy suspension and later extraction. The use of such products will lessen the chance of wicking as well.

Enzyme presprays work specifically on food based soils, such as proteins, carbohydrates, and starches. If you clean restaurants, cafeterias, and other food service areas, such products can speed up your cleaning, and eliminate the need for special spotting. These products are not necessarily as effective on the oily soils that are often found in Asian restaurants, however.

Your ultimate "nuclear option" is the use of highly alkaline presprays. Such products have pH ranges between 11 and 12, and may not be suitable for non colorfast carpet fibers. Their distinct advantages are the fact that they can be used for abused rental property carpet, as well as restaurants and other carpets that have been exposed to heavy traffic, accumulated synthetic and protein based oils, and general abuse.

Introduction to Cleaning Chemistry

This is the beginning of a series of presentations I’ll be giving about how your cleaning products work. I was struggling to come up with a way to begin this series, and my good friend and fellow trainer Jim Smith shared this idea with me, and I’d like to share it with you.

“In order to remove soil and stains from carpets and fabrics, you need to change those soils to a free flowing nature. An example of something with a free flowing nature would be sand or water running through your fingers.

If soil behaves like sand, it can be readily vacuumed away. If stains behave like water, they can be blotted or extracted from the textile.

Where we need cleaning chemistry is where a soil or stain is not free flowing, but instead it is sticky or oily, and therefore no longer “free flowing”. Sticky can include, by the way, the process where electric charges hold very fine particles to fibers that otherwise resist vacuuming.

Once we understand what chemistry is needed to break those sticky or oily bonds away from the fiber surface, we can better choose what products are needed.

Stryker Cleaning & Extraction Wand

This new carpet cleaning wand is changing how carpet is cleaned! The primary reason that this tool was invented was to create a wand that minimizes repetitive stress issues with what used to be called "the trigger hand".

The Stryker eliminates two key stress areas in the following ways:

1. Solution Flow. On the Stryker wand, this is controlled by an ball valve that is activated by the left hand. This allows the right hand (or opposite if you are left handed) to simply push the wand.


2. Wand Use: The handle on the Stryker is designed to be used like a wood plane, or saw handle. This "straight push" design allows for easier movement of the arm, and eliminates the "45 degree" grip needed when the operators hand has to reach around a conventional wand tube and activate the solution valve.

In addition to these two ergonomic improvements, the design of the cleaning head enabled hot water to flow out of several small holes instead of jets, which means that the hot solution pours directly onto the carpet yarns, rather than allowing heat and pressure loss into the air.

Finally, the rotomolded body gives unimpeded airflow for better extraction and drying.

Try this wand out with our 30 day "no questions asked" money back guarantee!

FAQs - Water Stains on Carpet

Question: I have a commercial carpet with dark water stains that appeared after drying out a flood loss. Any tips on how to remove them?

---

Answer: Water stains are usually simply wicked soil. If the stains are brown or rust colored, they may also contain cellulose or mineral materials from the water itself or structural materials.

Some water stains may be removed with an acid based spotter, or mild reducing agent, such as would be found in Browning Treatment by Masterblend or Coffee Stain Remover by Bridgepoint. Severe water stains often come out more readily with the use of an oxidizer, however.

I worked on one such stain that was a dark rust color, and had defied every conventional removal process. I then tried a new product of ours, Groom Solutions Peroxicap. This unique product works primarily for use in encapsulation cleaning, but it also has peroxide in its formulation. By applying the product to the stained area and the surrounding carpet as well, then following with agitation with a rotary scrubber and encapsulation pad, every bit of the water stain was removed.

One of the above processes should work for you, depending on the severity of the stain and the equipment and products available to you.

FAQs - Does it Pay to Protect Polyester and Triexta?

There has been some discussion in our industry regarding or not polyester (PET) or triexta (PPT) require protector, and even if protector works on these fibers. While triexta is a new fiber, there is nothing in its make up to make us feel that the application of a fluorochemical protector, such as Scotchgard, Teflon, or Maxim would not help. These products protect against the primary soiling and staining problems that beset both triexta and polyester: Oily soils.

We have been able to conduct long term testing of polyester (PET) here at our training center. The polyester sample carpet was 20 years old, and obviously without any remaining factory protection. After cleaning, 3M Scotchgard (tm) and Bridgepoint Maxim Advanced were applied to opposite ends of the carpet, with the center left untreated.

The carpet was then put down in our repair shop, and rotated every day to make sure that the carpet soiled evenly. The carpet was also vacuumed every other day.

After 30 days, it was obvious that the two protected sides were resisting oily soil and spills, and that the untreated center was soiling more rapidly.

In 60 days, the carpet was thoroughly cleaned. Within another 30 days, the same degree of protection was still evident, as the treated areas continued to resist soil and spills, and the untreated areas did not.

As polyester (PET) becomes a larger percentage of the carpet you clean, you should feel free to apply fluorochemical protector to it. According to industry studies, it should remain on the carpet for about 12 months before it wears off.

FAQs - Feces on White Carpet

Q – Hi Jim,

Dog ate perhaps some deer pooh and pooped on a white polyester carpet. Homeowner tried to clean it up. I was limited to what I had.

I first used coffee stain remover. Then MB color accelerant. Although it lightened it, it wasn't gone. Then I used the power gel. There's just a shade. I didn't have any OSR or Stain Magic.

What is odd is that the polyester stained. That's never happened to me before. Is that normal, and why.

Thanks

--------------------
A –
Let’s answer the last part first . . .

Polyester is going to be the "olefin" of the next decade. Because we encountered little of it until recently, we (our industry) have never paid much attention to it.

It is not nearly as stain resistant as is olefin, it is resistant to some stains that nylon is not resistant to.

Polyester is disperse dyed, and for that reason is more readily stained by mustard, herbal teas, instant soup, shoe polish, etc. So its not stain proof.

Now to your question:

#1 - Deer feces reprocessed through the dog and presented to the carpet as dog feces should not contain disperse dye.

#2 - We don't know what else the dog may have consumed, and we do not know what your customer may have used to clean it.

#3 - The reducing agents that you attempted to use are not usually effective on this type of stain and carpet; the oxidizing agents that you propose to use (OSR and/or Stain Magic) will likely be effective.

Finally, if you are only seeing a shade remaining, and if you are certain that you have neutralized, rinsed, and extracted all of the residues from both your customer's and your spotting attempts, simply apply Stain Magic, cover it with plastic, and allow time for it to work.

This should remove the remaining stain.

FAQs - Black Marks from Dragging Feet

Q - Hello Jim,

I'm on a job and they have a kid that drags his feet with shoes on and has put black marks on the carpet. how would i get that out?

A - The black marks from dragged shoes have two potential staining sources: Two not so bad, one VERY bad:

1. If the black marks are from oily soils, a volatile spotter such as All Solv or Solvent Clean will remove the marks readily. You need only to apply it with a clean white cloth, and blot until the carpet looks clean.
   
   Both of these solvents leave no residue, and will require no additional cleaning. If, however, you still find that there is a light brown stain, the application of a traffic lane cleaner, such as Zone Perfect or Megapack, will emulsify the remaining oily residues and allow them to be extracted during the cleaning process.


2. Sometimes what spots that appear to be black marks are marks where deicing salt has been walked into the carpet and left as a moisture attracting residue. The same salt that melts ice also keeps carpet wet while attracting dirt that sticks to the wet spots. What results are black marks that feel damp instead of greasy to the touch.
   
   Such salt residues should be removed by applying an acidic rinse agent, such as FabSet or Refresh Soft, then cleaning with hot water extraction. The acidic rinse agent changes the insoluble calcium chloride to very soluble sodium chloride. This procedure is also helpful if crusty white stains are found on the carpet from salt as well.


3. The toughest black mark from shoes comes from shoe polish. Shoe polish may contain disperse dyes that permanently stain most carpets. If you suspect shoe polish, clean the carpet as best as you can, then apply Stain Zone or Stain Magic. Over time it may lighten or remove the stains. But don't count on it.

FAQs - Brown Spots After Cleaning

Hello Jim -

I'm hoping you can assist me with a problem carpet. I've seen your posts on the various Internet bulletin boards and realize you are amongst the most respected professionals within the carpet cleaning industry.

I cleaned a carpet a week ago Friday and was called back because of an issue which caused brown, elongated spotting on the carpet. I've cleaned it twice since then but the marks continue to return after each cleaning but in different areas. In some places on the carpet, the the marks seem to correspond with the end of wand strokes and/or where a pad moved across the carpet. I've attached several pictures so you can see the problem areas.

Here are the particulars:

1. Carpet fiber is Olefin as determined via the burn test and the fibers floated on water without absorbing.
2. Carpet style is cut pile, perhaps Saxony.
3. Carpet had not been cleaned in four years and was extremely soiled. No kids or pets.
4. Cleaning process: pre-vacuumed using a Proteam commercial with beater brush; applied cleaning solution; agitated with machine pad (initial cleaning only); rinsed and extracted with Prochem Peak; post-padded with white cotton pad (most recent cleaning only); groomed. Ceiling fans in all rooms set on high.
5. Cleaning agents used: 1) Traffic Slam prespray boosted with Prochem Oxy Plus & End Zone rinse; 2) Zone Perfect prespray & Prochem All Fiber Rinse; 3) Zone Perfect & End Zone.

On the second cleaning, I used added dry strokes pushing the wand well beyond normal overlapping. I post-padded before grooming during the most recent cleaning. My plan is to next use a Prochem ProCaps machine with an appropriate cleaning solution.

I've never run into this before so any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
------------------------
Hello

I am always happy to help someone in need in our industry, and I have an idea of what might help.

1. Do you know the prior cleaning history of the carpet (before the four year interval?)
2. When you clean carpet, do you release the trigger valve on your back stroke, or do you leave the trigger on as you push the wand forward?
3. Do you have available any of the following products? Bridgepoint Encapugard or Pros Choice ARA?

Let me know and I'll give you a step by step process to solve the problem.

Best regards,
Jim Pemberton
------------------------
Hello Jim -

Thanks very much for replying.

Cleaning history: I am told by the current home owner that the carpets were cleaned by the previous owner just before she moved into the house about four years ago. She has no idea what cleaning method was used. After the second cleaning resulted in the same issue, I asked if she could get in touch with the previous owners to find out how the carpets were cleaned but she believes they moved out of the area.

Wand strokes: I have the trigger engaged on the upstroke (pushing forward), release it just before completing that stroke, and the back stroke is dry.

ARA/Encapugard: I don't have either on the van - thought I had ARA but it is CSS - but can purchase either (would lean towards ARA) easy enough.

Again, thank you for taking the time to assist. I truly appreciate it.
------------------------
Hello

Thank you for your feedback. The answer would be easier if you HAD kept the valve on during your backstroke, as that does render the type of discoloration that is shown in the pictures.

Nevertheless, the problem appears to be wicking, regardless of the cause. Carpets made from olefin fibers have a greater tendency to wick, and the history of an unknown prior cleaning and a long period before professional cleaning reinforce that to me.

I think you've introduced enough chemistry to this carpet. Unless the carpet has become heavily soiled since your last attempt, I'd use End Zone only the next time, with your water pressure set at 250-300 PSI, several vacuum strokes, and then apply the Anti Resoiling Agent.

If you have airmovers of any sort, use them to dry the carpet quickly.

Let me know how this works for you.

Jim Pemberton

FAQs - Encapuguard

Q - Jim,

Looking at the EncapuGuard directions. It says to simply spray it on after HWE to help control wicking and resoiling. Jim, that just sounds too easy to me!

Any first hand experience or actual use testimonials on this product?

I have been pondering carrying a buffer to encap all berbers, especially light colored ones. Of course space and one man lugging a heavy piece of equipment around in case he encounters a white berber are also considerations.

Berbers have been a more frequent nuisance of late, and encapping has been our "go to" for correction; but it would be nice to head these things off without the nuisance and embarrassment of a phone call and reservice.

Any thoughts?
John

A - Hi John

No testimonials come to mind, but there have been no complaints from anyone I've recommended it to.

EncapuGuard is ideal for the situations you describe. It also contains some organic acid to prevent yellowing, and it also acts as a soil retardant.

The product has been routinely used since it was introduced as a post spray on all olefin berbers, especially heavily soiled ones, and on stairs.

Some cleaners charge for "soil retardant" when they apply it, others, such as yourself, simply build it into the cost of cleaning those carpets.

Its great to have a product that not only prevents an annoying and costly re-service, but also enhances the performance of your customer's carpet afterward.

FAQs - Sanitizing and Protecting Carpet

Q - Jim,

I have a customer who wants carpet sanitizer and carpet protectant.. how should I go about doing this?

Will the carpet sanitizer ruin the carpet protectant if its applied first?

Thanks,
Scott

A - Hi Scott,

Great question! Most combined applications of deodorizer and sanitizer (or any deodorizer) will end up with compatibility problems between the two products, and a double application of water based products, which can lead to slow drying and problems related to drying, such as microbial growth and/or wicking.

If you just need to deodorize and protect, add your deodorizer (if compatible) to your prespray. In the case of truly sanitizing a carpet, you'll need to use Microban Clean Carpet Sanitizer. You can either use it as a prespray followed by a clear water rinse if the carpet is heavily soiled, or you can run the product through your unit as the cleaner if the carpet is only moderately soiled.

As it is an EPA registered sanitizer, you should not use other presprays or boosters, as such products must never be used in a way contrary to label directions, and most other cleaners could interfere with the sanitizing ingredients. However, once the carpet is cleaned with this product (and it is a VERY good cleaner), you can then protect afterward with a good water based fluorochemical protector.

Jim

FAQs - Fixing Wicking

Q - I have a customer who spilled a mix vodka tonic and grapefruit juice on a Berber carpet, he had another company clean it, it looked good until it dried, then it wicked up looking brown.

He called us to try and clean it. What treatment could we use to remove the stain?

A - Just by the fact that the spot "wicks" shows that the need for elaborate cleaning chemistry is not as important as controlling the "physics" of drying and wicking.

I would treat the area with a good general purpose spotter, such as Perky or Avenge, rinse it thoroughly, and if possible, use the "Water Claw Spot Lifter" for the most complete extraction possible.

Finally, you should pack the area with an absorbent spotter, such as Bridgepoint Stain Absorb or Masterblend Absorbent spotter. If you have neither of these, absorbent towels with a heavy weight on top might work, but it is a poor substitute for the super absorbency of these "crushed mineral" absorbents.

Apply the powder to a depth of 1/8" on an inch, and an extra 2" around the diameter of the original spot.

FAQs - Cleaning Area Rug in Place

Q - I have a customer who would like the traffic area (center) of the rug done. She said the rug was cleaned by another company in place. Would I be able to use a mix of Energy & Extreme Clean, and extract with End Zone? If so, what do you suggest as to the settings for the heat and wand pressure. She does not want the rug removed for cleaning. The rug size is approx 7 ft by 9 ft. I have a copy from your site on Area Rugs, Wool.

A - There are times when it makes sense to clean an area rug in place. Here are my suggestions:

1. Would I be able to use a mix of Energy & Extreme Clean, and extract with End Zone?
   Unless you are certain this rug is made from olefin, do not under any circumstances use Energy and Extreme Clean on this rug. You should precondition the rug with a mild detergent, such as Avenge Fabric Prespray or some other upholstery preconditioning product that is within a safe pH range for natural fibers. You should be safe to rinse it with End Zone, though given the choice I'd prefer you to use Fab Set.


2. If so, what do you suggest as to the settings for the heat and wand pressure.
   I'd recommend that you set your temperature at 180 or lower, and use a hand tool at 150 psi or lower. When cleaning rugs in place, its better to use a hand tool to prevent overspray on the surface on which the rug is resting. A truck mount upholstery cleaning tool is ideal for this purpose.

FAQs - Browning on Wool Rug

Q - Once again your crew came through for me in a very busy week last week. Speaking with Jim B about a couple of troubles with my 200 Max made for a more profitable week. Your guys are great and a class act for all to follow. Please tell them thank you for their help and sorry if I called to often.

I wanted to know if you know of a product that can handle browning on a wool rug. One of the floods I did had a large wool rug in the lobby. I don't know if it was preexisting browning but wanted to have ammunition in case it wasn't. Thanks again!!

Blessings,
Dan H

A - Thank you for this message. Lee and I are proud of our staff here, and it is always good when we see the hard work that they do is recognized. We'll be sure to let JB and the rest of them know of your kind thoughts.

Browning can be very difficult to remove from wool, as it is either staining from a jute backing, staining from minerals and soil that infiltrates with water intrusion, or both. Wool's absorbent nature and resistance to releasing stains makes the prospect of fixing this a 50/50 proposition, at best.

We have a browning treatment in stock from Masterblend called, simply enough: "Browning Treatment". Its only 10.26 per gallon. After you apply the product, you should clean the carpet with products appropriate for wool.

Thanks again for your upbuilding comments this morning Dan.

Jim