Common
Carpet Issues & Problems
Your Liability
Rapid Resoiling
Wicking (Wick Back)
Odor Correction
Microbial Cultivation
Permanent Staining
"Shadowing" of Traffic Lanes
Time-Elapsed Chemistry
Your Liability
We have logged hundreds and hundreds
of hours of experience dealing with some of the most bizarre and
excessive soiling/odor conditions imaginable. We bring to your
carpet the industry's most potent chemicals and most powerful cleaning
equipment. And though we may regularly deliver miraculous cleaning
results, we cannot actually perform genuine supernatural miracles.
Your carpet and its problems are YOUR liability, not ours. We will do everything possible to correct problems. Some problems and concerns are temporary and correctable, others are permanent.
Rapid Resoiling
This is a temporary issue.
Traffic lanes appear markedly darker and heavily soiled within less than two weeks of having been cleaned. Residual detergent attracts soil to carpeting from foot-traffic. Usually, carpets have been cleaned many times in the past using an imbalanced pH system (no neutralizer). All retail purchased carpet cleaning systems omit neutralization and leave detergent residue. Most large-chain carpet cleaning companies omit neutralization and leave detergent residue.
Correction: Rinse, neutralize, and possibly apply an anti-resoiling agent.
Wicking (Wick-Back)
This is a temporary issue.
After cleaning and during the evaporative drying process, carpet fibers act as wicks (like the wick of an oil lamp), drawing localized material from padding/backing to the top of the fiber. The resulting spot is faint but noticeable. This can occur where a spot was visible prior to cleaning: and where no spot was visible prior to cleaning. Where the spot was visible, usually spilling has occurred, and large quantities of the material are trapped in the padding/backing. Where the spot was not previously visible, the material was either adequately cleaned and blocked at the last cleaning or was deposited on the subfloor prior to carpet installation. Correction: rinse and extract with low-moisture setting. Apply an anti-resoiling agent. Dry with an airmover.
Partial Odor
Correction
This is an uncommon and temporary issue.
Incomplete odor correction can be either psychological or factual. In the majority of complaints of incomplete odor removal, only the client can smell the remaining odor in question—no one else can. The odor is "in the client's head," because the mind psychologically anticipates the presence of an odor. Also, while attempting to detect an odor, the client will often sniff in and out heavily through the nostrils: this overloads the mucus-lining and nerve endings in the nasal passage rendering them ineffective in determining if a true odor is present.
In cases where the technician can also detect the odor, there may be one or both of two causes: one, the original odor in the carpet was not completely corrected; two, the odor in the carpet masked another odor originating from another source. It is important to identify the type of odor that is being detected and its origin. If it is coming from the carpet, the odor will intensify closer to the carpet. Correction: ensure that the odor is not coming from the carpet. If it is, further extraction/deodorization may be necessary. If it is not, attempt to find the source of the odor and recommend corrective measures, which may range from simple "manner of living" modifications to complete removal of the cause of odor, such as an animal.
Microbial Cultivation
This is a very uncommon and temporary issue.
Mildew is mold that grows on trees. Mildew cannot therefore be said to be in a house, unless you are growing a tree with mildew on it inside your house, but even then it's still on the tree and not on the carpet / walls. You cannot have mildew in your house.
Mold spores (seeds) are everywhere. They become problematic to human respiratory systems when they are present in high concentrations. Spores cultivate into visible mold on surfaces where water and food are present. On carpet, the carpet must be moist for more than 24-48 hours to begin to cultivate mold. Our cleaning processes always dry before this threshold expires. Longer dry times may be the result of elevated atmospheric humidity or application of a liquid deodorizing agent that requires a lengthy dwell time. In the case of the deodorizer, it breaks down anything organic. While the carpet may be wet during deodorizer dwell time, it is inhospitable to mold spores. Once the carpet has dried, obviously mold growth cannot occur. "Thick" or "musty" smells should not be automatically attributed to the carpet, especially if an antimicrobial deodorizer has been applied and/or the carpet is dry. Please contact us only if atmospheric "mustiness" does not dissipate after opening windows and airing / ventilating the area.
Permanent Staining
As the name suggests, permanent staining is a permanent issue.
Permanent. Spots are aggregates of foreign matter in carpet that can be completely removed. Permanent staining, or dyeing, is when the carpet has been dyed by foreign matter: while the matter can be removed, the resulting discolored carpet fiber cannot be corrected with cleaning procedures. Dye reversal may be an option. Red #40 dye, a food coloring, is the most common cause of permanent staining.
"Shadowing" of Traffic Lanes
This is a permanent issue.
In the case of permanently shadowed traffic lanes, there is only one culprit: infrequent vacuuming. Soils, sand, and dust under weight of traffic fray and disintegrate carpet fibers into powder. Whether you walk on your carpet wearing shoes or just your socks is immaterial. Under conditions of elevated humidity or moisture, the soil, with an acid pH, ultimately dyes carpet fibers to the color of the soil. While removing pounds of soil from your carpet will considerably brighten traffic lanes, the shadow-effect is permanent.
Prevention: adopt a vacuuming frequency that is appropriate for the soil content of your traffic volume and soiling type. Because it is hard for most people to fathom the poundage of soil that enters a building or home within a short period of time, as a rule of thumb, you’re not vacuuming frequently enough.
Time-Elapse Chemistry
This is a temporary issue.
Some chemicals, unfortunately, require a dwell-time. In the case of deodorizers, this can be over 24 hours. In the case of organic spots, discoloration may not fully disappear until 8 hours later. If discoloration of a spot treated with oxidization remains, it may be permanent; further troubleshooting may correct the spot or just verify that it is a permanent inorganic dye-stain.