March 2007 Problem
March 23rd 2007

Water is often a very crucial part of the cleaning process but too much water or very slow drying times can be a major problem for the professional carpet cleaning or restoration company.We seem to have more than our fair share across the country at the moment a good time to look at some of the main problems this can cause.

Water Marks

These can often be the same as Browning (see below) but some times as is the case of many on upholstery for example have nothing to do with water and can be the result of using blended non evaporating solvents( P.O.G.)and not rinsing them with volatile ones ( Wet Solvent). Removal is therefore quite simple and it is best to try evaporating solvents first if you are unsure as to the cause of the mark. Real water marks are treated as for Browning.

Browning Carpets

Caused by the lignin leaking out from natural primary and secondary backing materials.This can be dealt with by the use of a mild form of reducing agent such as Browning Treatment. A simple spray on method is often all that is required to correct the problem.Using air movers or extra dry passes when cleaning, (if you think the atmosphere is going to cause slow drying) is a good way to avoid the problem. Keeping your machine well serviced and making sure the jet sizes are correct for the machine and in good working order can also help to keep carpets as dry as they ought to be after professional cleaning.

Rug Fringes – often go brown from the atmosphere in the air due to amount of natural cotton content.The re are two ways of dealing with this one is to bleach the fringe back (RX for Browning) and then rinse out the product with an anti browning agent rinse ( Haitian Cotton Cleaner) to avoid re-darkening. A more common way nowadays is to use the anti browning agent as the cleaner for the fringe and benefit from the cleaning properties as well this will give a much less white result and gives a more natural result. Upholstery- browning mostly occurs on the beaded seams of the upholstery or areas where drying is slow. Spray with reducing agent (Spray n Go or Haitian Cotton Cleaner) and use a hair dryer to increase the power of it and speed drying before rinsing out with cold water.Drying fast with your hair dryer and /or air mover is essential.Water can also cause rusting around metal backed buttons which can be avoided by putting furniture tabs under the buttons until the suite is dry, to correct use Safe Rust Remover using a cotton bud and rinse with Ammonia.

Shrinking

Overwetting can cause shrinking sometimes this corrects itself or can be stretched back – but more often than not you will end up paying for he carpet so use good industry standard techniques and products and keep your training up to date. New low moisture products are a boon to helping to avoid this.

Flooding & Mildew & Mould are very specialised problems and require more space to do justice to all the issues. Please ring the number below for help and advise if you want more information. FREE anti Browning products available in March Promotion ring us for your voucher.

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