How come filtration line removers foam up so much. Is there anyway to add defoamer to the product without diminishing it's ability to clean filtration lines??? Thanks.
While I cannot speak directly for Dr. Aziz, I do know some chemistry, and regarding adding defoamer to a foamy product- I say don't do it. The reason is- most defoamers are cationic. This means a positive electrical charge. Most detergents are anionic. This means it has a negative electrical charge. If you put them together, one neutralizes the other, and defeats the purpose of the original product. If you need to use a defoamer, do it separately after the detergent. But this can leave another problem, as many carpets are anionic based, and leaving a cationic behind can attract soils, so if you do use a cationic product- which also most deodorizers are too- it will need a separate rinse with an anionic product in order to leave the carpet in an anionic state. Gary R. Heacock
Filtration soil is really a variety of soils. Each case will be different depending on what type of pollution was in the home with the problem. Candle soot, mis-adjusted heating system, vehicle pollution from nearby highway, fire in the home and so many more cuases result in an infinite variety of combinations. What most of these soils have in common is very small, extremely small particle size. These are held to the fiber by micro-occlusion. The main culprit in micro-oclusion is Van der Waals forces. Can be thought of as an electric force that holds very small particles to large syrfaces when they get extremely close on a molecular level. (This helps a fly stay on a ceiling upside down.) There are two processes used to loosen these small particles and get them to the surface. Cationic hydrotopes neutralize the Van der Waals forces. Then effervescence (foam) helps carry those small particles out of the small abrasion and crevices they hide in. Bottom line, you need to foam for them to work well. Scott Warrington P.S. I typed all that and realized it was in the wrong category for the October contest. I'll have to go back to the other forums.
I have known Scott W. for many years, and he really knows his stuff. The easiest and quickest way I ever found to remove filtration lines is- using an electric sprayer, with a mild detergent in it, spray the filtration lines all around a room, then brush it with a stand up brush, which dissolves the soluble parts and suspends the solid parts, followed by either a HWE cleaning or bonnet/OP system to pick up the dissolved and suspended soils. Yes, I did it on hands and knees for years, tried crevice tools, etc, even got a crevice tool with a built in sprayer, but that was slower and less effective than the detergent and brush. Gary R. Heacock
