Ammonia

[Cliff]

Has anyone every use ammonia to remove red juice stains? If so how well did it work? Ammonia was a suggestion to me by another professional carpet cleaner. Just looking for a second opinion.

 

[Jim Ellis]

Ammonia + a little dawn - dilluted is an ok heat transfer reducer for synthetic stains like coolaide.

 

[Scott W]

Ammonia is not a reducer. Dawn or any dish soap will be likely to leave a resoiling residue.

Ammonia is highly alkaline and can remove some stains if you and the clinet can stand the odor. Not a very professional approach, IMO.

I suggest a product like RedZONE Ready or Red Relief for red beverages with artificial coloring. StainZONE for natural red stains like wine and fruit juices without artificial coloring added.

 

[Jim Ellis]

Ammonia is not a reducer. Dawn or any dish soap will be likely to leave a resoiling residue.

Ammonia is highly alkaline and can remove some stains if you and the clinet can stand the odor. Not a very professional approach, IMO.

I suggest a product like RedZONE Ready or Red Relief for red beverages with artificial coloring. StainZONE for natural red stains like wine and fruit juices without artificial coloring added.

Wrong, ammonia is a weak reducing agent that reacts with copper(ii) oxide and chlorine to form nitrogen. I was not endorsing this as a great solution - it's just an old backup that has worked in a pinch when other, superior products, where not readily available.

 

[wandwizard]

My biggest fear w/ using ammonia and heat transfer is I would think there could be a high probability of not only removing the food dye, but some of the carpet colors as well, particularly on nylon. I just don't feel it's worth the risk to save a few cents. Food dye removers aren't that expensive. I've seen the ammonia from products like Windex permanently stain carpets many times. (yeah, I've had customers spot clean there carpets w/ Windex more than once or they spill it when cleaning their windows w/ it.) It doesn't happen immediately either. I would say as long as the ammonia is thoroughly rinsed out and neutralized immediately afterwards you would minimize the risk. I'm not taking the chance on it. I'll keep my Red 1 or similar.

Take a look at this little lady's video where she used ammonia on a red stain. She's wondering at the end if the carpet was lighter or not. I'm pretty sure she bleached it out some! It will likely even be more noticeable after it gets cleaned next time too. She got the red out though! Btw, the degradation of the carpet dyes is not always apparent right after applying a very high ph product like that to it. Sometimes if festers over time just waiting for someone to clean the carpet and BOOM, ALL the dye comes right out!

 

[1ST CHOICE CLEANING]

Ammonia + a little dawn - dilluted is an ok heat transfer reducer for synthetic stains like coolaide.

I have had some customers that tell me they tried to remove red stains using Dawn or Windex in the past. It never seems to work for them and makes my job of removing them harder.

 

[pmathot]

I'm not a chemist, but I'm skeptical that it's the weak reducing properties of ammonia that are making this work on occasion, more likely the alkalinity. I've used peroxide and ammonia in a heat transfer to remove red stains (oxidation), but red 1 and similar are definitely a more reliable way to deal with them. Rather than using ammonia and dawn, if you were desperate, you could use some pre-spray at 1:5 and a heat transfer. I've had partial success with this.

Phil M.

 

[Zarz]

Ammonia is simply good for use on Protein based stains like blood/Vomit etc. Very good for breaking down doggy oils on Carpet and oily sweat on Uph. Useful as a booster on nylons. keep it away from wool carpets.

 

[pmathot]

Ammonia is simply good for use on Protein based stains like blood/Vomit etc. Can also be used as a booster on nylons. keep it away from wool carpets.

John,

Good to see a fellow Aussie! Many detergents, even some that are WoolSafe approved, have an ammonia component. Ammonia, being alkaline, helps target fatty acids, and is useful in carpet cleaning for more than just protein matter. Ammonia is quite volatile, and so the pH of the solution drops as it flashes off - hence the reason it's used in some detergents that are suitable for wool.

Phil M.

 

[Zarz]

Yeh, you are fully correct here bud. Just as a general rule, I prefer to keep it away from wool. Cheers

 

[TopJobROd]

I have been using Kleenrite superX for a long time.......

 

[PortableMan]

Ammonia works sometimes , but use Dynachem Dye Stain Remover works great.

 

[Calgary Hog]

I have used dollar tree Amonia on turmeric spill it worked like charm. Child had curry and picked on 5 steps of stairs took me complete 1 hour. Dollar tree Amonia is weak and did great job removing it.