Spots/Stains that wick up or appear after cleaning

[Paradise305]

Hey everyone. I was wondering how you guys handle spots that wick up after you leave a job or a hidden stain that reappears during your cleaning. Is there any precautionary measures you take to avoid the spot wicking up? From my experience speed drying would help with this but can't always be done. I get a lot of new homeowners that move into a new house and don't replace the carpet right away and then when we go to clean it stains will start to appear. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this is from using wool lite and resolve type products that hide/mask the stain using some form of oxidizer. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have a technician going to a job right now to try and remove a stain that appeared during cleaning. Light brown polyester carpet with a dark brown stain. I'm going to have him try stain magic. Fingers crossed. I'll try and get some pictures too.

 

[keep it clean]

Hey everyone. I was wondering how you guys handle spots that wick up after you leave a job or a hidden stain that reappears during your cleaning. Is there any precautionary measures you take to avoid the spot wicking up? From my experience speed drying would help with this but can't always be done. I get a lot of new homeowners that move into a new house and don't replace the carpet right away and then when we go to clean it stains will start to appear. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this is from using wool lite and resolve type products that hide/mask the stain using some form of oxidizer. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have a technician going to a job right now to try and remove a stain that appeared during cleaning. Light brown polyester carpet with a dark brown stain. I'm going to have him try stain magic. Fingers crossed. I'll try and get some pictures too.

Learn to spot the shadows or remnants of a spot or old spill. Some you have to flood out and dry fast. And others you have to almost clean dry. Using encapsulant cleaner and cotton towels. Fans are your friends. Use them to speed things up a bit.

 

[mrotto]

Spots coming back and hidden spots are two different monsters.

I have a customer that has a door to the outside in the lower level that always has a water mark every time I go. It rinses right out but comes back by the time Im done cleaning. So I now take a hair dryer and dry it quick after cleaning. It doesnt come back until it rains heavy again. You could also use a DriPod to get it dry fast.

Cleaning a spot that appears while cleaning can be treated as any other spot you run into.

If you use a CRB, spots usually come out with agitation. If they are stubborn, I carry a small spray bottle with diluted Citrus Solve that I spray on and then agitate. theres only a few spots that will not be removed in this process. Ink and rust being two.

If you use a CRB you dont need to *pre spot* as the CRB will do this for you

 

[Paradise305]

Spots coming back and hidden spots are two different monsters.

I have a customer that has a door to the outside in the lower level that always has a water mark every time I go. It rinses right out but comes back by the time Im done cleaning. So I now take a hair dryer and dry it quick after cleaning. It doesnt come back until it rains heavy again. You could also use a DriPod to get it dry fast.

Cleaning a spot that appears while cleaning can be treated as any other spot you run into.

If you use a CRB, spots usually come out with agitation. If they are stubborn, I carry a small spray bottle with diluted Citrus Solve that I spray on and then agitate. theres only a few spots that will not be removed in this process. Ink and rust being two.

If you use a CRB you dont need to *pre spot* as the CRB will do this for you

I definitely agree they are two different monsters. What if the spot isn't there prior and during cleaning and then wicks up after you leave? I would love to leave drying equipment at every job but its not always cost effective. I have often found that the stains that magically appear during cleaning are usually organic stains rather than oil based stains. Our #1 spotter is a solvent based spotter similar to citrus solve and is always my go to. We don't always carry a CRB with us, most of the time we manually agitate spots with a spotting brush and have always had great success. I believe less is more sometimes. Thanks for your reply.

 

[keep it clean]

Set fans behind you as you go. Turn on ceiling fans. See if you can set hvac to “fan on” rather then auto. Every little bit helps. But i agree dont leave fans behind. You just want it to be well on its way to dry by the time you leave is all. You may need to just add more dry passes to your cleaning.

 

[Paradise305]

Set fans behind you as you go. Turn on ceiling fans. See if you can set hvac to “fan on” rather then auto. Every little bit helps. But i agree dont leave fans behind. You just want it to be well on its way to dry by the time you leave is all. You may need to just add more dry passes to your cleaning.

I like your idea of setting up fans as you clean. All my air movers are full size and a bit heavy...has anyone tried the mini air movers? I might go out and buy a few and start doing that every time. I have always been adamant about turning on ceiling fans when they're in a room and recommending the customer turns on the A/C in the summer and heat in the winter along with setting up box/oscillating fans if available.

 

[keep it clean]

I like your idea of setting up fans as you clean. All my air movers are full size and a bit heavy...has anyone tried the mini air movers? I might go out and buy a few and start doing that every time. I have always been adamant about turning on ceiling fans when they're in a room and recommending the customer turns on the A/C in the summer and heat in the winter along with setting up box/oscillating fans if available.

Yep use the smaller fans. The large snail fans are ridiculous in houses. Good for empties or commercial. But in occupied homes they take up too much space. Dripods be good option too. They stack nicely. As do the mini snails. They used to have sales on them at depot but i think those days are gone.

 

[keep it clean]

I like your idea of setting up fans as you clean. All my air movers are full size and a bit heavy...has anyone tried the mini air movers? I might go out and buy a few and start doing that every time. I have always been adamant about turning on ceiling fans when they're in a room and recommending the customer turns on the A/C in the summer and heat in the winter along with setting up box/oscillating fans if available.

Its also good for safety having fans where they walk off onto hard surfaces or wood stairs.

 

[mrotto]

yep, I carry two DryPods and 2 mini air movers on the truck at all times. If cleaning an empty or offices, i will load it up with more.