Often times when professional carpet cleaners are called upon to take care of stains or spots in carpets the first question will inevitably be “can you get it out”? If the first response out of the tech’s mouth is a resounding “yes”, then you might want to look into hiring someone else. The truth of the matter is not all stains are removable. We always have a “let’s take a look at it and if it can be removed” mindset. If it can be removed, we have what it takes to get it out”.

Sugar and oil-based stains.

Most dark colored, brown or black, spots are sugar or oil based. These can be removed 90% of the time. Stains in this category include colas, tea, coffee, and non-red juices. With cola stains, a traffic lane cleaner is usually the way to go and will take care of the problem almost always. Tea and coffee are sometimes a little more difficult and may require an acid rinse in conjunction with the traffic lane cleaner. Juices like apple or orange are relatively easy to get out. The problems occur when you get into the red juices such as grape or cranberry, especially on light carpets. Red juices fall into the red dye category and sometimes the only way to get those out is a heat transfer dye process. This process is usually reserved as a last resort and even then there are no guarantees.

Body fluids.

So what about stains such as blood, vomit, and urine? Well these, like all stains, need to be addressed quickly. The sooner you get them removed the better. The trick with blood is to not clean it with hot water or alkaline cleaning products. You might think you’re helping the carpet tech out by trying to remove some of the stains yourself but these treatments will actually set the blood into the carpet. Your best bet is to leave it to the professional. Vomit and urine are similar in that they are removed through a process. And it is very important to get urine up as soon as possible. The longer it stays the more it will continue to deteriorate the carpet. These types of spots are usually removed by utilizing a pre-treatment that breaks down the stain. Then the spot is thoroughly extracted. These steps will be repeated as necessary and afterwards, an enzyme is sprayed that will continue to break the spot down.

Mystery stains.

Sometimes you can get stains through no fault of your own. These would include stains from yellowing, water rings, and filtration soiling. Yellowing is one of those stains that can either be easily neutralized or impossible to remove. It is very common and can be treated with citric acid or an acid rinse. Water rings are also sometimes hit or miss. They are treated with traffic lane cleaner or an acid rinse. Filtration soiling is usually found in hallways near air conditioning units or where the carpet meets the baseboards. These are black lines that are caused by the carpet “filtering” soil. Getting rid of these stains requires using a special spotter and manually scrubbing the area with a towel. Due to the extra labor involved, this process may cost a bit more than you would like.

Remove it FAST!

The bottom line is that there are no guarantees with spot removal. What seems like an easy to remove stain could prove terribly difficult, and vice versa. But SPEED is your friend. Remove spots and stains FAST and you’ll have better luck in removal.

“They’re Baaack!”

Have you ever wondered why spots return after having your carpet cleaned?  There are two main reasons that spots return?

Reason # 1: Wicking. Many times, the spot that is being removed has seeped into the backing of the carpet. This is common with pet urine, beverages, and anything that is spilled in “volume” which then dries in the backing and the cushion (pad) of the carpet. When the spot is cleaned, only the material in the “pile” of the carpet is removed. However, if the base of carpet fiber (tufts) are exposed to moisture during the cleaning process, then as the spot dries, the material that is in the backing of the carpet “wicks” back into the pile of the carpet much like a candle wick.
Even traffic area soil that is embedded can wick back. This is especially common in glue down carpet that is heavily impacted with soil. When the carpet is cleaned, it looks good. When it dries, the spots and traffic area soiling reappear.

The good news is that if a spot actually wicks back, it can be removed. When spot cleaning yourself, place a folded white terry cloth towel over the spot just after you clean it while the spot is still moist. Place a heavy object on top of the cloth. Be sure to use something non porous that won’t transfer color onto the carpet (like a paper book cover, brick, or something like that).
When you have your carpet cleaned professionally, be sure to point out spots that have wicked back in the past, so they can be treated properly.

Reason # 2: Re-soiling. Re-soiling is caused by a sticky residue that has been left behind. The residue may be from the spot itself, the cleaner that was used, or both and attracts soil and dust from the air circulating in the home or office and foot traffic. Some common residue causes are over-the-counter carpet cleaners purchased at the grocery store. Avoid using these cleaners all together. If you have to use one of these cleaners, or you have to use dish washing detergent, use as little as possible and rinse with water thoroughly.
Other residue causes would be oily spots. Duct tape residue, body oils, lotions, etc. If all the oily residue is not removed, it will attract soil as the carpet is walked on. Even quality professional cleaning may not remove all oily residue the first time.

SPECIAL NOTE: Cheap carpet cleaners use cheap products that are loaded with optical brighteners. Optical brighteners create an illusion of clean that causes the soil or spot to appear to be removed. The spot is still there. The soil is still there. Optical brighteners create a film that reflects light so that the carpet looks incredibly clean. It’s an optical illusion.
A stark illustration of this can be seen at a flea market or home show. Someone will be demonstrating a miracle cleaner on a small rug. The rug is saturated with motor oil. The salesman then scoops off just the foam of the miracle cleaner and presto, the motor oil is gone! This is physically impossible. Notice that the salesman has several bright lights shining on the demo rug to create the illusion.

The old saying goes “good things aren’t cheap and cheap things aren’t good.”  Well, there is alot of truth in that old saying.  People have learned this over the years.  What happens when you buy the cheapest car you can find?  It may look good on the outside but it lacks reliability and ultimately has a high cost in repair bills! 

Often times the cheapest or “lowest priced” service company will end up having the “highest costs” to you over the long run.  Let me illustrate.  Here are 5 expensive(high costs) reasons the cheapest(low priced) carpet cleaners should be avoided.

1.  Low priced carpet cleaners cut out anything that is not required.  Did you know that the carpet cleaning industry isn’t regulated?  You don’t have to have any certifications or insurance to become a “professional” carpet cleaner.  Because of this, our industry gets filled with uneducated and sometimes downright unscrupulous cleaners.  The lowest price cleaner is not going to have the money to acquire or keep up their education in this field.  They’ll also avoid paying for things like liability insurance or worker comp insurance.  This leaves you as the consumer vulnerable and liable if anything goes wrong. 
2. Cheap cleaners often can’t afford to maintain their equipment.  Do you want a service company that can’t fix things that go wrong with their equipment?  Mechanical things do break down if not maintained so what happens when the equipment isn’t working properly?  Your carpet can be ruined in a worst case scenario but at the very least your risks are having a carpet that can’t be properly rinsed and extracted resulting in over-wet carpet often filled with a soil attracting residue.
3. Cheap cleaners can’t afford good quality help.  Being the lowest priced company means you definitely can’t pay good wages.  This results in high turnover when better opportunities come their way.  Background checks are expensive and therefore often left out.  How important is it that you know who you are inviting into your home?
4. Low priced cleaners buy the lowest priced tools and cleaning products.  Our industry is filled with very good high quality expensive cleaning products but it is equally filled with products that aren’t worth the jug they are stored in.  Do you want the best cleaning products or the cheapest being used on your expensive flooring?  Often times, a cheap cleaner may over dilute their cleaning products to make them last longer.  We see this alot with carpet protectors.  Many customers feel that carpet protectors like Scotchgard don’t work because they had a poor experience with it in the past.  I’ll tell you they DO work if they are diluted properly and applied from a dedicated application container.
5. The lowest priced service companies typically go out of business within the first few years.  Most small business don’t succeed.  In fact I think the number is around 80% that fail within the first 5 years.  Running a small business is already hard enough.  If you are the lowest priced company then you simply can’t keep up with your expenses to operate the business.  Many close down and go do something else.

There is one notable exception to where a low priced carpet cleaning company will succeed for a while longer than expected.  That is when they employ bait and switch tactics.  This is where a low price is used to get you to hire them and then once they are inside your home they find creative ways to increase the bill and even tack on hidden charges to get the price up to where they needed to be in the first place.  This is dishonest and a black eye in our industry.  You can avoid these bait and switch cleaners by asking the right questions during your initial interview with the service provider.  We have posted a video about this on the home page of this website..http://www.carpetcleanersmacon.com

For help in hiring a professional service company follow these guidelines…..http://mycarpetcure.com/how-to-select-a-carpet-cleaning-company/