Carpet Cleaning Dublin

Why Carpet Stains Keep Coming Back

Stains on the carpet are frustrating. Those unsightly spots take away the charm and appeal of the unit, negatively affecting the rest of the decor. These spots also commonly have the uncanny trait of “popping back up” after the carpet cleaning has been carried out, especially after DIY tasks, or even when a rookie contractor has been hired for the task. What’s behind this persistent spotting? Let’s delve into it and more. 

The Wicking Effect

Let’s take a trip down memory lane: back in your young school days. Most kids conducted a science experiment where a candle wick, celery, or even a strip of cloth was placed into a container with ink, or a cup with water that had food colouring. The liquid slowly soaked up the wick or cloth strip. A similar case is applied to carpet stains. 

Wicking in carpets occurs when soiling that is within the padding or in the fibres moves back to the top as the carpet dries. Here the soiling or spilled liquid had penetrated too deep into the carpet, such that the carpet cleaning processes undertaken did not remove the content – causing it to pop back up

Stains that usually cause wicking involve large amounts of liquid which hadn’t been effectively removed before soaking into the backside or carpet padding. The extra liquid added during the carpet cleaning process causes the stain to soak even faster into the padding, spreading it out. 

The wicking process is slow, and it can take days for the stain to reappear on the carpet. Factors like overwetting the spot – where excessive chemicals or water are used in an attempt to remove the stains causes them to take longer to dry, while still not effectively dealing with the stain itself, contribute to this. Remember that wicking is a sign that there is still much more staining within the carpet. 

 

Dealing With Wicking Stains

There is only one sure way of preventing wicking: Ensuring that the carpet and padding have been thoroughly cleaned and rinsed. Getting rid of the stain in totality means there won’t be any residue left to wick back up – which is why professional carpet cleaning is the ideal route to take. This entails getting a qualified contractor with skilled personnel and high-powered machinery that extracts any residue from the material. The cleaning solutions used should be formulated to break down the particular stains in question, while the extraction should be thorough to flush out any content from the fibres. 

The professional carpet cleaning team also goes a step further to use drying systems where the bulk of the moisture is extracted out of the material. The carpet is left just slightly damp to the touch, and this air-dries within a few hours. Shortening the drying time has the welcome benefit of minimising disruption in the home or business premises, while also preventing mould and mildew growth. 

 

Other mitigating measures that you can undertake include:

  • Cleaning up spills immediately

To prevent them from soaking deep into the carpet material, attend to spills immediately. The sooner that the stain can be dealt with, the less the likelihood of them becoming a menace in future. Blot up the spot with an absorbent cloth to remove the excess liquid, then use the appropriate carpet cleaning formulation that is compatible with the underlying material to remove the remaining residue. 

Extra emphasis is made on blotting, since this helps in absorbing the stain, as opposed to rubbing the spot which simply pushes the stain deeper into the carpet. After treating the stained spot, you can dry the area, including using tools like a blow dryer or fan, which aid in speeding up the rate of moisture removal from the carpet. 

  • Frequent vacuuming

The dirt and debris that is accumulating within the carpet gets brought back up when there is residual detergent in the fibres after the carpet cleaning. You can minimise this amount by vacuuming the carpet regularly, depending on the levels of traffic that is handled in the facility. High traffic areas such as busy commercial establishments will require daily vacuuming, while homes can typically do well with vacuuming twice a week. 

 

Can you “Transfer the Spot”?

There are situations where people successfully transfer the spot by applying oxidizers and browning treatments. This is then followed up by using an encapsulant. Thereafter, an additional round of cleaning is required. However, before taking this approach, emphasis must be made in ensuring that you’re dealing with products that have been particularly formulated for working on your specific type of carpet. This is to avoid situations where harsh formulations degrade the carpet material. The synthetic and natural fibre carpets each have their cleaning requirements, and you want to ensure that you apply the appropriate measures when dealing with your installation. 

 

Bring In The Pros To Get Rid Of Tough Stains

It’s impossible to ensure that no stain will ever be made on the carpet. Even the most careful people will eventually have a slight accident that results in a spillage which creates an unsightly spot on the carpet. From the tea or coffee spills while taking breakfast, that accidental tilt of the wine glass during dinner that sends the sparkling contents onto the carpet, ink blots from faulty pens, cases where you’re rushing to prepare to head out of the house and some nail polish drips on the plush carpet, kids with their milk and yoghurt that somehow keep ending up spilled all over – such situations are bound to occur despite one’s best efforts to avoid them. It gets to a point when the carpet is covered in too many stains to ignore – especially those that stubbornly defied the carpet cleaning measures that you use to try and get rid of them. Calling in the carpet cleaning professionals will ensure you restore the unit to its elegant state. Here are some of the benefits you get to enjoy by taking this route:

  • Saves your time

An in-depth carpet cleaning can take loads of time when you attempt it as a DIY protect. From handling the cleaning solutions, hiring and learning about how to control the machinery required for the task, the efforts that go into scrubbing those stubborn spots – is it really how you want to spend your weekends? It even gets more frustrating when you dedicate hours of your day to work on the carpet, and the results that you end up with aren’t as desired – a situation which then causes you to have to repeat the process. On the other hand, hiring a carpet cleaning company lifts the burden from your shoulders, allowing you to relax and enjoy your time on activities you actually love, or even simply kick back in a room that they aren’t working on. Moreover, the industrial-grade machinery that the professionals use allows them to finish the task in a fraction of the time that it would take a DIY job, reducing the disruption to your activities. Usually, the cleaners also handle moving of the furniture to clean under them – which is far more effective than you having to handle the bulky items by yourself. 

Speaking of saving time, drying systems are an integral part of the carpet cleaning. After all, you don’t want the unit remaining wet for days. Here, extraction systems are relied on to suck out the bulk of the moisture from the carpet. This can be so effective such that the carpet is left just slightly damp to the touch. In such scenarios, the carpet can dry within the same day it has been cleaned – and this can be further sped up by ensuring that there is adequate ventilation in the rooms. 

  • Get your carpet to last longer

The stains – especially those that have been allowed to remain on the carpet for long, bring about the risks of fungi growth. This is more for situations where the spillages had seeped deep in the carpet, such that they take days to dry. Depending on the chemical make-up of the spill itself, there can also be concerns about the carpet fibres getting corroded. Urine stains in particular can cause extensive damage to the carpet material. Stains are not the only threat. The dirt and debris that is lodged within the carpet fibres gets pushed down the material whenever people walk into it, and gradually abrades the fibres, splitting and wearing them down – making the carpet look old and forlorn. This puts you in a position where you’re forced to replace it sooner than you had anticipated. A thorough carpet cleaning job that gets to the grime that is buried within the carpet, breaks down the stains and flushes out the gunk will be key in preserving the structural integrity of the unit, and prolonging its life. You can take additional steps like having a stain-proofing treatment applied after the carpet cleaning. 

  • Create a healthier space

The dirt and grime building up in the carpet is a threat to the health of the household occupants, as well as customers and employees in commercial spaces. Allergens ranging from the dust particles that settle on the carpet to pollen grains and soiling tracked into the building, pet dander for those with cats or dogs in the households, environmental pollutants like smoke that are held in the carpet, to the horde of pathogens that are feeding on the decaying organic matter – they all need to got rid of. Even dust mites are a problem, with the microscopic creatures being sustained by the mounds of skin flakes that are produced by persons in the premises. Residential and commercial carpet cleaning services by a qualified contractor will enable you to get rid of these threats. This is also key in preventing issues like mould growth which are caused by faulty carpet cleaning practices that leave the unit too wet such that fungi gets to flourish within the fibres and padding. Drying systems that remove the moisture from the carpet prevents such scenarios from occurring. 

  • Enhancing the aesthetics of the indoor space

Unsightly stains, patches of dirt, a dull carpet – these drag down the décor of the premises. You want to have an environment that you can be proud of. A home where you can confidently host guests. A business premises where you will impress customers walking in. All this can be achieved by ensuring that you implement proper cleaning measures – which includes carpet care. 

  • Get rid of odours

Garlic sauce that wound up in the carpet, dander from pets, odours from socks, sweat that gets transferred from the bare feet onto the carpet, urine stains that create pungent stenches, those musky odours from fungi growths or the decaying food crumbs and insect body waste that are buried in the carpet fibres – all these ruin the indoor air quality. You don’t want occupants in the building wrinkling up their noses in disgust due to the odours that are emanating from the carpet. Vacuuming alone won’t deal with this. Deep carpet cleaning that gets rid of the source of the odours is needed. Odour neutralisers also come in, reacting with the molecules themselves, and preventing the odours from recurring. Choosing to have fragranced products being used has the additional benefit of leaving behind a pleasant scent that accentuates the ambience of the space. 

These are those sections of the carpet that look like paths, due to being frequently walked on. They bear the brunt of wear from the foot traffic handled in the premises. From picking up loads of grime from under the soles of people’s shoes, to the crushing effect with each step that is taken, as well as the dirt and debris that are buried within the carpet material in these sections – addressing these sections as part of the carpet cleaning will restore the uniform appearance and minimise the wear effect. This contributes to keeping your carpet in top shape, enabling you to enjoy more years with your unit. 

Why Carpet Stains Keep Coming Back

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