Carpet Cleaner Buyer's Guide

SPOTS, SPILLS, STAINS AND OTHER DISASTERS

One of the most common reasons that people will call a carpet cleaner is because a disaster of some type has occurred. A pet had an accident, a child gets sick, a beverage gets spilled, and a plate of food goes flying. The thing to remember when this happens is that the carpet fibre will react differently than other textiles to both the spill and the stain remover. Something that you can use with perfect safety on a cotton shirt, will destroy a wool carpet fibre, remove the colour from nylon and polyester carpets, and have no effect whatsoever on polypropylene carpets.

So before we get further, let’s define a stain. According to the IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification, the standard training body for carpet cleaners) manual, a “spot is a soluble substance that can easily be removed in a normal cleaning operation. A stain is a substance that has altered or dyed a carpet and may not be entirely removable in the normal cleaning operation and requires special treatment.” In other words, a spot is usually black and sticky. Whereas a stain usually consists of added colour or colour loss.

The thing that you as a building manager should remember is that an IICRC certified cleaning technician has received proper training in removing spots and stains. They know how to use the products designed for this purpose. M Many people do not have this training or the proper products for spot and stain removal. Often times when people try to solve these problems themselves, the results can be disastrous. For example, should you combine chlorine bleach and ammonia together, you will create a toxic cloud of mustard gas, which will kill you. So it is very important that any stain removal product that is used, is designed for that purpose.

Now with that said, at Santos Carpet Cleaning we do offer free over the phone spot removal advice. And of course, for our minimum charge, we will come out to attempt removal for you.

The final recommendation is this. Be as specific as possible when discussing your spots and stains with your carpet cleaner. Inform them what was spilled; how long ago; the quantity or amount of the spill; your immediate reaction to the spill; and of course, what you yourself or someone else may have done to correct it. The more information that your carpet cleaner has, the better chance they have in removing it for you. For even more information on what stains can be removed for you, please see our chapter on Frequently Asked Questions.

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