Cleaning wool carpets

[gimmeagig]

Just had my first job cleaning wool carpets . Used a fine fabric upholstery pre spray and Prochem's All Fiber Deep Clean as a rinse. The carpet was a light tan shag very lightly soiled but there were urine spots that only showed up when I used my black light. No odor.
I reduced the pressure to about 200 psi, tem at 190 and did wet passes only on the backstroke and used lots of dry passes ( kind of like I do Olefin) and immediately put dryers into every room I cleaned.By the time I was leaving the carpet was almost dry.
It turned out very nice but I might have gotten lucky. Could some of you veterans give me a few pointers that will help me with wool carpets? Like what pre sprays and what rinses work best? This carpet was pretty clean to begin with but what if I had a lighter color carpet with stains? On regular jobs I like to use Oxy Plus and Citrus pro ( even though I have been told that using the Citrus pro is not a good idea on Olefin but that it is sometimes necessary when it's really bad). So if I have a wool carpet that's in bad shape, what would be the best way to go about it?

 

[J Scott W]

The two keys when cleaning wool carpets (not discussing rugs here) are 1) avoid over-wetting and 2) avoid high alkalinity. Most classes don't discuss that alkalinity is different from pH. Alkalinity also considers how stable the pH is during the cleaning process when interacting with soils, water and so forth. How long is the pH present is another factor.

The upholstery tool should help with avoiding over-wetting, but may not supply enough water to the base of the fibers where a lot of soil collects. If the soil is not flushed out, a thorough cleaning has not been done and wicking can result.

My preferred prespray for wool carpet is Zone Perfect followed by a rinse with End Zone.

 

[prestige cleaner]

i read somewhere, to ask the client if her wool carpets have been cleaned before by another cleaner and perhaps they might of left residue behind, so test the fiber first for ph levels. some cleaners use a buffered ps so when you start cleaning, the previous ps and your ps could make the fiber unstable due to high ph levels and result in damaging her carpets and you will responsible even though it was the previous cleaners fault. this article was in cleanfax magazine by ruth travis.

 

[gimmeagig]

i read somewhere, to ask the client if her wool carpets have been cleaned before by another cleaner and perhaps they might of left residue behind, so test the fiber first for ph levels. some cleaners use a buffered ps so when you start cleaning, the previous ps and your ps could make the fiber unstable due to high ph levels and result in damaging her carpets and you will responsible even though it was the previous cleaners fault. this article was in cleanfax magazine by ruth travis.

Did you post and article? For some reason it does not show up.
I better get back to my books and manuals..... Alkalinity vs PH levels....I'm sure they covered it in my IRCRC classes but my brain isn't what it used to be and I forgot.

 

[prestige cleaner]

i read somewhere, to ask the client if her wool carpets have been cleaned before by another cleaner and perhaps they might of left residue behind, so test the fiber first for ph levels. some cleaners use a buffered ps so when you start cleaning, the previous ps and your ps could make the fiber unstable due to high ph levels and result in damaging her carpets and you will responsible even though it was the previous cleaners fault. this article was in cleanfax magazine by ruth travis.

Did you post and article? For some reason it does not show up.
I better get back to my books and manuals..... Alkalinity vs PH levels....I'm sure they covered it in my IRCRC classes but my brain isn't what it used to be and I forgot.

this was in article maybe 2 yrs.ago or so....

 

[Lyman]

Judson o2 system for wall to wall wool.

 

[gimmeagig]

Judson o2 system for wall to wall wool.

???
Isn't that a machine? How does that relate to my question?

 

[Zee]

You need to read here more and use the search function- it helps tremendously!
Judson makes all kinds of equipment and chemicals.

O2 system is aka judson juice. That's not a machine.

 

[The Great Oz]

Here's the deal with wool compared to synthetics:

Wool can hold a lot of water. Allow for longer dry time and slower drying passes may be needed to remove as much water as possible. Over-wetting some of the cheaper grade Axminster weaves can make them shrink and pull off the tackless strip. Fortunately the cheapest grades aren't sold in the US much, but pulling a heating vent cover to look at the backing isn't a bad idea.

Wool is prone to damage from alkalines and oxidizers. They can chemically burn the wool, causing it turn brown and/or brittle. Get one of your books out and look at the scale drawing of a wool fiber. The cuticle (scaly outside) will rise away from the rest of the fiber in the presence of alkalines. If left in this state it is more likely to snag with cuticles on other fibers and cause felting. Good if you want felt, not so much if your customer likes to see individual carpet yarns.

Acids will lay the scale down (just like a hair conditioner) so stay with low pH cleaning agents for normal soil and you'll be OK. If you need to use an alkaline traffic lane cleaner to remove heavy soil, rinse with something that will lower the pH once you've moved the dirt.

Blot don't rub when spotting! Friction can cause felting and once this happens the only cure is surgery.

High heat combined with alkaline detergent can make dyes move. In broadloom carpeting this is rare, but does happen, usually to more vivid colors.

Wool is great stuff. Used in the high traffic areas of the best hotels, it cleans up great if you use just a little bit of care.

Good luck!

 

[gimmeagig]

You need to read here more and use the search function- it helps tremendously!
Judson makes all kinds of equipment and chemicals.

O2 system is aka judson juice. That's not a machine.

Sorry I didn't want to waste your time and I did do a search and I was surprised that nothing came up on wool carpets. I think I spelled it right..I didn't know Judson made chemicals also.

 

[gimmeagig]

Thanks Brian and Scott. That was very helpful, wool has only come around for me this one time so far and like I said it turned out very nice but next time I'll to be more "in the know about it".

 

[Art Kelley]

Just had my first job cleaning wool carpets . Used a fine fabric upholstery pre spray and Prochem's All Fiber Deep Clean as a rinse. The carpet was a light tan shag very lightly soiled but there were urine spots that only showed up when I used my black light. No odor.
I reduced the pressure to about 200 psi, tem at 190 and did wet passes only on the backstroke and used lots of dry passes ( kind of like I do Olefin) and immediately put dryers into every room I cleaned.By the time I was leaving the carpet was almost dry.
It turned out very nice but I might have gotten lucky. Could some of you veterans give me a few pointers that will help me with wool carpets? Like what pre sprays and what rinses work best? This carpet was pretty clean to begin with but what if I had a lighter color carpet with stains? On regular jobs I like to use Oxy Plus and Citrus pro ( even though I have been told that using the Citrus pro is not a good idea on Olefin but that it is sometimes necessary when it's really bad). So if I have a wool carpet that's in bad shape, what would be the best way to go about it?

You did the right thing by cleaning on the acid side. Wools are very durable and clean up very well. Just avoid high pH chems and don't use an oxidizer. A quick buzz over with a 175 on a presprayed wool carpet will really help to remove lanes and spots. Just make sure the brush or pad used is non-aggressive.

 

[gimmeagig]

I assume a 175 is some type of pad scrubber. I think if I did a search on "175" nothing might come up so if you could give me the name of the company that makes it I'd be able to look it up. All I know is...I don't have one and I probably should
Thanks

 

[ruff]

Depending somewhat on construction, I would not recommend a 175 on wool.
It may get too fuzzy.

 

[gimmeagig]

I did a search,nothing came up. Fill me in, what is a 175?

 

[Able 1]

Yeah, the search function here sucks... ASS!!

 

[sam miller]

Basically 175 rpm scrubber

http://www.cleanfreak.com/Qstore/p001256.htm

there's some good saffire scientific chems for area rugs and wool

http://sapphirescientific.com/Content_002.aspx?tid=1159

 

[J Scott W]

I did a search,nothing came up. Fill me in, what is a 175?

175 refers to the common RPMs of a floor buffer, also known as a swing buffer, side-to-side machine, polisher etc.

A common floor polishing machine made by many manufacturers. If you need one, we can sell you a Versa Pro. You can also check the janitor closets of some of your accounts for one that has not been used in years or check at pawn shops for a used machine.

 

[gimmeagig]

Thanks Scott, I'm going to see if I can find a used one.

 

[Colin Nation]

Wool Carpets make up around 50% of carpets sold in Australia and around 90% in New Zealand, so we are very used to cleaning them here down under.

You don't need to be worried about pH if you buy a WoolSafe Approved detergent. There are plenty of them available in the U.S.
The subject of pH is barely touched on in most courses as it is a fairly broad subject. To explain the pH thing, think of it as 'how fast it will do damage'. The further away from 7, the faster is will cause damage. A pH of 13 will damage wool almost immediately. A pH of 10 will cause damage within a few hours and a pH of 8 will do damage after a few weeks. This means that the pH written on the bottle tells you very little. It relates to how quickly it will cause damage. Yes, even a pH 8 chemical can cause damage over a long period of time. A pH 8 chemical may leave pH 8 in the carpet which will cause long term damage while some pH 10 chemicals are not pH 10 long enough to cause damage because you will rinse them out and any residue will self neutralize. So don't go by the pH written on the bottle.

So it is what is left behind in the carpet that is the cause of concern. Residues are a fact of life. Even with the biggest super sucker machine you are only ever diluting the detergent that you put down and if a chemical has residual alkalies then it will cause long term damage.

The WoolSafe testing program doesn't just test for the pH of the chemical in the bottle, it tests for residual effects and for other things that may cause re-soiling or color run or a number of other issues not related to pH. For example; Optical brighteners are not allowed. It is also tested for it's cleaning ability. They test for cleaning ability as well because water will pass the pH test, but water is not very good at cleaning carpet by itself.

So you can be assured that a WoolSafe Approved detergent will not only clean well on wool and synthetics as well, but it will be safe to use on wool. A WoolSafe Approved detergent does not need an acid rinse. It will not leave harmful residues.

As far as over wetting is concerned, This is a bit misunderstood as well. Most carpet cleaners in Australia will have restored a water damaged wool carpet and this could mean that it was under a foot of water which is certainly 'over wet'. What is important is to deal with the carpet appropriately.

Most carpet cleaners are afraid to apply too much prespray on wool for fear of 'over wetting' the wool. The sheep stood out in the rain for 12 months so it is quite happy to be wet. They will then make numerous wet passes trying to get it clean and then they find they will have wet the backing and caused shrinkage or browning issues related to the carpet backing materials.

Don't be afraid to put on normal amounts of prespray. Wool is very absorbent and needs a fair amount of prespray in order for the prespray to get to where the soil is. Remember the wool fibre is absorbent to oils, so we have to get the detergent to where the oil is. We then must give it a rinse to flush out the soil and detergent emulsion. If you use enough prespray then one wet pass should normally be sufficient. Give it a couple of dry passes if you are at all concerned.

Depending on your wand set up, a pressure of around 200 to 400 psi is fine on most wool tufted carpets, but I would wind it back to around the 100 to 200 psi in a woven carpet. 2 jet wands have the jets a little higher than a 4 jet wand so a 2 jet wand needs a little more pressure.

The wool fibre is a staple fibre (short lengths) and is spun to form a yarn. Don't be too aggressive with the agitation on a new carpet, but a trashed out carpet will certainly need some agitation, just make sure you talk to your customer about the possibility of a bit of fuzzing on a loosely spun loop pile such as a Berber style carpet.

Hope this helps.

 

[Colin Nation]

P.S. I forgot to mention the oxidizing boosters mentioned earlier.

Avoid these on wool. Wool can handle up to 3% hydrogen peroxide for short periods for use in stain removal for things like urine damage, but don't use the powder oxy boosters as these are usually based on sodium perborate or percorbonate or similar and can leave very alkaline residues.

In Australia we have one manufacturer that produces a H2O2 that when added to their prespray gives a around 0.2% peroxide in a non residual form and this works surprisingly well. It deals with coffee, tea, wine and urine stains during the cleaning action.

 

[Ken Snow]

Man you guys are making me feel old~ when I started with our company in 1980 at least 1/3 of the carpet I cleaned was still wool. Sometimes we even cleaned cotton, now that shit is a bitch to clean wall to wall :-)

 

[ruff]

Man you guys are making me feel old~ when I started with our company in 1980 at least 1/3 of the carpet I cleaned was still wool. Sometimes we even cleaned cotton, now that shit is a bitch to clean wall to wall :-)

Ken,
If the sound that your joints make when moving does not remind you how old you are.
It is a sure sign that.............
You personally, have not been cleaning carpets for a while

Lucky you :mrgreen:
Call me when you want some free exercise!

 

[Ken Snow]

That is tru Ofer, it has been decades (late 1985) since it was a daily thing. I do have to clean my own in the next few weeks and my back is feeling it already.

 

[gimmeagig]

Thanks for the explanation Colin, but what i need to know now is what are some of the wool safe products that are available here in the US and which ones perform the best? Are they just pre sprays and do I rinse them out with water only, or is there a combination pre spray and rinse that is wool safe?

 

[J Scott W]

Thanks for the explanation Colin, but what i need to know now is what are some of the wool safe products that are available here in the US and which ones perform the best? Are they just pre sprays and do I rinse them out with water only, or is there a combination pre spray and rinse that is wool safe?

You should understand that there is a difference between products being safe for use on wool and products that have paid a fee to a for profit company to be tested and listed as wool safe. Fees for third party testing and endorsement will raise the cost of a product and be passed on to the buyer.

Not all products that are safe on wool are listed with the Wool Safe organization.

Posts above have pointed out what to be aware of, optical brighteners, excessive alkalinity and pH levels that stay too high for too long.

 

[gimmeagig]

Thanks for the explanation Colin, but what i need to know now is what are some of the wool safe products that are available here in the US and which ones perform the best? Are they just pre sprays and do I rinse them out with water only, or is there a combination pre spray and rinse that is wool safe?

You should understand that there is a difference between products being safe for use on wool and products that have paid a fee to a for profit company to be tested and listed as wool safe. Fees for third party testing and endorsement will raise the cost of a product and be passed on to the buyer.

Not all products that are safe on wool are listed with the Wool Safe organization.

Posts above have pointed out what to be aware of, optical brighteners, excessive alkalinity and pH levels that stay too high for too long.

Hi Scott,
So, If I understand it right, you are saying that Wool Safe is more hype than substance? Just a license that allows manufacturers to charge more for their product without necessarily giving you anything that you couldn't get without the Wool Safe label?
I thought when Colin wrote about the wool safe products and explaining how much wool carpet there is in his neck of the woods that I could go by what he told me. Sounded very simple. Now I'm getting more confused again because there seems to be a new element in the equation,Marketing.
I do understand the stuff about optical brighteners,Alkalinity and PH.
I would be interested in knowing if there are any specific products that are the best for cleaning wool.

 

[gimmeagig]

So I went over what I have in my truck and to my surprise I actually am using Wool Safe approved products ( I wasn't aware of that until I looked for the designation on the bottles).It's Prochem All Fiber Deep Clean. and Masterblend Fine Fabric Prespray. So I suppose I'm doing it right already. But If there are better products that might be the "holy grail" for wool, I'd sure like to know about them.
Thanks

 

[Ken Snow]

Yes- that is exactly what Scott was saying in a subtle way. There is certainly some merit to the thought that if you use wool safe products you will likely be okay, however there are dozens of products that are safe for wool, that have not been submitted for testing and approval.