Dumb question, but plz help

[brianeboatman]

How do you guys prevent stains from wicking backnup? Better put, how do you get them completely clean so that there's nothing to wick up? I do jobs and they look good when I leave, but then get the call back call because, "the stain came back". Please give input. FYI, I run a lancer and a rotovac. I pre spray with Zone Perfect, agitate with a brush, hit it with 200 degree water at 250 psi and rinse with End Zone. Thanks, Brian

 

[Goomer]

First thought would be that you are leaving them too wet for some reason.

 

[joe harper]

Brian, could be a LOT of factors...The Lancer is a pretty good unit...you should get decent
dry-times...at least with-in 6 to 8 hours...!

Here are some things to check...

1 do you pre-vac
2 how much prespray are you laying down & with what sprayer
3 how much dwell-time
4 when is the last time you cleaned the filter in the waste tank
5 do you have a air flow restriction in the Roto-Vac
6 Is your vac-release operating properly
7 Is there an air leak on the waste tank lid gasket
8 Check all vac hoses for restrictions & possible leaking at hose cuffs



Lose the Roto-Vac..!!!
Get a decent wand with a glide...!!!
Crank the pressure-up to 450 to 500 psi...!!!
You need to rinse out the fiber better...250 psi AIN'T going to get it...!!!
Flush the carpet WELL & do some DRY-STROKES...!!!



ps Try using a clear water rinse....lose the end zone... !gotcha!

 

[floorguy]

pay for a room and a few table play and ill come out shiteatinggrin shiteatinggrin shiteatinggrin shiteatinggrin shiteatinggrin

seriously though....how long are the dry times?? do you know or ask??

is it resi or commercial that does it??

is it 200 at the machine or your wand??

Maybe ill hop the fun bus and spend a day with ya 8) 8) 8) 8)

 

[sam miller]

also make sure tour wand isnt leaking and leaving an area to wet and causing the problem

If it a stain like diarhia and it gets forced into the pad a wick is inevitable usually having a flash extractor and reducing agents can minimize a wick just depend on what causing it??? and what kind of spot it is.

USR or coffee stain remover can prevent somethings from reaccuring

 

[Dolly Llama]

How do you guys prevent stains from wicking backnup? Better put, how do you get them completely clean so that there's nothing to wick up? I do jobs and they look good when I leave, but then get the call back call because, "the stain came back". Please give input. FYI, I run a lancer and a rotovac. I pre spray with Zone Perfect, agitate with a brush, hit it with 200 degree water at 250 psi and rinse with End Zone. Thanks, Brian

There are many variables, Brian, but the simplest explanation is you're not flushing the gunk out .
More often than not, wicking is due to operator error ie..poor technique , equipment, chems or a combination of all

..L.T.A.

 

[Ken Snow]

Re-read Harper's & Meat's posts. They pretty much said it all.

 

[Brian R]

Yes, it sounds like you're leaving your prespray and some soil behind.

Prespray makes carpet look awesome until it dries.

The spots that are "wicking" are probably just being masked by the prespray until it dries.

Pretty much what Harp said.

250 psi won't cut it unless you post pad...maybe.


Isn't End Zone an acid rinse? I used it once and didn't like it at all.

 

[Dolly Llama]

250 psi won't cut it unless you post pad...maybe.

.

baloney
too many variables to make a blanket statement like that.
I know better, cause i cleaned at 250 to 350 psi ranges for years with an AW29 wand .
Wicking was a VERY rare occurrence


..L.T.A.

 

[FLYERMAN]

You might be causing the problem.

When you prespray never put a ton of extra spray on any given spot. That just forces it down into the backing and almost guarantees a wick back.

Also map a few spots. I mean make sure they are the same spots. I have had people that thought the spots were coming back but when I showed them this "returning spot" is a foot from the one they thought was returning they realized they were causing new spots all the time.

I'll one up Dougs offer and come out and do a ride-a-long for a day and show you how I might do it differently. BTW my first TM was a Lancer and it can suck enough to rinse at at least 400 psi.

 

[Brian R]

250 psi won't cut it unless you post pad...maybe.

.

baloney
too many variables to make a blanket statement like that.
I know better, cause i cleaned at 250 to 350 psi ranges for years with an AW29 wand .
Wicking was a VERY rare occurrence


..L.T.A.

250 PSI with HIS variables won't cut it.

I've cleaned with 200 PSI.....a ninja. PITA

 

[Dolly Llama]

I've cleaned with 200 PSI.....a ninja. PITA

he's running a "real" TM, Brian .
the Lancer is a relabeled Prochem Legend



here's a tip that might help, Brian (not you the attention whore, Bri)

many spots/spills will disappear with pre-spray and dwell time ..especially on berbers .
Drop a coin on that spot as you pre-spray .
When you get there for the extraction part of the cleaning, you'll know that spot/area needs better flush/rinse extracting


..L.T.A.

 

[joe harper]

Re-Read....Ken's .."post".... somewhat amus

 

[Ron Werner]

one other factor is to be aware of the type of carpet you are cleaning
Some are harder to extract from, harder to flush, ie a harder twist, a thicker pile, a harder berber
reread what's been posted above, you won't get that in a class

 

[floorguy]

ill one up kens....

ill come see what you need to "pimp" that machine....

I had an avenger 210 with the 36 blower, that i made scream with no wick backs..

 

[Ken Snow]

We get vitually no wickbacs with our butlers- it is almost always operator error, not the equipment per se as many have said.

 

[Brian R]

Larry.....Then he should turn the PSI up a bit....Yes?

 

[idreadnought]

It also depends on the condition of the carpet your cleaning. If the carpets have lots of spots then they are actually in pretty bad condition. Most carpets we clean are dirty but with very few spots from spills and such.

First step would be to identify what spots are coming back. Are they soil spots returning or contamination spots from a beverage or pets.

If they are soil then good vacuuming and good drying strokes will solve that.

If they are contamination then extra flushing is needed with extra dry strokes.

As a safety measure and as a marketing edge I mist encapuguard on the carpet when finished. It helps with wickback problems and people like the idea of an alkalie residue neautralizer being applied.

On to the using the rotovac. Is the rotovac original with the wand handle? If it is then get rid of it. Not much use for it when your already scrubbing the carpet. A wand will dry the carpets better IMO with less work involved.

 

[Dolly Llama]

Larry.....Then he should turn the PSI up a bit....Yes?

hell no.
it's already a "wet for three days" rUg soaker ....he'll go from wicking probs to MOLDY wicking probs .
he needs to spend more time flush/rinse extracting the suspect areas that can wick


I know the pixie dust juices have become trendy as a way to make up for poor technique...
but I'm just not an advocate of dumping more gUnk on a carpet to prevent the gUnk you didn't remove from showing poor technique...

naw'mean??


..L.T.A.

 

[Greg Cole]

How do you guys prevent stains from wicking backnup? Better put, how do you get them completely clean so that there's nothing to wick up? I do jobs and they look good when I leave, but then get the call back call because, "the stain came back". Please give input. FYI, I run a lancer and a rotovac. I pre spray with Zone Perfect, agitate with a brush, hit it with 200 degree water at 250 psi and rinse with End Zone. Thanks, Brian

Bone-Dry by harvard Chemical

 

[Art Kelley]

How do you guys prevent stains from wicking backnup? Better put, how do you get them completely clean so that there's nothing to wick up? I do jobs and they look good when I leave, but then get the call back call because, "the stain came back". Please give input. FYI, I run a lancer and a rotovac. I pre spray with Zone Perfect, agitate with a brush, hit it with 200 degree water at 250 psi and rinse with End Zone. Thanks, Brian

Bone-Dry by harvard Chemical

This really is a thread where Brian and Greg just need to STFU.

 

[Brian R]

Larry...if he cleans the crap out ...it won't wick even if it stays wet a little longer.

But yes he needs to make sure the rest of his process is working as well.

Didn't you say he had a super sucker or somethin?

 

[Dolly Llama]

Didn't you say he had a super sucker or somethin?

no, i said he had a "real" TM and I'm a sOOper HERO

and read Art's post

speaking of being a sOOper hero.....duty calls
I thought i was all done and planed to fck off the rest of evening ...gotta suck 'n sanitize some Ole Gal's backed up drain .
How many synthetic pads do you think I'll need .....


.L.T.A.

 

[bob vawter]

Didn't you say he had a super sucker or somethin?

no, i said he had a "real" TM and I'm a sOOper HERO

and read Art's post

speaking of being a sOOper hero.....duty calls
I thought i was all done and planed to fck off the rest of evening ...gotta suck 'n sanitize some Ole Gal's backed up drain .
How many synthetic pads do you think I'll need .....


.L.T.A.

Depends........!

 

[Brian R]

Didn't you say he had a super sucker or somethin?

no, i said he had a "real" TM and I'm a sOOper HERO

and read Art's post

speaking of being a sOOper hero.....duty calls
I thought i was all done and planed to fck off the rest of evening ...gotta suck 'n sanitize some Ole Gal's backed up drain .
How many synthetic pads do you think I'll need .....


.L.T.A.

Sounds like a party to me. :shock:


Harper on Brian's lap....er uh ...computer. :|

 

[Greg Cole]

How do you guys prevent stains from wicking backnup? Better put, how do you get them completely clean so that there's nothing to wick up? I do jobs and they look good when I leave, but then get the call back call because, "the stain came back". Please give input. FYI, I run a lancer and a rotovac. I pre spray with Zone Perfect, agitate with a brush, hit it with 200 degree water at 250 psi and rinse with End Zone. Thanks, Brian

Bone-Dry by harvard Chemical

This really is a thread where Brian and Greg just need to STFU.

Sadly you are too proud to listen.....

 

[brianeboatman]

Floor guy, if you wanna come out and
Play...by all means, come! I'd love to bend your ear. I have been putting more pre spray down on spots. I'll stop. I will also turn up the psi. I'll report my findings! Thanks to all!

 

[Brian R]

Just make sure you have the "suck" going on the TM with no problems.

Also, flow is more important than psi sometimes so make sure your wand is fitted correctly

Do you run 2 inch vac hose to the wand?
That helped me tremendously.

You may have answered these questions but I don't remember...and I didn't go back and look.

Good luck.


Also, a post bonnet with an encap chem works wonders after you flush the carpet out.

 

[Brian R]

By the way, consider changing your chems to soap free or procyon...I hear Les has some decent ones to. !gotcha!

 

[randy]

Brain,

First get a better brand of chemicals. Bridge point sucks, especially zone perfect & end zone (but are horriable).
Prochem Ultrapac & All fiber rinse is much better.

Second up your PSI to around 400. With the Rotovac 360 you should be rinsing the carpet very well.

Third consider more dry passes with the rotovac or use a wand to "post wand".

If you are using the older rotovac, the duel headed nightmare get rid of it and buy a 360i off craigslist or EBay for around $1,000