Geothermal fluid on wool Berber

[Sierra Clean Care]

My office received a call from a client that has a fairly large spill of geothermal fluid on his wool W/W.
Any ideas on removing it?
@Jim Pemberton
@Scott W

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Is it R410 or propylene glycol?

 

[Sierra Clean Care]

Is it R410 or propylene glycol?

Propylene glycol.
He also made mention that it is at a very diluted concentration, approximately 2-4%. Apparently it is supposed to be at about 30%.
There is also a slight orange tinge to it.
And there is sort of an oily substance present.
All they did was put a fan on it.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Clean it with products designed for wool. The fluid itself will likely be suspended in your detergent and come out. A little solvent based booster might help. The stain is more problematic. Don't use anything with strong oxidizers or reducers to make your attempt to remove it.

 

[Hack Attack]

tell them to turn the fan off

stains are harder to remove once dry, especially wool being an absorbent fibre

*and you probably will need a diluted reducer or oxidiser
Be prepared to be patient to let the chemistry work... or fail

 

[Sierra Clean Care]

Thank you guys for the advice.
I am concerned with the ‘slight orange tinge’ thing though.
Any recommendations in regards to a safe reducer on wool?
I got a little to brave on a linen, custom made sectional earlier this year, and paid big for it....
But that’s another thread....

 

[Hack Attack]

I mix my own reducers and oxidisers so cant help you there

but I tend to mix weak and use heat on wool as its easier to control the heat than the chemistry once applied, will depend how large an area of course

and wool being so absorbent you can sometimes dry stroke the shadow of a stain out after HWE


but not always...

 

[Cleanworks]

Thank you guys for the advice.
I am concerned with the ‘slight orange tinge’ thing though.
Any recommendations in regards to a safe reducer on wool?
I got a little to brave on a linen, custom made sectional earlier this year, and paid big for it....
But that’s another thread....

Was this from a leak? Could the orange tinge be rust from the system?

 

[Hack Attack]

Was this from a leak? Could the orange tinge be rust from the system?

hadn't thought of that

 

[Sierra Clean Care]

Was this from a leak? Could the orange tinge be rust from the system?

Yes, it was a leak. There’s 4, 3 level condos per unit. All have wool W/W.
A lot of them are owned by people who work in the oil industry from the prairies.
They rent them out for the week, or month.
This unit has guest coming in Saturday.
He asked if I have time to take care of not only the stain, but carpet, and uph.
His second unit, (different building, same resort), has guests coming next Sunday.
He wants them clean, and ready for the summer crowds...

 

[Cleanworks]

Yes, it was a leak. There’s 4, 3 level condos per unit. All have wool W/W.
A lot of them are owned by people who work in the oil industry from the prairies.
They rent them out for the week, or month.
This unit has guest coming in Saturday.
He asked if I have time to take care of not only the stain, but carpet, and uph.
His second unit, (different building, same resort), has guests coming next Sunday.
He wants them clean, and ready for the summer crowds...

I would clean it like Jim suggests, use some citrus pro or something similar to take care of the oily residue. Try a little rust remover on the stain and rinse.

 

[Nomad74]

And I thought Geothermal fluid was just warm well water.

 

[Hack Attack]

if its rust from the system that is the orange tinge it should be pretty straightforward job

 

[J Scott W]

Follow Jim's advice. I would add that propylene glycol responds to a solvent, so boost your cleaning solution with Citrus Solv II or other solvent booster.

Leaks from fire suppression systems that are not flushed and cleaned regularly can contain rust. They can also contain harmful bacteria. Be careful if that is the source. Wear PPE.