Pink/redish/purpleish spots appear after browning treatment

[Contemporary Carpet Clean]

ok weird thing happend to us....

We cleaned a carpet in a commercial building.... 6 floors up with portables...we have cleaned it the same way numerous times before (hot water extraction) no padding pre or post....just prespray and extract (gov't lowest bidder deal). We get a call that some brown spots came back....really not suprised at that b/c there were lots of coffee spills. I got back and sprayed spots with Stain Wizards Browning treatment and rubbed with WHITE terry cloth....PH of 1.5 spots go away. Get a call a couple days later....SOME not all of spots came back but now the spots are a reddish/pinkish/purple color. Honestly if you look real close it almost looks as if the dye in the carpet has ran. The carpet is mostly gray with blueish small lines in it. I have used this or for any matter browning treatment forever and never had it turn any color appear other than brown upon drying (if it turned brown a second or third time it never needed anything more than another application). Has anyone ever had this problem before....and if you have what could if anything be done to rememdy this. Could a browning treatment turn a carpet reddish/purple
I am thinking that the janitor crew prior to us cleaning the carpet cleaned with a spotter as they do not have an extraction unit and some kind of chemical reaction happened....any help and or advice would be appreciated...thanks in advance

 

[Guest]

Exactly; it may be a good idea to use porties as spotter machines from now on. Rinse carpet thorough with clean water prior to working out spots that returned. And janitorial services however good they are can spill stuff too, they custy may have asked them to try to remove the spot; and god knows what they may have used.

 

[Dolly Llama]

acid treatment effecting indicator dyes, maybe????

where's the smart peebles???

..L.T.A.

 

[Willy P]

Just a shot in the dark, but it could be an indicator dye. Check the ph and try and bring it to neutral.

 

[Willy P]

Shut up Meat.And quit reading my mind! And learn to fish too!

 

[J Scott W]

I agree. Gray or blue commercial carpet seems mostly likely to react to strong acids. The results will be red or pink spots.

Try to return to a pH of 7 to 7.5. The ssoner the pH adjustment is made, the more likely the correction will work.

I learned this while cleaning a blue commercial carpet. The area had once contained row upon row of filing cabinset. When they were moved, lots of rust. Sparyed on acid rust remover. Got rid of all the rust. Five minutes later much of the room was red. Fortunately had some ammonia based cleaner to counter it with.

Scott Warrington

 

[Willy P]

Scott that was exactly my first experience. Scared the stuffing out of me until I flushed the area.

 

[Bobby Hales]

Just mix some amonia and water 50/50 mist it on and watch the magic. Worked for me the first time I ever encountered fiber burn

 

[Rob Hobson]

Amonia is self nuetralizing try that. One time we had the same issue, amonia would only fix it for a day. Sprayed 30vol. on it and bam gone for good. go figure

 

[Contemporary Carpet Clean]

ok guys I will give it a try...thanks so much for your assistance.....

PS we used porties b/c its a federal bldg....and you cannot have outside doors open and the windows do not open.....plus its a 7 story bldg

 

[harryhides]

Do you have any idea what "BROWNING" is ??

It is Cellulosic browning. Do you know what Cellulose is ? There are no Nylon or Olefin commercial carpets with any cellulose in them. So why in blazes would you ever use an Anti-browning treament with a freaking pH similar to Muriatic acid ?

For pity's sake take a class a learn a bit about carpet cleaning and how to deal with "wicking" and throw that fricking crap away.

 

[Blue Monarch]

It is always funny to see guys trying to fix nylon with browning treatments. Never understood that.

 

[Contemporary Carpet Clean]

hey guys thanks....the straight amonia worked awesome....pinkish red spots all gone....


The only problem is that only a few spots turned a greenish color upon spraying straight amonia on them....they were the same colored spots (redish/pinkish with a hint of purple) that the straight amonia got out...any ideas as to why some of the spots turned green....obviously the PH is incorrect...but what to do to get rid of the green now.....I have never seen this ever happen before....and I have been cleaning carpets since I was 12 and now i am almost 28.

 

[J Scott W]

Usually you will see red / pink spots if the pH is too low. Green or brown spots if the pH is too high. You should leave the carpet or fabric from 6.0 to 7.5.

Staright ammonia raise the pH but may have raised it too high. pH meter can help you get the carpet to exactly what it should be. No more off-colored spots and better for the fiber as well.

Scott Warrington

 

[Raedan]

Do you have any idea what "BROWNING" is ??

It is Cellulosic browning. Do you know what Cellulose is ? There are no Nylon or Olefin commercial carpets with any cellulose in them. So why in blazes would you ever use an Anti-browning treament with a freaking pH similar to Muriatic acid ?

For pity's sake take a class a learn a bit about carpet cleaning and how to deal with "wicking" and throw that fricking crap away.

Did someone piss in your corn flakes this morning?

Joe

 

[sweendogg]

Do you have any idea what "BROWNING" is ??

It is Cellulosic browning. Do you know what Cellulose is ? There are no Nylon or Olefin commercial carpets with any cellulose in them. So why in blazes would you ever use an Anti-browning treament with a freaking pH similar to Muriatic acid ?

For pity's sake take a class a learn a bit about carpet cleaning and how to deal with "wicking" and throw that fricking crap away.

So I guess we should all throw out our tannin or acidic spotters too? I agree it was a stronger acid than most browning treatments.. But there is a reason that Chemspec and others now include the words coffee stain remover or tanin stain remover on their browning treatments.

 

[harryhides]

Do you have any idea what "BROWNING" is ??

It is Cellulosic browning. Do you know what Cellulose is ? There are no Nylon or Olefin commercial carpets with any cellulose in them. So why in blazes would you ever use an Anti-browning treament with a freaking pH similar to Muriatic acid ?

For pity's sake take a class a learn a bit about carpet cleaning and how to deal with "wicking" and throw that fricking crap away.

Did someone piss in your corn flakes this morning?
Joe

Yes Joseph as a matter of fact they did. :mrgreen:

I get so tired of this issue constantly being misunderstood and folks wasting time on what should be a dead issue for any professional. Jute backed carpet disappeared decades ago.

There is nothing wrong with using tannin or acidic spotters where appropriate, just learn the difference between "browning" and "wicking" and save yourself a lot of time and money.

 

[Raedan]

I agree. Just busting your nads


Joe