Is there anything special needed for removing the antifreeze from carpet? There was a leak in a system at a commercial office. We extracted the water and as the carpet dried it left a water ring. Would that just be the dirt and other minerals or would there also be antifreeze residue. I have Chemiesters Grease Eraser as a prespray.
Removing Ethylene Glycol antifreeze
- Thread starter Andy
- Start date
J Scott W
Member
This can be difficult to remove. Best done quickly. Also note that glycol solutions used in some fire suppression systems can be health hazard through inhalation. If unsure, wear a respirator.
Glycol refers to a group of chemicals. Most common is Ethylene Glycol with Propylene glycol also being rather common.
ETHYLENE GLYCOL is colorless, odorless, syrupy and sticky. It also has a sweet taste. Although only slightly toxic there are numerous cases of poisoning, some resulting in death. This is usually animals or children who are attracted by the sweet taste and so consume rather large doses.
PROPYLENE GLYCOL is less toxic and does not have a sweet taste. For this reason it is gradually replacing the use of ETHYLENE GLYCOL in some consumer applications such as anti-freeze that one may put into their vehicle. It may be sold as “Non-toxic” anti-freeze or under similar claims.
ETHYLENE GLYCOL is mostly used as a raw material in the production of polyester including polyester (PET) carpet and upholstery fabric. Since it is the main ingredient in polyester, you can see that polyester would have an attraction for ETHYLENE GLYCOL . The ETHYLENE GLYCOL begins to become part of the fiber rather than something on the outside of the fiber that can be removed. To a lesser extent, ETHYLENE GLYCOL will also bond to olefin, nylon and other synthetic fibers.
For this reason, it is important to remove ETHYLENE GLYCOL very quickly from synthetic carpets or it may be impossible to remove it completely.
PROPYLENE GLYCOL does not have the same strong attraction for polyester or other synthetic fibers, but it still should be removed as quickly as possible.
Sources of ETHYLENE GLYCOL and PROPYLENE GLYCOL Spills and Stains
In addition to antifreeze for vehicles, it is also used as anti-freeze in some fire suppression (sprinkler) systems. Typically this will be 10 – 12% of the solution. These solutions should be flushed out regularly, normally once a year or every two years. If the solution is not flushed out and replaced with new, there may be rust or other contaminants mixed in. Some of these contaminants are pathogenic, meaning they can cause disease. Encourage use of PPE when cleaning glycol spills from sprinkler systems!
Glycol based fire suppressants will clean easily from hard, non-porous surfaces if acted on quickly. Some fire suppressants foam as they are ejected from a sprinkler system. These will require a defoaming agent such as is used to reduce foam on carpet or in extractor waste tanks.
Removing Stains On Carpet & Fabric
As discussed above, it is important to act quickly to remove stains. Older stains can usually not be fully removed. If the carpet is badly worn, abraded; if it has not had protector applied on a regular basis or if the fluid was hot, the glycol penetrates the fiber much deeper. This also makes it harder to remove and less likely to be completely removed.
Keys to removal include
Glycol Solutions on Carpet and Fabric
Glycol refers to a group of chemicals. Most common is Ethylene Glycol with Propylene glycol also being rather common.
ETHYLENE GLYCOL is colorless, odorless, syrupy and sticky. It also has a sweet taste. Although only slightly toxic there are numerous cases of poisoning, some resulting in death. This is usually animals or children who are attracted by the sweet taste and so consume rather large doses.
PROPYLENE GLYCOL is less toxic and does not have a sweet taste. For this reason it is gradually replacing the use of ETHYLENE GLYCOL in some consumer applications such as anti-freeze that one may put into their vehicle. It may be sold as “Non-toxic” anti-freeze or under similar claims.
ETHYLENE GLYCOL is mostly used as a raw material in the production of polyester including polyester (PET) carpet and upholstery fabric. Since it is the main ingredient in polyester, you can see that polyester would have an attraction for ETHYLENE GLYCOL . The ETHYLENE GLYCOL begins to become part of the fiber rather than something on the outside of the fiber that can be removed. To a lesser extent, ETHYLENE GLYCOL will also bond to olefin, nylon and other synthetic fibers.
For this reason, it is important to remove ETHYLENE GLYCOL very quickly from synthetic carpets or it may be impossible to remove it completely.
PROPYLENE GLYCOL does not have the same strong attraction for polyester or other synthetic fibers, but it still should be removed as quickly as possible.
Sources of ETHYLENE GLYCOL and PROPYLENE GLYCOL Spills and Stains
In addition to antifreeze for vehicles, it is also used as anti-freeze in some fire suppression (sprinkler) systems. Typically this will be 10 – 12% of the solution. These solutions should be flushed out regularly, normally once a year or every two years. If the solution is not flushed out and replaced with new, there may be rust or other contaminants mixed in. Some of these contaminants are pathogenic, meaning they can cause disease. Encourage use of PPE when cleaning glycol spills from sprinkler systems!
Glycol based fire suppressants will clean easily from hard, non-porous surfaces if acted on quickly. Some fire suppressants foam as they are ejected from a sprinkler system. These will require a defoaming agent such as is used to reduce foam on carpet or in extractor waste tanks.
Removing Stains On Carpet & Fabric
As discussed above, it is important to act quickly to remove stains. Older stains can usually not be fully removed. If the carpet is badly worn, abraded; if it has not had protector applied on a regular basis or if the fluid was hot, the glycol penetrates the fiber much deeper. This also makes it harder to remove and less likely to be completely removed.
Keys to removal include
- Using a solvent booster (Citrus Solv, Citrus Solv II is preferred or Pine Boost) added to the appropriate prespray for the carpet
- Prespray should be applied hot to penetrate as deeply into the carpet fiber as possible. Use of a Hydro-Force sprayer is suggested since this allows hotter prespray to be applied.
- Allow longer dwell time, at least 10 minutes, better yet 20 minutes. Apply sufficient prespray that it does not dry before cleaning.
- Finish by applying an encapsulation product to prevent wicking. This can be Spot Stop for smaller areas or Encapuguard (mixed extra strong) for larger areas.
- Have limited expectations and convey limited expectations to the client, especially if any of the conditions above make it a more difficult stain to remove.
Sierra Clean Care
Member
I think I’d rather deal with that than the call I got last Sunday from a resto company.
They asked if I wanted to go extract 600KG (1320 lb) of liquid chicken fat...
Yuck...
They asked if I wanted to go extract 600KG (1320 lb) of liquid chicken fat...
Yuck...
