Seagrass Mystery

WISE

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Oct 9, 2006
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I will post a pic later...don't have my camera with me.

But, this is the deal.

New Year's Eve...people were out of town. Dog pee'd on Seagrass. Neighbors checks in next morning as they were looking out for the pets, see wet spot and put "Damp Rid" on it.

Homeowners come in the next day and clean that up...has a white coloration to it. They clean it with vinegar and water and it cleaned up perfect.

No problems....Fast Forward to last week.

This same area has become and extremely dark stain that has a real oily residue on the seagrass. It just appeared...first lightly, then as a few days went by, it is really dark now--and oily.

No other accidents or spills to it...it just happened over about 3 days.

The house is on a slab--not sure if the temp. changes to warmer weather has an effect or what...but this is a new one on me.

I looked at it and told them cut it out and be done with it...but I can't figure what would do this?

Any ideas?

Thanks

WISE
 

Jimmy L

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Oct 7, 2006
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Jimmy L
I'm sure it would somehow relate to the acidic composition in the urine breaking down and bacteria growth escalating.
And the bacteria has begun consuming the sea grass.


Throw it out.
 

WISE

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Oct 9, 2006
Messages
627
Marty--

HOST

Or

Foampoo clean with fine fabric shampoo, buff all, boost all, and a sponge.

However, the latter would require you to get on your hands and knees...from which I am not sure you could recover.

:)WISE
 

Harry Myers

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I would say it could be affecting the latex. I do believe however after you use the vinegar rinse you should blot with a water and ammonia mix . Than use a fabric shampoo. I would have used host on it first than have resorted to the wetter method.. The discoloration see if it is still there. How big is the rug can it be cut out and rebound .
 

WISE

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Oct 9, 2006
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Harry--

It is a wall to wall installation. I will post some pics in the am.

All this happened the first couple days of Jan. by the homeowner...they said it looked perfect until last week...it just started getting darker and darker and real oily. Out of nowhere, no new spills, pee spots, or anything...just appeared over several days.

I basically told them there was no cleaning that...cut it out, put in a patch (which I have plenty of...fairly close on color) and put an area rug over that area if the patch piece does not blend well. The lady of the house insisted I try something, so I threw some corn cobs on it and ran the Host over...it laughed at me. It did take care of some of the oily residue, but as I predicted to her; did nothing really at all.

Thanks

WISE
 

The Great Oz

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Nov 25, 2006
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seattle
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bryan
Damp rid is a calcium chloride moisture absorbent. it isn't made to be used on carpet, and the residue is probably the problem. It should be rinsable using HWE.

Seagrass isn't all that susceptible to shrinkage or discoloration from using water on it, and is a cheap, cheap cheap product so there isn't much risk to seeing what you can do to fix the problem. If it doesn't come out or there is an appearance change where you work, oh well, it was worth a try.

Tell the customer that seagrass is just reedy swamp weeds, and should only be used as a disposable area rug. They should buy actual carpet next time and pick up some scented candles from the import shop if they like the smell.



PS: From the DampRid web site: (Spilled product, not to be used as a spotting product) ...If you don’t dilute or clean the spot, the spilled liquid will continue to absorb excess moisture and the spot may get larger. .. ...The rusty colored liquid comes from trace mineral deposits that are found in calcium chloride...
 

Jose Smith

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Nov 4, 2006
Messages
321
Just like any residual problem, HWE will remove it. Any remaining discoloration can better be identified with the oily residue gone and an easy solution can be found.

Jose Smith
 

XTREME1

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Greg Crowley
My expiernce with it HWE will bring it back twice as bad. I celan a few of those a year and the best you can hope for is to bring it back to its original color the spot will still be lurking underneath and shrinkage is a big issue with HWE. I would lightly mist host prep and host the thing and get dry as quick as possible and if you have to host (without prep)again do it. That should take care of it. The seagrass is the only thing I use the host for anymore
 

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