Why I don't use an acid rinse

Cleanworks

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Cleaning this 60 ounce nylon today and thought I would do some ph testing. Not heavily soiled, I'm really there to do some spot removal. Carpets were cleaned by me 6 months ago. Presprayed with code Red (12ph aprox). Rinsed with procyon plus powder (10ph aprox). First pic is the ph immediately after prespraying, second is 10 minutes after rinsing.

IMG_20181101_132049.jpg IMG_20181101_133401.jpg
 

Tom Forsythe

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We did a similar test on a different carpet with high levels of soil. We pre-sprayed with Flex Powder (12 pH) and rinsed one area with water (pH 7) resulting in a pH of around 9, we rinsed another area with Flex Ice (pH 5.0) resulting in a pH of 7. If I remember correctly we did a video using the same pH meter)). Two points to consider, effective rinsing removes a lot of pre-spray as well as the rinse residues itself over water alone. Also pH does not reflect the total alkalinity of any given pre-spray. We did a recent test that one product that was twice the alkalinity (this was not shipped as a corrosive material) of one of our products, but had the same pH of one of our products (which is shipped as a corrosive material).
 
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Wand Slinger

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My rule of thumb is use a prespray 10ph or less on Nylon, usually Bio-break. Reason being is the dyes in Nylon can be be affected by alkalinity, just like wool.

Local company turned a white Nylon Home Depot carpet yellow in a ladies house and didn't know how to fix it. They recleaned it a few times but same result. They had to replace the whole house.

I run an acid rinse on every cleaning, usually flex ice. I use to be a soft water only guy but I can really tell a difference with flex ice. The main difference is when I go back to some of the repeat accounts I have, they look great! I don't get to put down protectant most of the time, so I know it's the rinse.
Now, I will admit, I'm not sure if this is true for ploys and olefins, just the majority of Nylons I clean.
 

Jimmy L

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But I thought e were several people here who had issues with flex Ice clogging up their lines.
 

Cleanworks

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Normally, I would not use code Red on nylon but I was correcting some coffee stains and wanted to see the effect. It reduced the staining by about 50%. I still had to apply a 2 part peroxide treatment to get the rest. The point is, rinsing with a 10 ph product still left the carpet close to neutral.
 
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Wand Slinger

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You make a good point. You don't need to use an acid rinse to neutralize some presprays, but acid rinses do help stabilize dyes in Nylon, wool, and Cotton's. That's good enough for me to use it regularly.
Seems to stay clean longer from my experience as well.

I have soft water so I have never had any caking issues with the flex ice.

I have also noticed alkaline rinses make the carpet dyes look deeper, darker and acid rinses make them look lighter, softer.
 

Wand Slinger

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One major benefit from an acid rinse is urine decontamination and odor elimination. Sometimes odor elimination is as easy as lowering the pH.
The Egyptians knew this when they used vinegar as a deodorizer.
 

Hack Attack

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Which means you don't need an acid rinse to neutralize your prespray. The acidic nature of the soil present in the carpet will neutralize the prespray and extraction detergent.
I think use a rinse is the point

the washed out colours I see on wools and nylons that aren't that old are after the cheap and cheerful crew have been through rinsing with water imo
 

Bob Pruitt

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Mark's rinse is near neutral ph and slightly on the acid side.
It still cleans and it will keep trouble away if you are using your truck mount for about everything...carpet, rugs, tile and upholstery...synthetics and natural fibers...without having to switch your rinse. Economical too.
 

Wand Slinger

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Give me a call once you know the cost to ship.
Ship to: Christopher Paulhamus
108 Arabian Dr.
Summerville, SC 29483
843-312-2434
 
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