Crazy spot troubles

[MikeB]

I have a nursing home with a recurring spot that has been coming and going for 3 years or so. I have cleaned this place and since then, another company has cleaned it. Spot always comes back according to environmental services person. I have no idea what it is, but they really don't want to pull up the carpet cause it's possibly asbestos tile underneath. I tried the 50/50 ds 2 after cleaning last time, came back and vacc'd and it looked good for a while but still came back. I may have gotten it too wet during cleaning though.
I'd like to handle this thing for them, any ideas?
This is the place my wife works for so I'm able to monitor how it looks. I think if I can solve this issue I could retain this account but since it came back, they have gone back to the old company and then even tried doing it themselves with an extractor. I was the hero for a while, now back to a zero !
My wife says the last time they cleaned it, it smelled horrible for 3 days and same spot is coming back again.

[Rob D]

That's hard to believe. I have resolved so many issue of reoccurring spots with encap solutions. Take some detailed pictures this time and get exact locations of spots just to make sure they are not new...Some people don't realize that new spills happen and I always give benefit of doubt. the ds 2 can be strong at a high concentrate like that so they might have not liked the tea tree...I would use a 50/50 hydrox air movers then schedule the following day to do a real deep vacuuming. Hydrox doesn't put off to much odor but some people are soooooo sensitive. I would apply with a shower feed tank to keep air borne odor particles to a minimum. Best of luck

[MikeB]

Thanks Rob,
The horrible smell was when the last company cleaned, not from my cleaning. I worded it kinda confusing i guess...

[Rob D]

Mike have you tried hydrox there? I have had great luck with drink, food spills and also urine and poop! I have always been able to remove every spot and spill with encap. Discolored fiber is anothe issue. So when you go back use enough solution to encap whatever the spill is.

[MikeB]

I have my challenger set up with shower feed now (sprayed ahead last time) so that with a fiber plus or micro beast with Hydrox and then a rich mix of Hydrox or ds2 on the spot. Follow up next day to vac vac vac the spot. Sound like a plan?
It surprises me too that it comes back but this one was my very first attempt at encap (last year) so I don't think I was doing enough scrubbing or using enough juice.


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[Rob D]

If its a lighter shade carpet rich mix of hydrox on spots. I would use fiber pad. And make sure at least 1 gal per 300sq ft

[MikeB]

Ok thanks Rob. I look back now and realize I wasn't using near enough chem back then. The solution tank with shower feed works much better for me now on cgd. I still spray and dwell on residential.


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[Rob D]

Depending on the spots you might even be able to use 10oz per 1 gal with hydrox as long as you put enough mix solution down. I try not to really use higher concentrate unless it's absolutely needed. The high concentrate leaves crystals which is ok if needed because spots always go away for me. Have a good weekend.

[MikeB]

Thanks you too


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[encapman]

My Spill Stain Remedy:

Make sure you're following these steps TO THE LETTER, and your spots WILL NOT return. How can I be so certain of this? It's because we have cleaned millions upon millions of square feet (miles) of carpet and have treated an unimaginable number of spill stains with this technique --- and it works.

TAKE YOUR TIME. And follow these steps carefully:

1. When approaching a spill stain, isolate the stain and thoroughly scrub the carpet surrounding the stain with the encapsulation detergent, leaving the stain untouched. DON'T SCRUB THE SPOT - LEAVE IT DRY.

2. Next, aggressively scrub dry passes over the spot. Criss-cross the scrubber back and forth over the stain and continue to scrub continuously for a full minute or two.

We don't want to get the area wet with any additional detergent. This way, the spot is being aggressively cleaned with minimal moisture.

This is not a totally dry scrub; moisture is captured from the surrounding area and is drawn across the spot as the scrubber criss-crosses back and forth over the stain. However, the moisture is being kept to an absolute minimum.

By scrubbing for a full minute or two, the spill stain is receiving an extremely thorough scrubbing.

3. Prepare a spray bottle of a Releasit detergent. Mix the spill spray solution 50/50 with water and detergent. This is an exceptionally effective spill stain remedy.

After scrubbing the spot thoroughly as described above, spray the spot with a few squirts of the encapsulation stain mixture.

4. The final step is to make one final quick dry pass over the treated spot with the scrubber to work the concentrated encapsulator down into the fiber. Now the spot won't return!

This trick for eliminating recurring spill stains transformed our carpet cleaning business. It enabled us to sell "Spot Free" cleaning to our commercial clients. Our customers LOVE it, since nobody has ever been able to remove them as effectively before. The only time we've ever had a problem with a spill is when one of our technicians cuts corners and spends less time than they he should have. If they don't spend at least a full minute or two DRY scrubbing each individual spot first - the process is not gonna work.

These steps WILL work for you, providing that they are followed very carefully.

Wishing you success!

[NJP]

Thanks Rick, nice post!

[MikeB]

Thanks Rick! I know now that I got the spot too wet originally and it just caused more wicking.
Thanks for sharing the hard earned experience!

[encapman]

You're very welcome.

Hard earned experience is the correct word for it too



Rick Gelinas
The Encapman