Carpet Cleaned Then Spot Returns

There are two primary causes of carpet re spotting.

Carpet cleaned then spot returns.

Say you use a fair amount of spot cleaner to clean up your spill and finish by blotting up the tips of the carpet fiber. So it may come as a surprise when some of the spots return. Either way it can be quite annoying to see spots and stains re emerge on a carpet you thought was just professionally cleaned. This is most often referred to as rapid resoiling.

When the carpet is cleaned it looks good. As carpet dries water evaporates from the tips of the carpet yarns drawing some of the remaining moisture behind it. Using a white cloth or towel depending on the size of the stain gently rub the area back and forth or in a circular motion so the water based cleaning mixture covers the entire stain. Other times the spots come back after several weeks have passed.

The good news is that if a spot actually wicks back it can be removed. Do not scrub the area. Vigorous scrubbing could damage your carpet or upholstery. At other times the spots and stains come back after the passing of a few weeks.

Now the remaining liquid will carry some of the spill back up to the carpet surface due to capillary action also called the wicking effect. This is most often a result of wicking which will be discussed below. When spot cleaning yourself place a folded white terry cloth towel over the spot just after you clean it while the spot is still moist. Naturally you expect your carpets to look better after carpet cleaning than before.

When it dries the spots and traffic areas come back. Sometimes spots can reappear as soon as the carpet dries. These returning spots can be as much of a surprise to your carpet cleaning professional as they are to you. Wicking is one of the most common result of returning spots.

The reason the spots return has to do with the mechanics of capillary action. One originates below the carpet fibers in the backing or pad of the carpet. Returning spots after carpet cleaning a manufacturing issue. Re soiling from various residues and soil wicking after carpet cleaning.

After cleaning a spot or stain from your carpet there are times where it will return just shortly after the carpet dries. These type of spots usually start out as a spill.