Carpet/Seats stains reappear

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I am running into a problem and cant find a solution to the madness.

When im extracting/cleaning carpets/seats the stain somewhat reappear. When its wet it looks clean and that i have removed the stain. But when its dry most of it is gone. There seems to be like an "outline" of the original stain or some of the stain was push to another location close to the original stain, if that makes an sense.

If you guys/gals have encountered the problem before please share the solution, thanks.

Here is what im using:
Meg D103
Misc brushes
PC with white brush
Mytee lite

[toycar18]

It is probably "wicking"

Car upholstery is very thin and liquids can easily penetrate into the cushion. When you clean the stain you are only removing it from the fabric and not the cushion underneath. The stain is removed through cleaning but the contaminants in the cushion below wick to the surface as it dries. Since the fabric is wet it allows the contaminants to wick to the surface. Kind of like a sponge sitting in water after some time the top of the sponge will be come wet. I would re-clean the entire area from one seam to another. Then you need to get it as dry as possible. Extra dry strokes and speed dry with a fan.

Also if you only clean 1 spot and not the entire cushion you could create a watermark. You need to clean an entire area and not just the spot and speed dry. Also may need a different spotter depending on the stain.

Some stains also will naturally disappear when wet and show back up when dry. If this is the case your cleaner is not removing the stain. Finding out the stain from the customer will help.

-Matt
Professional Carpet Cleaner
10yrs experience

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Thank you so much for the response. So for those who extract customers cars, do you tell them to bring it back for a second round?

[toycar18]

For my business if there is every a stain that reappears whether on carpet or upholstery I will re-clean it for free within 30days.

Some stains need several treatments to remove. Some may never come out. Show the customer you care and have them bring it back and try again.

[Danube]

I am running into a problem and cant find a solution to the madness.

When im extracting/cleaning carpets/seats the stain somewhat reappear. When its wet it looks clean and that i have removed the stain. But when its dry most of it is gone. There seems to be like an "outline" of the original stain or some of the stain was push to another location close to the original stain, if that makes an sense.

If you guys/gals have encountered the problem before please share the solution, thanks.

Here is what im using:
Meg D103
Misc brushes
PC with white brush
Mytee lite


I washed my wife's car upholstery with 10:1 APC and a brush ..

Not that it looks like new, but it smells so nice-it puts a smile on my face whenever I'm in wife's car.
In fact the megs APC is one of my favorite products of all.

:xyxthumbs:

[rakkvet]

Try putting a fan pointed directly at the area you cleaned. Or you can put a terry cloth towel over the spot. Those are 2 of the best ways to avoid wicking without purchasing a new product. You may want to look into an encapsulation chemical for carpets and upholstery.

[Bates Detailing]

We do ALOT of interiors and some stains just tend to come back...... we have removed everything from DEATH stains to wine stains yet what seem like minor stains seem to come back..... great marketing offering the 30 day deal, but I feel like some stains cannot be removed without days of work which = days of lost profit....

[Kristopher1129]

Thank you so much for the response. So for those who extract customers cars, do you tell them to bring it back for a second round?

Exactly. If I feel a stain may come back, I either advise the customer that they should leave it with me till it dries, so I can make sure. Or, bring it back to hit it one more time.

Most customers are fine with leaving it over night. That gives me plenty of time to dry it off, check it in the morning, and do what I have to do. After round two...they're just plain stuck with it.