Carpet Cleaning Issues - Carpet construction, upholstery cleaning, stain removal, equipment, events, etc.
Dog vomit ! Help please!Posted by Christal_Clean (Bryan H), 4 March 2004
I cleaned a lounge carpet last week, 80/20 tufted, where dog was sick on previous day. Client cleaned up using water & only slight staining left.
I cleaned whole carpet using micro- splitter, and only very slight evidence left. I was called back today to find orange tinge in circle at extremities of original stain.
First reaction was original over-wetting by client caused wick-up from hessian , but dicarded this as wrong colour.
I have removed same stains from this carpet previously with no evidence remaining ( different dog same habit)
What has caused the orange tinge to appear at this late stage
when all residue of original stain 'must' of been removed by HWE ?
I have tried spray n go , de-brown, acid rinse & one or two other things to no effect.
Client undecided whether to blame me as yet. Anyone got any helpful suggestions or solutions please ??
BryanPosted by Ken_Wainwright (Ken Wainwright), 4 March 2004
Hi Bryan
I don't know if my knowledge on the subject is upto date, but the explanation I give to my clients has been the same for the last 20 years or so. Here goes.
Soiling from either end of an animal, or human, have a chemical reaction on the carpet fibres. Normal cleaning does not counteract this chemical reaction. It can, however make the chemical reaction non-reversible, so it is important that the first action post accident is to absorb as much soil as possible, then treat with a chemical neutraliser.
As your client has already attempted to clean up the soiling, I suspect that she has created a non reversible chemical reaction which can only get worse rather than better.
As a footnote, I feel it is prudent for all CC's not to promote a stain removal service, but to merely say that they'll treat stains.
Safe and happy cleaning
KenPosted by Dynafoam (Dynafoam), 4 March 2004
Ken,
Facts do not go out of date.
You are right - the gastric juices of a dog contain 6-7 times as much Hydrochloric acid as those of humans.
These chemicals are designed to digest proteins and although keritin is indigestable, it (and maybe also the dye) is attacked by them.
John.Posted by Christal_Clean (Bryan H), 4 March 2004
Thanks guys,
But why has this staining only appeared after the carpet has dried. The client had used only water originally, and appeared to have removed nearly all the stain.
Should I have treated it with something specific before cleaning ?
I think she might try & claim against me.
BryanPosted by SteveTruman (SteveTruman), 4 March 2004
Bryan, try bonnet cleaning it or if you haven't got bonnet machine spray a fine mist over stain ( I use Ultimate Master ) and blot with towelling. DO NOT OVER WET...
Best of British
StevePosted by lenpg (Len Gribble), 4 March 2004
Hi Bryan
You may have in the past successfully removed the same type satin, animal food has some thing to do with it, they use a lot of food dye.
I’m not trying to teach you to suck egg or be pedantic but you say you cleaned the whole carpet with a micro splitter. But you don’t advise your method of working example did first try to remove the mark? I will leave it there at the moment, as I got told off a few posts ago (shoot the dog)
LenPosted by Christal_Clean (Bryan H), 5 March 2004
Its a rather nice dog Len, so I'm sure it will escape the gun !
As the stain was barely visible before my cleaning, although still damp from customers efforts, I only pre-sprayed & used handtool to flush out any residue before cleaning the whole carpet, There did not appear to be any need for any other treatment & I was positive that pile was now clean & free of residue.
The strange thing is that the orange stain that appeared is only 20mm wide arond the perimeter of the original mark, the centre is perfectly clean. Looks like an orange water mark
Very wierd, BryanPosted by lenpg (Len Gribble), 5 March 2004
Hi Bryan
If you get called back make no promises
This has worked for me in the past
Mix two 2 tablespoons of Household ammonia per cup of water solution apply, blot with towels, rinse with white vinegar solution.
Only try this on a very small area first. I also use a hairdryer on cool setting so it dries more quickly.
Hope this helps
LenPosted by nick.solution (nick.solution), 5 March 2004
Hi Bryan
It sounds as if your client may have used a disinfectant/ mild bleech on the vomit, or the bile in the vomit could have bleeched to the carpet, it is unlikely that any micro splitter would have caused colour degradation, as it does not contain any bleeching agents or detergent.
Best regards NickPosted by martin_606 (martin_606), 5 March 2004
Hi
If she does want to claim against you remind her politely
that she attacked it before you even got there and the staining might be the chemicals she has already used.
Is the stain her chemicals drawn through the carpet during the cleaning process?
Regards
Martin 
Posted by Ken_Wainwright (Ken Wainwright), 5 March 2004
As I infered earlier, Madam failed to neutralise the soil initially. How can the public be expected to have an intimate knowlledge of the chemistry involved. After the "kitchen cupboard" had been thrown at it, success would be down to luck, but problems more likely.
Unfortunately, most house contents insurance policies exclude damage from animals. However, if the soiling had been from a child or even an adult (drunk?), then she would have had a valid claim 
Safe and happy cleaning
KenPosted by Christal_Clean (Bryan H), 6 March 2004
Thanks everyone for your input !
She seems to accept my explanation that the damage was done before I even got to it, and she is going to be more thorough next time with her initial cleaning procedure ( I'm sure there will be a next time)
At least I have learned one or two things myself, so its not all bad !
Bryan
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