Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Park Cleaning Services on October 02, 2005, 07:49:37 pm
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hi, have been reading loads of posts and keep coming across the saying "burn test" please can someone explain to me what this test is, how to do it and what the point is, i may sound a bit thick but please bear with me.
also would be interestes to understand all about ph and its relevence.
Cheers guys.....Ian
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CUT & PASTED FROM CLEANFAX
Identifying upholstery fabrics can challenge the cleaning professional.
Don't guess; do the test.
Cut a small sliver of material from under the furniture's skirt, or the inside seam allowance inside of a cushion.
Hold this sample over a fireproof surface, and ignite it.
Blow out the flame and observe the ash. Synthetics will look melted, natural fibers will look charred. If cotton is present, there may be an "afterglow".
Try to crush the sample between your finger and thumb. All 100 percent natural fiber fabrics will crumble to a soft ash. Synthetics will feel hard and not crush. Blends will crumble somewhat, but also will have a percentage of the hard ash feel. Treat all blends as delicate, however.
If you feel confident, strip away back coating from another sample, separate the yarns, and attempt the standard burn test to determine exact fiber content. This is rarely necessary.
There is more to safely cleaning upholstery than fiber content alone. An extensive color fastness test is wise, and all pre-existing damage must be noted and acknowledged by the consumer. However, if you know what you are working on, you will make better judgments on producers and products than if you do not
CLICK HER FOR BURN TEST CHART
http://www.carpetinspector.com/fiber_i_d_chart.htm
Mike
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wow, thanks, what a superb answer! found this very helpful and printed a copy of the chart.
All the best Ian..
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Hi Ian,
I think the burn test part of your question has been answered far better than i could advise you, so ill move right on to pH.
pH speaking scientifically is a measure of the concentration of protons (H+) in an aqueous medium. "the logarithm of the reciprocal of hydrogen-ion concentration in gram atoms per litre" [1] which in ley-mans terms is a measure of how acidic/alkali any given water based solution is.
So what use is it? Well anything that is dissovled in water has the potential to affect the pH of water. Indeed, pure distilled and degassed water has a pH of 7, but as soon as you introduce a soluble liquid/solid to the water this may change. [2]
The pH scale runs from 0-7-14.
0-6.9 = Acidic. Whereby the closer you get to zero the more acidic the solution is. e.g pH 2 = more acidic than pH 6.
7.1-14 = Alkaline or Basic. Again the further you get from 7 the more alkai the soultion is.
Its not a linear scale, its a logarithmic scale and this means: for example pH8 is 10 times less alkali than pH9. It increases in factors of ten, therefore pH10 is 100 times more alkali than pH8 etc etc. So pH14 is 10million times more alkai than pH8.
Who cares, im a carpet cleaner!: Well the implications of all of this is that fibres, in particular wool will degrade if you dont use the correct pH of solution to begin with. Basically, this means that if you dont selct the correct cleaning product (and therefore pH) you will be the proud owner of a new carpet. Moreover, you should never leave a carpet with a highly acidic or alkali residue on it no matter what its made of.
So pH is you friend. Not only will it guide you in what product to use in any given situation but also, It will tell you how well you have rinsed the carpet as you can check the pH of your rinse waste and see if its close to pH7(neutral). If not, you can add the approipriate acid/alkali and rerinse.
I hope this is of some help to you, but seriously if you dont understand the implications of both fibre identification and pH you should seek some training options. I think all of the major training programmes will cover them as they are the fundamentals of cleaning science.
Cheers
Graeme
ACS
[1] : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH
[2] : http://www.miamisci.org/ph/ {play with the explore option}
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Hi Graeme,
You seem to know about pH , have you been trained in Chemistry.
I came into carpet cleaning from that background in 1982.
There seems some evidencce that alkalinity is more important than pH and that this is difficult to predict from the pH.
Cheers,
Doug
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Ian
Nothing more to add other than these topics are covered on training courses. You would learn much more than what is pH and a burn test....
Training is a worthwhile investment... knowledge is power.
Chris
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Not wanting to hijack the thread, but yes i studied chemistry for 8 years at Strathclyde Uni. Was at the beginning of the third year of my PhD when i decided to cut loose and go make some money.
Im a sythetic Organic chemist by training and just got a paper accepted into Organic and Biomedicinal Communications :). Its entitled "Highly efficient methods for the preparation of (beta)-substituted enones", and i should have "Rapid and efficient cobalt-mediated routes to the cedrane family of sesquiterpenes" coming to a journal near you soon.
Im showing off now :P
Graeme
ACS
Edit: beta displayed strangely
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I once bumped into my local splash and dash competitor in the local petrol station, his employee asked mine
"do you enjoy cleaning carpets?",
"yes it's very interesting especially ph and all of the different chemicals!" came the reply,
his employee replies "F**k ph when you're cleaning a suite later on a Friday!"
What a professional
Shaun
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When doing a burn test I could never tell the difference in smell from polester and nylon from memory. maybe my nose is knackered.
Also its difficult to tell the difference between cotton, viscose and silk.
Mark
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I also have a difficulty with the burn test.....
How do you get the burn mark off the carpet or upholstery!!!
Chris