[AshWhite]

I've just cleaned a rug that I picked up from a customer earlier in the week. When I collected it from him, it was already rolled up in his garage as he was having some flood restoration work done (the rugs were unaffected by the water damage).
I unrolled it to clean it, and there was a few marks on it, and it needed grooming & a clean.
I presprayed with pre-spray gold mixed with a tiny bit of oxibrite which was left in the sprayer from earlier in the afternoon.
When I stood back, a third of the rug down the side was considerably brighter than the rest. I was hoping it was the way the pile was lying and that it would go back to normal after grooming, but no such luck!
I cleaned it thoroughly, tried brushing it, but it's still noticably lighter down the one side.

I can't say hand on heart whether it was like this before spraying or not.

I've attached a pic, please take a look and let me know what you think - it's due to go back to the customer in a couple of days and he has 3 more for me to do.

It's a wool rug. Would you assume that this might possibly be sun bleaching?

[AshWhite]

Anyone?

[markpowell]

Looks like you may have damaged it with the Oxibrite Mate
Mark

[Colin Day]

I would personally own up, pay up and move on....

[Simon Moat]

Can you honestly remember if that was the side you sprayed first? Oxibrite 100% in the lance? If so I think you've answered your own question.

[AshWhite]

No it wasn't the side I sprayed first, I did around the edge with the lighter side last before moving into the middle. Its thrown me a bit? The oxibrite was a quarter of a scoop from about 2.5 hours earlier which had been topped up with water, and a fresh mix of psg on top (another 1.5 litres!).

[wynne jones]

This is a good lesson on a cheap rug. You won't do that again.

Inspect rugs with customer BEFORE removing

Take pictures

Flush your pipes out properly.  

[AshWhite]

Yeah, lesson learnt! To be honest I might be getting ahead of myself and he might realise it already.

[AshWhite]

Oh, and I'm not sure if it is a cheap rug, its massive I know that much!

[wynne jones]

In a years time you will be laughing about it. 

Honestly, don't sweat, the worst case is you let your insurance sort it out, not good but not the end of the world.

[AshWhite]

Yeah, I'll play it by ear when I take it back and see his reaction I suppose but like you say, worse things have happened at sea

[Carpet Dawg]

I'd play it by ear.

You used very little oxibrite (by what you've said) its shouldn't have that reaction.

It might be a stain that the customer tried to scrub himself with vanish. Carpet cleaning can sometimes high light hidden stains/carpet damage/f*g burns etc. The amount of times i have cleaned minging EOT carpets to find iron and fAg burns!

But like Wynne said, always inspect everything with the customer before the cleaning commences. Pointing out any problems before unloading your gear from the van.

Tony

[M.Acorn]

My guess is it was in front of a sofa,and it's where there feet have been ?

[Paul Redden Countryfresh]

Got wet in the garage while rolled up? de-stabilized the dyes and only showed up
on extraction? 

[AshWhite]

The more I'm thinking about it, the more I realise I would have noticed such a difference when I was vacuuming it.
The I was thinking that the pattern doesn't suit the pattern of my spraying, and I also started to think something similar Paul, if you look at the picture there are parts where it goes closer to the centre of the rug, as if there was a slight damp patch when it was rolled over on itself.

Also, he said that the rugs (4 of them) being rolled up in the garage was unrelated to the water damage he was having sorted (by Rainbow), but if that's the case, why were they in the garage??

I've since found out he's a mega dodgy character too

[mike roberts]

We now always inspect rugs with customers + take pics for extra protection - lesson learnt the hard way!

I would initially take it back and check reaction, as previously posted he may already be aware of the problem - if not insurance !  good luck.

[AshWhite]

Yeah, I'm going up to check on it this morning. I'm hoping that once its completely dry the difference won't be so noticeable.

Cheers for all the feedback guys

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

Ash, Oxibrite mixed up the day before will contain virtually no hydrogen peroxide and is highly unlikely to have caused this bleaching.

The pattern also suggests prior damage.

Cheers

Doug

[robert meldrum]

If I'm faced with something like this I would ask about any inhouse attempts to remove spills / stains as there is something unusual about the rugs appearance. This is usually met by total denial but a little gentle probing will almost always result in " another person " being blamed for trying to clean a stain or spill up and using something like Vanish.

Might it have been water damaged and allowed to dry out before being rolled up ( if rolled up wet it would stink and have mildew growth )

If you are puzzled by the appearance someones property assume it's received incorrect attention from them rather than just admit you've ruined it when it may not be the case.

[AshWhite]

I'm back with the rug now, I'noticed that when you stand next to the light part, it appears to be no worse than the other side. I called the customer to see what he wanted me to do about some stains, and I enquired where the rug was normally kept (lounge) and I mentioned that from certain angles the rug had suffered from a bleaching effect by the sun - he didn't really bat an eyelid at this, he just said to get it as good as I can.

There's hope yet