[Steve. Taylor]

John i use 1 teaspoon per pint

[derek west]

oooooooooooooo i'm way out.

[Steve. Taylor]

Yeah derek use 2 and custie could kill over

[gwrightson]

John i use 1 teaspoon per pint

more like a teaspoon for cup for me  and stronger, the only downfall of using stonger , in my experience is when it dried it can leave a powdery residule this is simply vacced up by custy of course imforming them first of the process

geoff

[murky]

Just to add my 10pennuth.

I allways use Altecs Tea and Coffee Remover and their Red Wine Remover, both give outstanding results, usually everytime, there RWR has more than a passing resemblance to strong ammonia (dont sniff it), and allways wear gloves it has that powdery residue arond the neck of the container.

But they usually work even on stains that have been played with.

Murky

[james roffey]

Gordonnis, Thats a shame, did you leave it on for ten mins before rinsing, also I find it takes 2 or 3 goes.

Terrymaloy, try Hydramasters 'knock out' for red wine, the only time I had it fail is when customer has put other chems on and messed up the chemistry. Your know if its going to work as it turns green first 

I have a wine stain or a fizzy drink stain, customer not sure.
 on a pure wool carpet i found this old thread and noticed you suggest Hydramasters Knockout but on the Hydramaster site it says this is a defoamer
I tried spotting it on my survey with a microsplitter which i have used to good affect on red wine before but not this time, i dont bother with the Prochem stuff for this type of stain as i have never managed to remove this type of stain with them, looks like you guys are all using different methods and chemicals

[Simon Gerrard]

James,

Hydramaster's Knock Out is next to useless these days. They seem to have changed the formula and it is nowhere near as good as it used to be. One CC I know used it on a wine stain and it turned orange and he couldn't correct it.

Simon

[james roffey]

Being new to the business when i have found something that works i stick with it but i have not had the oppotunity of trying many different products, and after trying most of the Prochem range i now find myself at a loss where to go next, i would be interested to know what the more experienced guys are using for juice stains, tea/coffee and wine

[robert meldrum]

Came accross a product on the internet this morning I'd never heard of before which claims to be able to deal with just about anything.................from the makers of the amazing Bissell carpet cleaner, it's called Oxy Kic !!

Has anyone tried it..............it might just work.

[Simon Gerrard]

James,

Like most people we use all of the usual suspects, sodium met, shift, spray & go etc etc, but with the best will in the world the really though stains are at best hit and miss, most often because they have been tampered with. The thing is never to guarantee, or even suggest that you can get the stains out, only that you have all the latest stain removal products and you will do your best. The problem is that stains can sometimes be the reason they called you in the first place and unless you qualify the customer adequately and revise their expectations downward, to you'll do your best, but can't guarantee complete removal then you may have a dissatisfied customer on your hands. The same applies to very dirty or heavily worn carpets as you must always be aware then when they are on the phone to you, in their minds eye is a carpet that looks like it did when it was new and our job is to adjust that mental image and modify their expectations through qualification so that what you eventually produce is more in keeping with that new expectation and possibly well beyond it if all goes well.

Simon

[james roffey]

Cheers Simon, i dont think any customer of mine could accuse me of raising expectations.
Common sense tells me to down play all results then if it looks good they are delighted, if that stain does not come out then they are not let down.
I do think that some customers look at me as though i have gone made though they say
"of course i dont expect the carpet to look new again, its old" but you have to assume that they could be that one who expects you to make the carpet look like the bit under the sofa.
Think i may have to experiment with a few different methods and chemicals, i have my carpet sample with a few stains on i will be off in the morning to try sodium met first.

[james roffey]

Got some Sod met yesterday, got it home and tried it on a carpet sample with a Red wine, blackcurrant juice,  coffee, and food colouring stains.
I Mixed up a pint if boiling water added a tablespoon of sod met put it in a spray bottle the results after i had dried the carpet this morning.

All stains apart from food colouring completely gone so another weapon in my arsenal

[Neil kell]

Was doing a carpet in a hotel once. It was at the drinks machine, or just around it. There were lucozade stains every where. As the drink would fall to the hatch, the sudden jolt would shake it up. As soon as it would open, the lucozade would fizz all over the new axminster. There were inevitably lots of lucozade stains and they had been there for well over a year, most of them.
I used some of Alltecs - red wine remover, this stuff has a low ph and is lethal to the lungs. It wasn't doing a thing to the carpet so I chased it with a steamer to up the ante. The pile of the carpet was completely scorched and ruined. It was only a small area no one noticed. What is it with mixing these low ph gum removers, tea and coffee removers with steam? I use the steamer all the time so I do know how to use it safely on a carpet. It happened on a polypropelene carpet too once residentially, again it went unnoticed as a test area.

Neil

[wayne zabel]

Got some Sod met yesterday, got it home and tried it on a carpet sample with a Red wine, blackcurrant juice,  coffee, and food colouring stains.
I Mixed up a pint if boiling water added a tablespoon of sod met put it in a spray bottle the results after i had dried the carpet this morning.

All stains apart from food colouring completely gone so another weapon in my arsenal

Hi Jim where did you get the Sod Mets from and what is the process for using ?

Do you spray on and leave for a certain length of time and then extract.

Hope this doesnt sound daft but Ive never used this and always wondered what the process is.

[Peter Dawson]

I also use Chemspec coffee and tea stain remover from John at Restormate. It has a good % of Sodium Met and saves mixing chemicals. Down side is it stinks until dry but gives excellent results.

Peter
Beta Clean

[james roffey]

Wayne i mixed about a tablespoon into a pint of boiling water then added to a sprayer misted it on the stain, the wine stain turned purple usually a good sign alarming though if you have never seen it happen before, blotted with a terry towel.
It was hard to tell if it had all come out as the carpet was darkened but the moisture, so placed it on a radiator overnight next day stains gone
I read on this post where to get it i went to the local beer and wine makers shop they use it for cleaning, go get yourself some its a handy addition to the spotting kit

[gwrightson]

Wayne try speeding up the process by using a hair dryer once applied, the results quite amazing at times .

Geoff

[wayne zabel]

Does the solution not have to be extracted?

[gwrightson]

Wayne the solution does not have to be extracted, on odd occasions  awhite cyrstal residule may be left , tell the custy to simply vac the area.

geoff

[John Kelly]

Having carried out stain removal for the insurance industry for many years, experience is that 25% of stains are permanent. This is especially so if the customer has messed about with it using Vanish or the such.
Find that Tea and Coffee a lot depends on what temperature it was at when it hit the carpet. If its a cup thats been standing a while then its usually quite easy to remove. If its freshly made then its a lot harder, so ask the question.