All carpets get stained, and you can usually get them clean. But some stains keep coming back no matter how much they are cleaned, even by a professional. This is called wick back. It’s something that irritates those who have had a professional carpet cleaning, but why does it happen. There are a couple of reasons for a stain wicking back.
- If the stain is from a spill, sometimes the stain is cleaned on the top half, while the other half remains soiled but hidden. After a few days the capillary quality of carpet fibers essentially sucks the stain back upward to be seen by the user.
- If the carpet is used very soon after cleaning, it can cause the stains to rise to the surface. This is very often the case in commercial establishments.
- Sometimes if the carpet was not treated properly the spots can reappear. Often the carpet cleaning technician does not fully remove the spot removing agent he applied.
The fact remains that some stains you simply cannot get out, even if your are a professional. Carpet manufactures do their best to make carpets stain and dirt resistant, but when you get down to it, they are still made of absorbent materials. The best way around this problem is to use a low moisture carpet cleaning method. Low moisture only wets the carpet moderately. The carpet is never soaked and thus no capillary action is possible. At Beyer’s, we only employ a low moisture cleaning system to ensure that your carpet spots are gone, for good!
Written by, Derek Beyer.