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davep

  • Posts: 2589
Low profile tiles
« on: August 02, 2008, 08:56:44 pm »
Had a job today on office tiles, it was in a Tea factory and they where filthy  :-X

Was hoping to give the thermadry a go but wouldnt touch it (not the worst parts anyway)

Tried my hwe and the water was black like i have never seen it, wasn't very effective as it left tide marks where the old tea was reacting with the water but it did make a big difference (the tiles are full of tea from the tasting room)

Going to finish off tommorrow, any advice please?

Ta

Dave


Jim_77

Re: Low profile tiles
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2008, 09:12:02 pm »
It could be that you're simply not getting enough flushing action through the carpet.  I think if I remember from your posts elsewhere, you run a portable?  What sort of spec is it?  You may have to be prepared to do the whole thing again, and spend a lot longer rinsing it through.

This may be one instance where a microsplitter or colloidal and cold water rinse would really outperform any detergent.

If you think about it from another angle... how do you get a nice cup of traditional English navvy's tea?  Stew it for ages!  A well stewed cuppa leaves tea stains behind in the cup, so transferring that back to your carpets... if they had dry tea in them and you wetted up the tea for what was probably a good few hours, the carpets are going to be experiencing something similar to your favourite tea cup with the scummy tea marks inside it.

Also, when a cup of tea is spilled on a carpet, if it's hot the problem is often a lot worse.  The dye sites are opened up, allowing the offending substance to migrate further into the fibres.  Fortunately this is likely to be a polyprop carpet and not a domestic woollen one, so this is less of an issue.  But, if you've rinsed this carpet with hot water you may have exacerbated the problem nonetheless.

Pre-vacuuming mustn't be overlooked either.  What vacuuming procedure and machine did you use on it prior to wetting it?

I'd attack this with a really thorough vacuum, generous application of M-Power (other colloidal agents are available), a good old scrub with a rotary and brush and then a long dwell time.  Cold water rinse, very thoroughly, partially dry off and then lightly spray up again and bonnet to finish with.

How much area are we talking about?

davep

  • Posts: 2589
Re: Low profile tiles
« Reply #2 on: August 02, 2008, 09:21:23 pm »
Ta Jim,  Yip i have a porty (135 psi) and has been good to me up to now!

We vac'd loads with the Bs36, why do you think ms would be better then detergant?

Its not as if tea has been spilt, its the tea leaves being walked in from the factory, so me adding moisture is like making one 200sq m brew..

Was planning on the quick dry and bonnet to finish as you suggest, did that on the worst area and it came up ok, just a strange job.. 

Jim_77

Re: Low profile tiles
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2008, 09:28:04 pm »
Well the vacuum machinery wasn't the problem then, only you know whether the technique was sufficient to get as good a result as possible from it.  Unfortunately low profile carpeting is a bit of a problem in the airflow department, thus limiting dry vacuum performance.  If you're going to use high moisture methods on this sort of carpet you have to be prepared to accept that a lot of rinsing is needed, which is why truckmounters aren't worried when some folks say you shouldn't HWE low profile.

Microsplitter/Colloidal purely because of the temperature issue - you only need a cold rinse, the product doesn't rely on heat to perform.

Go to your kitchen and boil the kettle.  Get 2 cups, put a teabag in each.  Fill one with boiling water and one with cold tap water and see which one goes darker.

You don't even have to go do that to get what I mean, hopefully ;)


clinton

Re: Low profile tiles
« Reply #5 on: August 02, 2008, 10:24:08 pm »
Your thermadry should be cleaning some of the dirt up

Were the pads dirty?

Maybe try cleaning with the porti and follow with the buffer and keep the water as hot as poss before going over with the buffer.


Jim_77

Re: Low profile tiles
« Reply #6 on: August 02, 2008, 11:01:44 pm »
... thus "brewing" the tea a bit more?

Honestly my gut feeling is that you don't want heat on this carpet!

Fred Gullan

  • Posts: 88
Re: Low profile tiles
« Reply #7 on: August 03, 2008, 07:18:02 am »
The tea stains are tannin stains so use browning prescription and a good acid rinse and plenty of water to flush

Fred

davep

  • Posts: 2589
Re: Low profile tiles
« Reply #8 on: August 03, 2008, 08:40:15 am »
The pads where minging after a couple of mins.

Will go with all tips,

Thanks

clinton

Re: Low profile tiles
« Reply #9 on: August 03, 2008, 09:02:23 am »
Good luck with it dave

Sounds a hard job after i read your your post again this morning.

markpowell

  • Posts: 2279
Re: Low profile tiles
« Reply #10 on: August 03, 2008, 09:52:47 am »
As Fred said the tea will have been cleaned away, you will be left with the tannin stain now. Mix browning prescription 1-1 with cold water and apply as a pre-spray, leave for 20 mins then rinse with cold water, this method should do the trick. If not then you may have to use reducing agents.
Mark

Ken Wainwright

  • Posts: 2107
Re: Low profile tiles
« Reply #11 on: August 03, 2008, 10:42:46 am »
You could also use products such as Prochem's Oxybrite or Chemspec's Energiser as an additive to your rinse and/or pre-spray. They must, though, be compatible with your stock solutions. If the fibres are topically dyed, a full dye test must be completed first.

Safe and happy cleaning :)
Ken
Veni, vidi vici, Vaxi
I came, I saw, I conquered, I cleaned up!