| Potting Soil Removal |
| . There is an old saying in the carpet cleaning business that has been around since the workers tracked dirt in from building the pyramids in Egypt. Whatever goes in dry comes out dry the easiest. . Potting soil can consist of a great many things including dinosaur droppings. Regardless how much power your truck mount has or how many times you have done it, it can really be a snake-in-the-grass for the unsuspecting technician. Once it is dampened, the muddy mixture sets up like ancient Roman concrete. . The following guidelines are for removing potting soil before the soil been dampened. Once wet, the procedure does not work as well but it probably still works better than others. 1) Tell the customer on the phone not to wet the spot. If she already has then caution her not to wet it further because it will all but guarantee that the soil will not remove completely in one trip. The more cautions you build into the job at this point, the better. 2) Dry vac as much of the dry dirt as you can possibly get. Use the hose cuff. It seems to furnish just about the right amount of agitation and concentrates the vacuum power also. Beware not to rub too much because the carpet appearance will be altered so that once the soil is removed the carpet pile is permanently distorted. 3) Using the normal amount of extraction detergent and flood the area with plenty of hot detergent spray. The goal here is to dilute and suspend the soil particles. Chemeisters Action Extraction with its built-in acid rinse is the best here. Do not use clear water because the particles will lose suspension and adhere to the fibers before you can flush it out. Then with the "steam" still on, extract the area. Finish by dry vacuuming as much water as possible. The process can be repeated but you will generally get about all you are going to the first time. If you let it dry for several days until all of the deep moisture is gone you can then repeat the process with better results. 4) Because of the soaking that takes place with heavy cleaning it is recommended that you apply an 8% to 10% acid treatment to block reactive condition such as "browning" during drying. If you used Action Extraction you can omit this step. Get the face yarn uniformly damp with the acid and allow to dry. Ventilation is always important but do not focus a fan directly on the area. Instead, aim it at an indirect angle to aid drying if necessary. Chemeisters RinseAcid Plus is 18% acid so you simply mix it 1/2 with water. |
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| can really be difficult |
www.chemeistersUSA.com
800 523-3430
26202 West Seven Mile Road - Redford, MI - 48240
Speciality Chemicals since 1978
fax (313) 538-5324
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