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Wicking. What is it and how to stop it. For Good.

Stubborn stains can bothersome.  Have you ever tried to remove stains on your own only to discover those stains reappear after a cleaning?  Let’s learn more about the process.

 

When there is a spill that’s rather significant the stain on the surface of your carpet is often smaller in size that what settles on the backing. Wicking is an action that draws soil from the backing of the carpet or substrate to the surface of the carpet fibers.

 

As moisture evaporates stains walk up the carpet fibers when the drying process has occurred. This causes the stain to “wick” back up to the surface.  

 

As if this problem isn’t enough, residues from cleaning solutions can also attract soil after cleaning.  This will leave you with a never ending, frustrating process with a stain that seems to never go away!!

 

Our low moisture cleaning process in 90% of the time will resolve these issues. Since less water is being used the likelihood of stains “wicking” back to the surface is significantly reduced. This is due in part by not allowing any water to soak the carpet backing. Also, this is a very green process and the chemistry we use doesn’t leave a residue behind.

 

Additional steps may be taken to rapid dry the area with additional bonnet absorption.

 

If you have stubborn stains that seem to never go away, get in touch with us to discuss your cleaning and maintenance solutions.

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Wicking: Wha-what?

Wicking: Wha-what?
What the heck is “wicking?”
Well, have you ever had your carpets cleaned – particularly a specific stain – and it looks great but in a few days, that stubborn stain mysteriously shows back up? Annoying as all get-out for sure – that’s wicking.
Wicking is caused when a stain has penetrated deep into the carpet.  Then, when the carpet cleaned – commonly by a “wet” (water) extraction method – the part of the stain that has deeply penetrated the carpet is not completely removed.  After this “wet” type of cleaning is performed and the carpet has dried, the residual portion of the soiled area “wicks” its way to the surface of the carpet fibers. Darn it! – and you’re likely out the money for that professional cleaning you just paid for.
The GREAT news is that with Cincinnati Maintenance’s green, low moisture technology, dry time is often only 45-90 minutes and also prevents that nasty wicking or reappearance of a nasty, stubborn stain.
Contact Cincinnati Maintenance today to take advantage of our low moisture cleaning process – a deep clean that is truly just that – a deep clean that dries fast!

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A Little Bit about "Wicking" – What is It and How to Deal with It

A Little Bit about "Wicking"

So, let’s talk about “wicking.”  On Monday we blogged about low moisture carpet cleaning. Cincinnati Maintenance is a big believer in this type of carpet cleaning which is also called encapsulation. You can see from that blog that we usually adhere to this type of cleaning because it dries fast, is non-toxic, and does not create a large “footprint” in the enviroment.
But, there is another reason we employ the encapsulation technique when serving our residential and commercial clients. It’s called “wicking.”
And, you don’t want it. Wicking, that is.
Have you ever had your carpets cleaned – particularly a specific stain – and it looks great but in a few days, that stubborn stain mysteriously shows back up? Frustrating, huh?  Well, THAT’S wicking.
Wicking is caused when a stain is created – usually from a spill – and it has penetrated deep into the carpet.  Then, when the carpet cleaned – commonly by a “wet” (water) extraction method – the part of the stain that has deeply penetrated the carpet is not completely removed.  After this type of cleaning is performed and the carpet has dried, the residual portion of the soiled area “wicks” its way to the surface of the carpet fibers.
Then, BAM! The carpet looks bad again because the stain has creeped back up to rear its ugly head.
With Cincinnati Maintenance’s green, low moisture technology, dry time is often only 45-90 minutes and also prevents that nasty wicking or reappearance of stubborn stains.

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