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Spots from Railway Iron and BleachAfter reading this report, the claimant, dealer, and carpet cleaner agreed to spilt the cost of spot dying.THE CARPET FIBER/ ID METHOD: Nylon-Chemical COLOR: Gray CONSTRUCTION: Tufted Cut Loop STYLE: Saxony Plush SQUARE YARDAGE: 119.56 BACK SYSTEM: Conventional Tufted PRIMARY BACKING: Polypropylene SECONDARY BACKING: Polypropylene THE INSTALLATION TYPE OF SITE: Residential DATE INSTALLED: 12/95 METHOD: Stretch-In CUSHION: 7/16 Inch Rippled Rubber SUBFLOOR: Slab AREA INSTALLED: Living-room, And Master-Bedroom USE & MAINTENANCE INFORMATION AT THE TIME OF INSPECTION LITERATURE RECEIVED WITH PURCHASE: None Reported TEMPERATURE: 68.3°F - 20.1° C RELATIVE HUMIDITY: 77% ADULTS: 2 - CHILDREN: 0 - PET(S): 1 - Dog DO THEY SMOKE? No SPOTTING AGENTS: None Reported VACUUM TYPE: Upright FREQUENCY: Weekly ENTRY MATS: Yes CONDITION of THE CARPET: See Report SOIL: None Noticed HEATING TYPE: Central Force Air Gas COOLING TYPE: None CLEANING: Professional METHOD: Truckmount Steam TYPE OF CHEMICAL: Unknown DATE LAST CLEANED: Unknown TREATMENTS APPLIED: Unknown REASON FOR COMMISSION The carpet has reportedly discolored. THE REPORT Site Conditions and Geographical Information The carpet were located in the claimant’s free standing single story house. This house was located in a residential neighborhood on the western edge of the Los Angeles Basin very close to the Pacific Ocean. The house was well maintained and was owner occupied at the time of the inspection. BACKGROUND INFORMATION MADE TO THE INSPECTOR The carpet was purchased to go into addition of the house. The hue of the carpet was selected to match rest of the decor. During installation the claimant noticed that the installer was using a rail-road iron to hold the carpet in place after seaming. Some months later, very faint marks were noticed in the carpet that generally ran widthwise across the seam. It was assumed that the stains were rust and were related to the rail-road iron. A steam cleaning was commissioned by the installer to correct the situation. Some time after this cleaning, larger and lighter spots began to appear where the old spots were located. Thus the source of the new spots has remained a mystery.. DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM AREA BY THIS INSPECTOR The carpet in question was installed in the living-room and master-bedroom, but only the living-room had a notice-able problem. In the master-bedroom on small brown stain still remained as seen in photograph number one. In the living-room, seven oblong stains that were lighter than the surrounding carpet were found. Five of these stains ran on the seam and two were off to one side of the seam as seen in photograph number two. The hue of the stain was light gray to off white and only the tips of the yarns were affected. ON-LOCATION FIELD TESTING An ultra-violet light was shone throughout the installation. This tool draws a yellow reflection from most urine stains and a blue or lavender reflection from detergents with optical brightening agents. The result of this test revealed that there were no reflections. Numerous moisture tests were performed using a Delmhorst Moisture Sensor. The results of these tests revealed that only the spots had moisture readings equivalent to a salt residue. A bleach test was performed using a test kit from COLOR MATCH SYSTEMS. This test was performed by pressing a cotton Q-tip into the moistened area of the carpet that was lighter than the surrounding carpet. The results of this test revealed that there was an oxygen type bleach residue in the stains as seen in photograph number three. THE ISSUE OF THIS REPORT The question that I have been asked to address is: what has caused the loss of color in this carpet? GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING THE ISSUE Color loss problems can occur when: 1. bleaches, oxidizing agents or other chemical residues have been applied to the face yarn. 2. sun light or in particular ultraviolet rays from the sun affect the dye. 3. oxide of nitrogen and sulfur in the air common to the Southern California atmosphere, high efficient force air heating systems and other gas appliances react with carpet dye. INDUSTRY STANDARDS, PRACTICES & DEFINITIONS According to the FLOOR COVERING DICTIONARY it says this about Discoloring: DISCOLORATION - A change in color, or hue. usually lighter than the surrounding pile and is not affected by normal cleaning or spotting procedures. THE INSPECTOR'S ANALYSIS The bleach test indicates that an oxygen type bleach was the culprit. The size and shape of the spots rules out sunlight and atmosphere being a cause. Thus, the new issue arising is: where did the bleach come from? If the hue from the bleach test was orange, then the bleach would be the chlorinated type from the chemical such as Chlorox®, but since the hue was blue/green the bleach type is oxygen such as a very strong hydrogen peroxide. The lack of optical brightener would indicate that the bleaching type chemical was not a consumer product. CONCLUSION The color loss was due to localized spotting with a bleaching agent and was not inherent in the manufacturing of the carpet, based upon the shape of the spots and the bleach test. |