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Fading from Improper CleaningThis report was done for an insurance company.THE CLAIM STATISTICS INSPECTOR WAS CONTACTED ON: 4/22/98 INSPECTOR WAS RETAINED ON: 4/22/98 DATE INSPECTED: 5/12/98 DATE WRITTEN: 7/1/98 NUMBER OF PHOTOGRAPHS: 4 PROBLEM REPORTED: Fading PROBLEM FOUND: Color Loss WAS A DIAGRAM MADE?: No SAMPLES FROM INSPECTION: None Taken PERSONS PRESENT: Inspector & Claimant
THE RUG COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Pakistan CITY OF ORIGIN: Barkhan FIBER/ ID METHOD: Wool- TYPE: Kasur BACKGROUND COLOR: Red BORDER DESIGN: Not Known DESIGN: Geometric MEDALLION IN CENTER? None NUMBER of KNOT: 60 Per Square Inch SIZE: 8'11" X 11'1" PILE HEIGHT: 5/16 Inch WARPS YARN: Cotton WEFT YARN: Cotton BACKING: Woven AGE: 0.5 Years EMPLACEMENT STATISTICS TYPE DWELLING: Residential TIME AT THIS LOCATION: 0.5 Years FLOORING UNDERNEATH: Stone DATE PURCHASED by OWNER: 9/97 ESTIMATE VALUE $3000 USE & MAINTENANCE INFORMATION AT THE TIME OF INSPECTION LITERATURE RECEIVED WITH PURCHASE: Not Determined TEMPERATURE: 74°F - 23.3° C RH 45% ADULTS: 2 - CHILDREN: 0 - PET(S): 1 - Cat DO THEY SMOKE? No SPOTTING AGENTS: none VACUUM/FREQUENCY: Canister Weekly ENTRY-MATS? Yes SOIL: None Noticed HEATING TYPE: Forced Air Gas COOLING TYPE: Central - Electric CLEANING: Professionally METHOD: Truckmount Steam TYPE OF CHEMICAL: Chemspec Formula 90 DATE LAST CLEANED: 2/98 TREATMENTS APPLIED: None Reported
REASON FOR COMMISSION The rug has reportedly faded after cleaning and has pulled loops.
THE REPORT Site Conditions and Geographical Information This is a free standing, owner-occupied house located in a hilly section of the San Gabriel Valley.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION MADE TO THE INSPECTOR According to the claimant, the rug did not have problems until cleaning to remove general soiling was performed. Upon drying the background, hue was uneven. No correction had been attempted. According to the cleaner: he used Formula 90, which was diluted to pH 7.5 by placing 1.5 lb. into 15 gallons of water, before metering into the truckmount. Coffee and tea stains were removed from the fringe with Haitian cotton cleaner.
DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM AREA BY THIS INSPECTOR There was no apparent problem immediately noticeable. After the claimant pointed out areas where the areas were lighter, the problem was apparent. These areas did not have well defined edges, but were lighter than the surrounding yarns. There was no yarn slippage noted.
ON-LOCATION FIELD TESTING An ultra-violet light was used to draw a reflection from substances with optical brightening agents. Yellow reflection will come from most urine stains, a blue or lavender reflection from detergents. The result of this test revealed that there was some reflection from one yarn in the pattern.
pH tests were taken using a digital type pH meter and a special low moisture probe that made direct contact with the face yarns. This device is accurate to ± 0.1 and was calibrated with a laboratory testing solution immediately before these tests were made. All tests were made using distilled water with a pH of 7.0. The test results were as follows:
The pH of any of the above substances if present at the time of testing would be affected by any other substance with a pH and by dilution with the distilled-water.
THE ISSUE The question that I have been asked to address is what has caused the rug to fade in the spotted areas.
GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING THE ISSUE Fading of this type can occur when:
INDUSTRY STANDARDS & DEFINITIONS According to the IICRC S001 - 1994 - STANDARD PRACTICE FOR ON-LOCATION CLEANING OF INSTALLED TEXTILE FLOOR COVERING MATERIALS the procedure for the STEAM CLEANING METHOD are as follows: 7.4 Pre-Conditioning - In heavy soiling situations, a pre-conditioner that may contain solvents for emulsifying oily soils must be applied to entry, pivot and high traffic areas prior to the application of the steam cleaning method. For stain-resist carpet, this pre-conditioner must be anionic, non-ionic or combinations thereof, and have a pH of 10 or less. For wool carpet, this pre-conditioner must range in pH from 5.5 to 8. Dilute pre-conditioners containing dry solvent additives must not contribute appreciable quantities of VOC's (volatile organic compounds) to air within the structure. According to the WOOL SECRETARY, wool should be clean with a pH between 5.5 and 8.0. According to CHEMSPEC, FORMULA 90 has a usage pH between 9.5 and 10.0. In addition, it contains the salt SODIUM METASILICATE, which has a pH between 12.4 and 12.6. According to the FLOOR COVERING DICTIONARY is says this about WOOL: WOOL - The fibrous, usually crisped, growth on the skin of certain animals, especially the sheep. The fibers of wool are made of Kevatin, a scleroprotien, and have rough, scaly cuticles, witch hook into one another when the fibers are spin into yarn. Wool for carpeting is imported from foreign countries, in particular, New Zealand, Australia and England. The use of wool in carpet goes back to over 2000 BC and is considered to be the oldest and finest face fiber. The distinct parts of the wool fiber are the Epidermis, Cortex, and Medula. The carpet fiber is known for its inherent flame retardance. It is the least stain-resistant of caret fibers. A chemical identification test for wool is that it dissolves slowly in concentrated chlorine bleach. In wool carpeting, brittleness, discoloration and deterioration can be caused by sunlight or high alkalinity.
THE INSPECTOR'S ANALYSIS The 8.2 pH found in the rug was higher and does not match the reported diluted pH of 7.5 used in cleaning. A pound of FORMULA 90 per 15 gallons of water is only approximately one third of the normal dilution for normal usage and given the nature of alkaline salts and dilution ratios to pH, a dilution of 1500 gallons of water or more would be necessary before pHs would be acceptable. Thus improper cleaning is strongly supported as being to sole culprit by the cleaning standards in section 7.4, where it says "For wool carpet this pre-conditioner must range in pH from 5.5 to 8 and the fact that alkalinity causes fading is the FLOOR COVERING DICTIONARY'S definition for wool that says; "discoloration and deterioration can be caused by sunlight or high alkalinity". Thus cleaning wool with a high alkaline product is operator error that results in a loss of aesthetics and performance of rugs and carpets.
CONCLUSION Fading in the rug in question was due to inappropriate cleaning based upon the rules given, the field tests performed, and the background information. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||