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Spots Made My Acne MedicineThis report was done for the carpet mill.THE CARPET FIBER PROTECTANTS Stain Master FIBER MANUFACTURER: Dupont FIBER NAME: No Name FIBER/ ID METHOD: Nylon 66-Chemical COLOR: Gray CONSTRUCTION: Tufted Cut Loop STYLE: Saxony BACK SYSTEM: Conventional Tufted PRIMARY BACKING: Polypropylene SECONDARY BACKING: Polypropylene THE INSTALLATION TYPE OF SITE: Residential DATE INSTALLED: 5/17/96 METHOD: Stretch-In CUSHION: 7/16 Inch Rebond SUBFLOOR: Plywood AREA INSTALLED: Family Room & Two Bedrooms USE & MAINTENANCE INFORMATION AT THE TIME OF INSPECTION LITERATURE RECEIVED WITH PURCHASE: Just An Invoice TEMPERATURE: 74°F - 23.3° C RELATIVE HUMIDITY: 60% ADULTS: 4 - CHILDREN: 0 - PET(S): 0 DO THEY SMOKE? No SPOTTING AGENTS: None Reported VACUUM TYPE: Built-In FREQUENCY: Weekly ENTRY MATS: Yes CONDITION of THE CARPET: See Report SOIL: None Noticeable HEATING TYPE: Central Force Air Gas COOLING TYPE: Central - Electric CLEANING: Never Been Cleaned REASON FOR COMMISSION To determine the cause of spots in the carpet. THE REPORT Site Conditions and Geographical Information The carpet was located in the claimant’s free standing two story house. This house was located in a residential neighborhood on the San Pedro Peninsula 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 installed as part of a remodeling effort. No problems were noted until about a month ago little pinks spots started to appear in the claimant’s son’s bedroom. A complaint was made to the dealer and the mill commissioned this inspector. DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM AREA BY THIS INSPECTOR All the spots were located in an upstairs bedroom and in the trafficked areas. They varied from the size of a dime to the size of a quarter. They appeared lighter than the surrounding carpet and no discoloring was noted beyond the tips of the fiber. The inspector also noted a tube of acne medicine on the dresser of this room. ON-LOCATION FIELD TESTING An inspection lamp was used in these two rooms for closer evaluation and to create shadows. This high intensity lamp is equipped with a 200 watt halogen bulb. The spots appeared more visibly. 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 the spots were harder to see. Numerous moisture tests were performed using a Delmhorst Moisture Sensor. The results of these tests revealed that there were no moisture readings. Numerous pH tests were taken using a pHep + Pen by Hannaź. 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 7.0 and 7.1. A bleach test was performed using a test kit from COLOR MATCH SYSTEMS and revealed that there were bleaching agents in the light spot. THE ISSUE OF THIS REPORT The question that I have been asked to address is: what has caused the spots? GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING THE ISSUE Spots can occur when: 1. lighting conditions create shadows on the carpet 2. foreign substances have been spilt on to the carpet 3. substances from manufacturing or installation wick-up from underneath the yarn INDUSTRY STANDARDS, PRACTICES & DEFINITIONS The unknown spot is defined by the Flooring Covering Dictionary by the following definition. Spots can be caused by a number of things. If the spot was not present when the carpet was installed, there is a 99 + 1 change that it was caused by spillage, tracking or some local agent. It could be related to something the installer used or product found in the home. Spots do not "appear" for some unknown reason after installation. If they have a pattern, they may be related to the manufacturing of the carpet. If they are randomly spaced, they are caused locally. According to the S001-1994 CARPET CLEANING STANDARDS it says this about oxygen bleach: oxidizing bleach - An agent that accomplishes color removal by adding oxygen to a dye structure to render It colorless (e.g., benzoyl peroxide, sodium perborate, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hypochlorite). THE INSPECTOR'S ANALYSIS RESULTS FROM TESTS The high intensity light indicates that the spot was not created by shadows.
ANALYSIS When gray carpet turns pink and the spot is lighter than the surrounding carpet, then there is a loss of blue and yellow in the dye system. Manufacturing problems manifest themselves in the form of a pattern, these spots were random. CONCLUSION The spots were created by spillage, tracking of a bleaching agent based upon their size and location and the bleach test. |