Don't Waste Time
Treating a Spot Like a Stain!

 
                 “Don't mow the lawn with a chain saw!”
       (And don't try to cut a tree down with your lawnmower!)

This week I am sharing a call from a cleaning professional regarding a problem he had with a hot chocolate spill on his customers valuable wool carpet.

THE PROBLEM:
Our cleaning professional had studied the contents of the hot chocolate, and determined that he should treat the stain with a peroxide based stain remover. He called me because he was only getting minimal results with this product that was touted as the most powerful possible stain remover available.

COMMENT:
The reason he wasn't having success was not that his stain remover wasn't as good as it was supposed to be. The reason was that he was trying to remove a spot with a stain remover, using a stain removal process.

Using the "KISS" method of spot and stain assessment, he and I found out that (#1), he had a spot, not a stain. With that knowledge, we quickly arrived at a process that was successful.

SOLUTION:  
Use the "KISS" method of spot and stain identification and removal. The acronym "KISS" is often used to mean: "Keep It Simple Sweetheart", or more directly, "Keep It Simple Stupid!"  

However, when it comes to spot and stain removal, you can use the letters in "KISS" to mean this:

 K = Knowledge:  This cleaner used his knowledge of wool fibers, the contaminants in the spill, and of his spotting and stain removal products to find the appropriate spotting agent.
In this case he was reminded that a general purpose spotter with good suspension qualities is more effective for this spot than a peroxide based stain remover.

I = Information:  After we talked, the cleaner asked his customer some additional questions. What he learned was that the drink may be called “hot chocolate”, but the drink had cooled and what was spilled was what was left over in the bottom of the cup. So it was not a “hot” spill.

This meant it did not penetrate deeply into the fibers. He also learned that the spill had happened only twelve hours previous to the initial call, and that the customer had not tried anything to remove the spill. Based on this information, he had a chocolate spot, not a chocolate stain.

S = Spot:  With his knowledge and this information, he rinsed the area using his spotting machine with clear water, and applied his general purpose spotter, and was able to remove the spot completely. 

“This  picture shows how well a general purpose spot remover worked to remove both the chocolate spill as well as soil on this carpet.  An untreated spot is nearby for comparison.”   

The bottom line is this:  We as cleaning professionals often think we can short cut what might seem to be a complex or troublesome spill by going to the strongest product, when in many cases what is chemically "stronger" (such as a bleaching agent like peroxide) is not always more effective.  This problem is further compounded by product labels that often label spotting agents as "stain removers", and stain removers as "spotters".  Imagine trying to mow your lawn with a chain saw, and you'll understand the issue at hand. 

If you'd like to know more about advanced spot and stain removal techniques, drop me an email or give me a call and I'll share when you can attend our latest workshop on using the 'KISS' method of spot and stain removal.