Have you ever seen that ugly old spot re-appear, shortly after you have had it removed like magic, by your carpet cleaner? I am aware that sometimes this can happen repeatedly. Why does that happen?

Well, there are three main reasons why spots or stains on your carpet can return soon after cleaning.

1. Wicking

2. Residue from cleaning agents

3. Residue from oily stains Wicking is a kind of diffusion process whereby a material will move from an area of higher concentration to an adjoining area of lower concentration, usually in the presence of moisture.

Some of you older folks may remember the kerosene lamp which had a wick or strip of canvas immersed into a bed of oil. The wick was lighted and the oil kept diffusing upwards toward the dry end near to the flame, until it was totally consumed. Wicking occurs in a carpet when there is over wetting. The moisture saturates the carpet backing or the pad underneath, which will then retain residues of the soil and stains.

If the carpet is not properly dried, then wicking will begin to occur almost immediately, as the water in the substrate diffuses up towards the partially dried carpet surface, taking dissolved solids with it. Presto. The stain reappears. This happens most frequently in glued down carpet that has a lot of compacted soil in it.

Fortunately, this condition can be corrected. The area needs to be flooded, extracted again, and properly dried. Sometimes, an absorbent cotton toweling material has to be left over the stain with a heavy object over it, until all the soil or stain is absorbed.

Residue from cleaning agents that has been left behind by your carpet cleaner, can also lead to re-soiling.

Many of these cleaning agents are over the counter products and consumers sometimes do not read the labels carefully, or simply do not clearly understand the applications. Incompatible chemicals may cause unexpected reactions which can lead to disastrous results. Avoid using these chemicals if you can. It is better to call in a professional carpet cleaner. This could save you money in the long run. It might even spare you the expense of having to replace the carpet altogether.

If you have to do an emergency clean-up, use the spotting agent sparingly, and rinse and blot thoroughly afterwards.

Sometimes an ill-informed carpet cleaner may also use highly alkaline cleaning solutions and fail to neutralize it afterwards, leaving a soapy residue in the carpet that will simply attract and hold soils unto the carpet fibers again. Check out the credentials of the carpet cleaning company you hire.

Residue from oily stains can also cause re-soiling. These stains may come from a spill of body oils, lotions, solvents, or from duct tape residue. If the spill is not totally extracted, then it may re-appear as soon as the carpet has to bear heavy traffic. Sometimes this type of oily residue may not be detected at first, even by an experienced carpet cleaner.

Don't worry however. A good carpet cleaning company will be able to diagnose this problem and correct it for you.

Finally, be careful how you choose your carpet cleaner. Cheap products used by cheap cleaners can lead to expensive disasters. Unscrupulous cleaners may also use optical brighteners to make the carpet look clean. This is often just an illusion, and the spot will re-appear quite quickly, because the soil or stain is still there.

You can get rid of all those spots. Just get competent carpet cleaning service.