Do you find yourself coming back to the same dirty spot on your carpet? It makes no sense; you cleaned this exact stain a few days ago, how is it back? What is going on? 

These are common household cleaning problems that our customers ask us. Breathe a sigh of relief as we elaborate on this occurrence, you are not crazy, it’s the carpet that is crazy! These stains keep reappearing through a process called soiling or wicking.  

What Is The Difference Between Soiling and Wicking?

Soiling – When you use a carpet cleaner on a stain, and the carpet cleaner is not properly blotted or completely rinsed off from the spot it creates a problem called soiling.  The leftover residue becomes sticky over time. When the remaining carpet cleaner is left to stew in your carpet, it will begin to attract dirt, debris, and soil in the same spot making it appear like the same stain is coming back time and time again. 

Wicking – This is when the carpet stain has soaked through to the backing of the carpet. So, whenever you clean the carpet, the surface might be cleaned, but the carpet continues to absorb the moisture and the contents to the back of the carpet. This deep staining will eventually be pushed back up the fiber strands to the surface again – and this is wicking. 

What is the difference? Soiling is when the surface of the carpet has residue and attracts debris over time to stain the surface again. Wicking is a deeper stain; it's one that the carpet has absorbed to the back part of its fiber strands. So, the difference is the level of staining that is happening, whether it is just the surface or the deeper part of the carpet. 

Frequently Asked Question: How Do I Prevent Soiling and Wicking? 

Solution: This process can be delicate to handle because solving soiling can create the problem of wicking. The best option is to get to stains is the minute they occur, timely responses to carpet stains will prevent the problem of reoccurring carpet stains. 

How to stop carpets from soiling: so after you use a carpet cleaner, try applying warm water on the stain to wipe the surface of the carpet clean! But, the additional tip now is, you must make sure you dry the spot after you applied the warm water. If you do not do this, the carpet will absorb the water to the deeper parts of the carpet and in turn will lead to wicking. 

How to stop carpets from wicking: After applying your cleaning process, it may involve a cleaner, then cleaning off the remaining residue of stain remover using water and blotting. Now, take a towel put it over the stain. You should also get a heavy object that can apply a weighing down pressure on the towel to clean the deeper fibers of the carpet. Leave this in place for 24 hours to ensure proper absorption of deep staining. 

Home Remedy Recipe for Carpet Stain Removal

• A quarter cup of non-bleach detergent mixed water. 
• One tablespoon of ammonia mixed with a cup of water
• Two tablespoons of salt mixed with half cup of white vinegar for light stains
• One tablespoon of vinegar and one tablespoon of cornstarch for ground in stains

Sponge or blot the solution to your carpet stain for a home remedy solution. Let the stain do its job, and once it dries proceed to remove the stain remover with water, and dry it up with paper towels and letting the towels soak in the water for 24 hours. 

I Tried Everything and the Carpet Stain is Still Reoccurring!

If you have tried the above measures and the carpet stain is still reoccurring then you have a bigger stain that normal cleaning methods are not capable of cleaning. If you wish to rid these stains completely from your carpet, you might need to call on the help of a professional carpet cleaner. Professional carpet cleaners have the high-powered equipment required to remove the deepest stains. Deep cleaning and stain protectors will guarantee your carpets are cleaned and stay cleaned for a long time. 

COIT’s Technicians Have the Equipment and the Solutions Your Home Needs!

COIT has access to the latest cleaning methods and equipment to deliver the quickest solution to your carpet stains. Our equipment is a result of powerful technology and will allow us to clean the deepest parts of your carpet. Operating this technology is not easy, and that is why all COIT technicians receive annual training on how to utilize these resources to deliver the highest quality work for your satisfaction. Along with cleaning, COIT also has our patented COITGard stain protector to prevent future stains from happening and give a long-term solution for your carpet.