Spills that absorb deep into the backing or pad can get reabsorbed into the carpet fibers and make its way back up to the top of the fiber.
Carpet stains come back after cleaning.
When you spot treat a stain you are cleaning the surface of the carpet.
If spots and stains reappear weeks after you have cleaned your carpet excessive soap is likely to be the blame.
Wicking this is when the carpet stain has soaked through to the backing of the carpet.
It s a new spot that was created due to incomplete spot cleaning.
This is common when carpets are steam cleaned.
This action is very similar to what happens in the wick of a candle and is where the name originates from.
Carpet has a great ability to hide soil.
They should come back out and re rinse the carpets with an acid rinse.
These leftover particles become sticky little magnets to trap dirt dust and other particles.
In such a case the carpet usually needs more than one cleaning to get the soil out.
The leftover residue becomes sticky over time.
The reappearance of spots and stains is actually a very common occurrence when a carpet is cleaned using a traditional shampoo and rinse method.
Wicking typically occurs when the carpet is wet.
If your carpet has brown spots after cleaning call back the company that you had clean your carpets.
But then the spill that is trapped in the backing and or underpad can be reabsorbed by the carpet and make its way up the fiber strands back to the surface like traveling up the wick of a candle hence the name.
Due to the inefficiency of the steam cleaner sometimes the stain simply gets moved around or pushed deeper into the carpet rather than picked up.
The residue left behind from spot cleaning causes new soil to stick an issue in high traffic areas.
Sometimes spots can reappear as soon as the carpet dries.
This sticky soap attracts more dirt and grime which cause the stain to reappear.
He came out and did some tests on my carpet and found that there was a lot of residue from the spot cleaning as well as a ph imbalance which was causing my carpet to yellow.
In short that mud stain by the front door will only reappear.
Other times the spots come back after several weeks have passed.
Deep soil will rise to the surface after the cleaning.
When you clean the stain you are cleaning the surface of the carpet.
Some other reasons spots come back after carpet cleaning have to do with the natural layering of carpet and the wicking effect.
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.
When the carpets dry the stain comes right back to the top.
They should be able to get the remaining high ph out of the carpet bring things back into balance and get it looking great again.