I get tired of the "acid rinse" & "fresh water rinse" ruse. If someone doesn't agree with this approach, they are perceived to be causing problems to the carpet and are not doing as good of a cleaning job, and thus deemed to be "putting the security of the free world at risk". To quote an anonymous source: "HOGWASH, BALDERDASH, NONSENSE, FALDERAL, HORSEFEATHERS, AND POPPYCOCK!"
Have you heard this before? "Properly used, an acid rinse leaves the fiber with a softer "hand" or feel, and better prepared to accept a fabric/fiber protector, thus enhancing its perfromance and ensureing the customer gets maximum value from the protector."
I am not sure how this works or why. I usually tell customers I sell protection to that 1. the carpet will take longer to dry 2. will feel tacky while drying 3. may have a crisp static charge when completely dry until walked on. (I tell them these things after I have applied it, not before)
The questions: How does the fiber have a softer hand of feel if you apply protection (maybe I misunderstood this point in connection with protection)? And How does an acid rinse affect the performance of the protection? And if it does, why don't the manufactures of teflon and scotchgard make mention of this?
Though there are times I may use an acid rinse, but an acid rinse or treatment does not leave any less total residue. It might even leave more residue. The type of residue as well as the amount of residue are both important, but the pH neutralization from an acid rinse is not an issue on synthetic carpets today.
I see the reason for this as a marketing tool, and as a means of some manufactures to control possible problems from using too high an unbuffered pH prespray. I prefer to use prespray technology that cleans well without excessive pH. The prespray pH measurement may decrease when diluted, but always returns to its concentrated state as the water evaporates.
Keep in mind that neither carpet manufactures nor
IICRC contain any such requirements for carpet cleaning. Most are concerned with yellowing or effects upon the protection from excessively high pH residues and the amount of residue left behind.
Recent information has also indicated that the amount of alkalinity may be of more consequence than the pH measurement.
It is my position that the most efficient way to clean a carpet is a good prespray designed for the carpet to be cleaned, in combination with a compatible rinse agent, ie, both from the same manufacturer. I believe this is the most effective, low residue cleaning system possible for synthetic carpets.
But what about fresh water rinsing? Are chemical manufacturers just trying to sell us more chemical that we don't need? That is what some would suggest. However, are you sure that the concept of fresh water rinsing was not the brain child of someone who just happened to run out of chemical and money at the same time?
Understand that complete residue removal is impossible, (though we want to remove as much as possible & supersuckers help here). Because the chemical requirements of pre-treatment, molecular adhesion, desolving, and stripping abilities, the inherent residues are often tacky. Neutralization of these agents is accomplished in the emulsifying detergent we rinse with, resulting in the lowest residue amount possible. Sticky residue vs crystallized residue.
Many cheap traffic lane cleaners are poorly formulated and leave sticky residues.
A quality rinsing agent will dry to a crystallized state, and can easily by removed in subsequent vacuuming. A rinse agent that is compatible with the prespray (usually the same manufacturer) will attract the prespray better than plain water. Thus less overall residue as well.
A rinsing chemical will flat out clean the carpet better than water only, based upon my experience of 39 years cleaning carpet.
Fresh water is not always fresh. Some areas have very hard water, and will leave mineral deposits that can cause a worse resoiling residue than the same water treated with an agent that will help soften the water.
A quality rinsing agent will help keep the scale from building up since it has rust inhibitors and can coat the coils of any heating system. I would thing acid rinsing might cause more difficulties to the equipment if used often.
Quoting from another article "Probably the most important reason for not fresh-water rinsing lies in the whole design of extraction cleaning and chemicals we are using. Your prespray or traffic lane cleaner is not designed to perform the total cleaning job. The prespray is designed to loosen (break surface tension) and suspend ground-in soiling from the fiber itself. A prespray needs the contribution that a rinsing chemical gives it by being injected under pressue into the carpet. If you want maximum soil removal, then a prespray and rinsing detergent should be used in combination. The emulsifying function of the rinsing chemical is an important and necessary part of cleaning and serve as a compatible compliment."
Sometimes not all of the carpet may need a prespray, but sometimes parts that do are not covered. Also, carpet is often pretty dense or deep, so all fibers may not be completely penetrated by your prespray. Injecting our rinsing chemical under pressure can effectively clean out the deeper soils in the carpet. If these are not removed, they could serve as a worse resoiling agent than chemical residues.
Its not just about pH neutalization. If only it was that simple.
I am more concerned about removing the soil and other contaminants from the carpet than leaving a slight amount of residue that is does not cause resoiling. Some even claim their products have soil repelling properties.
Loren
