You have just had your carpets professionally cleaned, and they look absolutely amazing...
One problem however, a few days later, the same old nasty stains and marks which you thought were a thing of the past, start reappearing on the surface of the carpet.
How Awefull.. Now does'nt that just suck?
This problem is experienced quite frequently in the industry, which leaves the client quite frustrated at having paid for a job which they thought to have been well done, but are instead left with carpets that look even worse then what they did prior to cleaning.
So the question is why did the stains come back, and who is to blame?
Firstly, the age of the carpet, is a significant contribution to stains reappearing on the surface, as dirt that is unable to be lifted out of the carpet during the normal vacuum process, accumulates over the years, thus becoming deeply embedded in the fibres of the carpet. This is particularly prevalent in high traffic areas, such as doorways.
Another reason, is the carpet backing (this is the bottom of the carpet, usually constructed out of latex rubber or jute in older carpets) which disintegrates, and becomes very brittle over a long period of time, which means that any liquid on the surface, can easily seep down into the dirty underlay, as the surface of the carpet then dries, it absorbs the damp and dirty solution from the beneath the carpet, which then becomes partly visible on the surface of the carpet.
Liquid spills, that are not mopped up immediately, are absorbed, and penetrate the carpet backing (as shown in the adjacent picture which shows the bottom side of a stained carpet) are another reason that these appear back on the surface.
Finally the biggest cause of stains reappearing on the surface of the carpet, is the lack of proper and regular care of the particular carpet, which involves the day to day vacuuming process, mopping up of liquid spills as they happen and regular professional cleaning. If regular carpet maintenance is undertaken, it is relatively safe to say that you will never have a problem with stains that reappear on the surface.
One notable observation, is that most people tend to neglect their carpets continually for many years, they then call in professional carpet cleaners to work a bit of magic, which is not always possible.
The best solution would then seem to be one of prevention, rather than cure.
Although this is not the fault of the cleaners, a competent professional carpet cleaning company, should be able to foresee this potential problem, and advise the customer accordingly.