What Are Those Black Lines Around My Carpeting?

Filtration lines around customers base board.

If you have light colored carpet, you have probably noticed these dark lines that appear on the edge of the carpet. These black edges are known as filtration soiling because as air passes through the carpet microscopic soil, oils and pet dander is “filtered” out and left in the carpet (hence the name filtration). Over a significant period of time these contaminates build up in areas where air is able to pass through the carpet, most commonly around the border of carpeted rooms and under doorways.

The soils in the air that actually cause the filtration lines can be a host of different soils, but are most commonly cooking oils, soot from burning candles, poorly ventilated AC ducts, fine sand & clay particles, and many other indoor air pollutants. Although routine vacuuming will help slow the buildup, these microscopic particles are so fine they easily bond to and penetrate carpet fibers making them difficult to remove even for professional carpet cleaners.

It should be noted that a professional carpet cleaning in and of itself will NOT remove filtration soiling.

Can it be removed? Yes in most cases with additional time, specialized cleaning solutions and effort, reasonable results can be achieved. We have developed a proven system for removing this difficult soil that includes:

1. Application of specialized cleaning agent to break up and loosen the fine particulate soils.

2. Hand scrubbing edges to agitate carpet fibers, create a light foam, and suspend soils.

3. Extraction of cleaning agent with detail tool to remove suspended soil.

4. Rinse and extraction to thoroughly flush and remove soil and cleaning agents.

5. Application of an anti-resoiling agent to help prevent future soiling of carpet.

If your carpeting has filtration lines you should deal with them before they become a permanent problem.  Over time contaminates and oils from filtration lines will overtake the dye characteristics of your carpeting and permanently change the color of your carpeting.

Tru-Clean is a family owned environmentally responsible carpet, tile and upholstery cleaning company serving all of Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres, Pine Island, Estero, Bonita Springs, Sanibel and Naples FL.  Our technicians are certified by the world’s most respected certification body for textile professionals and we are fully licensed and insured.

For more information about Tru-Clean and the services we offer please visit us online at www.trucleansurfacecare.com or call us any time at 239-541-4888.  We offer convenient evening and weekend appointments and all major credit cards are accepted.