The Effect of Carpet Cleaners on Stain Removal

Researched by Bryanna B.
2002-03

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of different carpet cleaners on stain removal.

I became interested in this idea because we have a stain in our carpet so I wanted to find out what stain remover would remove it the best.

The information gained from this experiment may be used for professional carpet cleaners or anyone who wants to clean their carpet.


HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis was that carpet cleaners that are used by professionals are going to work better than those from the grocery store.

I based my hypothesis on the three carpet cleaning companies that I called. (A-1 Carpet Cleaners, Bill’s Carpet Cleaners, and Westside Carpet Cleaning Company) All three agreed that professional carpet cleaners would work better than those from the grocery store.


EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were:

  •  The amount of stain used (40ml)
  • The amount of stain remover used (10ml)
  • The type and color of carpet ("snow fox")
  • The size of carpet squares (10cm x 10 cm)
  • The amount of time the stain sits (24 hours)
  •  The way of applying the stain
  • The way of applying the stain remover
  • The amount of rubs with a paper towel on the stain (50 vertical 50 horizontal)
The manipulated variable was the type of carpet stain removers.

The responding variable was the amount of stain removed from the carpet.

To measure the responding variable I went to Tree Top and used the Hunter Reflectance Spectrophotometer (colorimeter) to determine the whiteness of the carpet. 


MATERIALS
 

QUANTITY		 ITEM DESCRIPTION
21 10 x10 cm carpet squares (white)
1  Bottle of Resolve
1 Bottle of Rug Relief
1 Bottle of Pro-Tec Cleaners
1 Bottle of Kirby Carpet Shampoo
1 Knife that will cut carpet
1 Role of paper towels
4 Large grocery store plastic bags
1 Box of zip lock bags
1 Roll of scotch tape
1 Permanent black marker
1 Can grape juice
1 Timer
1 Pair of safety gloves
1 Camera
1 10 mL graduated cylinder
1 100 mL gradulated cylinder
1 Ruler to measure
1 Hunter Reflectance Spectrophotometer


PROCEDURES

1. Cut the carpet into 21 10x10 cm squares. Wear safety gloves and safety glasses while cutting. 
2. Divide the carpet squares into four piles of five, with one left over.
3. Put the piles in their own plastic bags and label one bag "Resolve", one "Rug Relief", one "Pro-Tec Cleaners" and one "Kirby Carpet Shampoo" with a permanent marker.
4. Take the one left over and put it in a zip lock plastic bag of its own called "control". Put it in a safe place.
5. Get all the carpet squares out of the bags called Resolve and Rug Relief.
6. On the back of each one put a piece of tape.
7. With a permanent marker write on the tape the test number and what stain remover is going to be on the carpet square. Set up all ten carpet squares on a used towel near a sink.
8. Thaw, then make grape juice from Welch’s frozen concentrate.
9. Stain each square of carpet with 40ml of Welch’s Grape Juice over a sink.
10.  Let the stain sit for one day (24 hours)
11. Pour 10ml of stain remover on each carpet square. Make sure you put the same stain remover on that is written on the back of the carpet.
12. Let the stain remover sit for 30 seconds so it can soak in.
13. Pour 10ml of water on a paper towel.
14. Gently rub each carpet square with the paper towel 50 times vertically and 50 times horizontally then put the carpet squares back in their plastic bag.
15. Take out the bags labeled Pro-Tec and Kirby.
16. Repeat steps 5-14 again only with the carpet cleaners Pro-Tec and Kirby. Take pictures while conducting the experiment
17. Take all the bags to Tree Top and use a colorimeter to measure the whiteness in the carpet. Take three readings of each sample. Write down results on a data sheet.


RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of different carpet cleaners on stain removal.

The results of the experiment were that the average whiteness is highest with Resolve which shows that Resolve, took out the most stain. 

See my table and graph. 


CONCLUSION

My hypothesis was that professional carpet cleaners would work better than those from the grocery store.

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be rejected. Pro-Tec and Kirby did not work better than the others from the grocery store.  Neither one made the carpet whiter than the ones from the grocery store. They ended up making the carpet grayer rather than whiter. To the eye it looks like Pro-Tec cleaned the best but deep down inside, Resolve worked best.

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if using other types of stain on the carpet would have made a difference. I also wonder if different types or brands of carpet would show different results,

If I were to conduct this project again I would let the stain remover sit longer, I would use a wider variety of carpet cleaners. I would also conduct more trials by using more test squares for each cleanser.


 
Research Report

Introduction

Whenever anyone eats or drinks near carpet there is a chance of it getting stained.  If the stain is serious then the person will have a permanent spot in their carpet or will have to pay a reasonably large amount of money to get the carpet cleaned or replaced.  Many people will buy carpet spot removers for their own home.  The big question for many people is, "Which one"?


Carpet and Rugs

Carpets are hooked to the floor, which makes them a little more expensive to replace than rugs. Rugs are usually smaller and not hooked to the floor. A carpet keeps a house warmer. Carpets come in many types, colors and designs.  One of them, called Frieze has many threads of yarn sewn tightly together. Cut and loop has threads of yarn that has both cut and looped. Level loop has carpet strands that are looped at the same level while multilevel loop carpet has loops of all different levels. Plush has thick threads of yarn. Saxony carpet has skinny threads in many colors of yarn that usually blend more together.

There are also many types of rugs. They can be colorful and come in different sizes too. The Persian and Indian rugs both show flowers, birds, leaves and other nature pictures.  Chinese rugs are made up of many religious signs.  Turkoman rugs have geometric shapes and come mostly in reddish colors.  Turkish rugs are rectangular and come in many different solid colors.

When removing a stain from carpet, work inwards on the stain because it will enlarge the stain when working outwards. Then it is even bigger than it was before.


Detergent and Soap

Detergent and soap are both used for cleaning.  Soap is a soapy detergent used usually for the human body and is made with a different chemical than detergent. Although it is made with a different chemical soap is still in the detergent family because it has a substance that cleans materials. Detergent is non-soapy and used for cleaning laundry, carpet, dishwasher and other materials of that sort. A detergent is generally made of sulfur, oxygen, and carbon. Detergents come in a few different forms, liquid, powder, and flakes. Detergent and soap is made from vegetable oils, animal fats, alkali (salt in detergent and soap), and surfactants, which is the basic cleaning agent in detergent. Surfactants are molecules that implant themselves in the dirt and then take away it from the object. 


History of Carpets

Carpet making started hundreds of years ago.  People used to use animal fur for carpet.  Later, around the 1200’s people in Spain started to make carpet.  In about 1655 a carpet factory was built.  In about 1749 people started making carpet by doing loops.  By 1995 carpet was machine made and as fully patterned and colored as it is today.


History of Soap

Soap has been made for many years.  The Romans used it 3,000 years ago.  By stirring animal fats, ashes, and water then leaving it to sit for many weeks people many years ago could make their own soap.  In about 700 Italy made soap for a craft. Later Spain joined in in about 800. Then later England in the year 1200.  There were so many people using soap that there was foam on the rivers, streams, and in the sewage. Later in about the 1800’s the US started a soap making industry.


How Detergent and Soap Work

When detergent or soap is put in water it will clean the oil or the dirt on an object.  When the soap or detergent is mixed in water it turns into many cone shaped molecules.  One end moves the water and one end attracts it. Once the molecules hit the dirt/oil they stick to it while releasing it from its spot.  This is done when someone or something moves the soap. Once the water is put back on, the dirt or oil along with the cleanser are both washed away.


Colorimeter

A Hunter Reflectance Spectrophotometer is a machine that can measure the color of an object.  The colorimeter uses L, A, and B scales to measure the whiteness. The L scale measures the whiteness and darkness.  The A scale measures the green in the object and A+ measures the red. The B scale measures the blue and B+ measures the yellow in the object. To work the machine, put the object on the black circle on the front end of the colorimeter. You then click the button on the computer that says, ’Sample’. The reading of the color will then appear on the screen.

Summary

Carpet is expensive. To keep the carpet clean and nice looking people could use a spot remover.
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY

A2Z Inc. "Guidelines for Stain and Spot Removal from Carpet and Rugs." October 23, 2002. <http: www.a2zcarpet.com/stain.htm>

Campbell, LA & HA. "Stain Guide." Microsoft Internet Explorer. October 17, 2002.

"Carpet Stain Guide." Microsoft Internet Explorer. October 23, 2002
 http://www.fabriclink.com/carpet/Carpetstain.html1#Index

"Chemistry." Microsoft Internet Explorer. October 23,2002
 http://www.sdahq.org/cleaning/chemistry/

"Dissolve" Microsoft Internet Explorer. October 23, 2002
 http://search.atzom.com/search/?sp-q=dissolve&sp-a=sp0a2b9110

Frienstien, Myron E. "Detergent and Soap." World Book Encyclopedia. 1998.

Knapp, Brian. "Soap." Elements. 1996. 

"Soap." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe. 2001.

"Soaps and Detergents." Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia. 2000.

Sunshinecity. "Sunshinecity Soapworks."  Microsoft Internet Explorer. October    23,2002. <http;//www.suncitysoap.com/chemistry.html>

"Surfactant" Microsoft Internet Explorer. October 23, 2002
 http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=serfactant&sp-a=sp0a2b9100

Turner, R. Carrol. "Rugs and Carpets." World Book Encyclopedia. 1999.

"Welcome to the Carpet Information Center. October 17, 2002.
 http://www.carpetinfo.co.uk/
 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the following people for helping me with this years science project:

  • My mom for helping me with the project and taking me to Tree-Top when I needed to go.
  • My dad for helping me cut the carpet.
  • Mr. Newkirk for correcting my journal and report and giving me advice.
  • Mrs. Helms for helping when I needed it.
  • Custom Tile Works for donating carpet to me.
  • Tom Eisley for using some of his time to help me use the colorimeter.
  • Mrs. Hostetler for also correcting some things.
  • Jessica and Kaylyn for helping me out some
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