Did you ever get a stain on your shirt? Depending on what it was, removal was either a breeze or a chore. In some cases, the shirt may never be free of the mark. Even the same substance spilled on two different materials can yield varying results following attempted stain removal. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to these differences but further investigation reveals this is not the truth.

Cleaning services are probably the best groups to ask about stains because they regularly deal with them. Whether they are performing carpet cleaning or wiping down kitchen counters, workers come across some interesting stains. Years of experience have taught them that chemistry determines why some stains are problems and others are a breeze to remove.

Anything that leaves a stain has a certain chemical component. This could be the red dye in red Kool-Aid, tannin in coffee, or petroleum in tar. Each material also has a distinctive chemical component as well as an affinity for certain substances. Nylon likes acid dyes, which is why carpet mills use acid to dye nylon carpet. Kool-Aid contains an acid dye so it will easily stain carpet made from nylon. Oily soils are attractive to olefin, making it more difficult to remove tar from an olefin than a nylon carpet.

Basically, the fiber must contain a weakness that attracts the stain. When coffee is spilled on nylon carpet that is beige in color, a large, dark brown spot results. After a consumer has tried all the carpet cleaning chemicals in the house and a few more from the store, one of the local cleaning services is contacted.

After the experts work their carpet cleaning magic, only about five percent of the spot remains but it is now a stain. Though this might be easy to hide initially, it will eventually come to the surface. Besides, a customer with good eyesight will immediately notice it. After some oxidizer, heat, and about 15 minutes of working on the area, the stain is removed.

It is difficult to believe that a small amount of coffee could require so much effort to remove. Not to mention that if the same substance had spilled on an olefin carpet, removal would have been quick and easy. Professionals consider the stain and the material and come up with a method of treatment designed to remove the spot and restore the area to its former beauty.