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Penetration into fibres

A textile is not a surface, it is a bundle of tubes. A liquid on it travels sideways and downwards at once, which is why rubbing a carpet mark makes it bigger.

In detail

Fibres are not solid rods and a fabric is not a sheet. Liquid arriving on a textile is drawn along and between fibres by capillary action, into the yarn's twist and down through the pile into a backing. Three practical rules that every trade procedure states follow directly from this and are otherwise arbitrary. BLOT, DO NOT RUB: pressure drives liquid deeper and spreads it laterally, converting a defined mark into a diffuse one. WORK FROM THE EDGES INWARDS: the mark's boundary is where the liquid is still advancing, and treating the middle first pushes it outward. And DO NOT OVERWET: solution that reaches a carpet backing is beyond recovery by blotting, dries slowly, and brings dissolved soil back up to the surface as it evaporates — the brown wicking mark that appears a day after a job looked finished. Penetration is also why the same spill behaves completely differently on two materials: on glazed tile it sits and waits, on an unsealed stone or an untreated cotton it is inside the material within seconds, and the window for easy removal closes at the speed of absorption rather than at the speed of drying.

Why

Sources for this page

Sources

  1. Spot Solver: spot and spill removal procedures

    The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) · Trade or professional body

    Relied on for: That the solution is applied to the cloth and worked from the edges of the spill inwards without rubbing, that liquids are blotted, and that a mist sprayer is recommended to prevent overwetting. (states this directly)

    Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.

    Read on — Sprint 5-10: fifteen entries, stain by stain. Sprint 30: enumerated at 296 from the publisher's own sitemap, 134 more read plus 'Unknown'. Sprint 38: 56 more, chosen against stains the catalogue lacked. 192 of 296 read. Supports the claim as stated.

  2. Leather Care and Cleaning Guide

    The Leather Institute, 2011 · Trade or professional body

    Relied on for: That water-based soil is treated by dampening a cloth rather than soaking, rubbing gently and feathering the edges. (states this directly)

    Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.

    Read on — General care and cleaning instructions, basic and advanced cleaning technique, and the Suede section. Supports the claim as stated.

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