What are these strange black fleck marks on my carpet?

Over the previous few weeks, I've been writing about different kinds of stains on carpets and rugs, such as 'pooling' and 'draft marks'. As we know, no two stains are the same and sometimes, what looks like a stain, isn't!

This is why choosing a reputable cleaning company with prior experience and the knowledge of carpet cleaning, such as the Art of Clean (Cambridge, UK), will understand the importance of assessing the work, as well as carrying out the job.

Recently, one of our technicians had been called out on a job to clean a customers carpet. Pierre has 10 years’ experience in specialist carpet cleaning and he is a IICRC qualified Journeyman Textile Cleaner. (See www.IICRC.org)

The customer had reported small dark flecks on her cut pile high quality plush wool bedroom carpet.

Stain removal procedure:

During the cleaning of the carpet and in preparation for the handover of the project, some marks did not respond to the normal stain removal treatment.

Dark marks on carpet which didn't respond to cleaning treatment

On closer inspection, it was confirmed the marks are caused by the presence of stray fibers in the wool yarns, which the carpet is made of.

Small stray dark fibres mixed in with the white wool carpets

In many cases stray fibers can be a natural occurrence. The best treatment is to carefully remove the stray fibers from within the yarns. This process can be extremely time consuming.

How do the dark stray fibers end up in the carpet?

During the manufacturing process some stray fibers of other colours (usually in very small quantities) mix in with the main fiber the yarns are made of. In the case of the carpet in question – as the carpet is very light and dark stray fiber even in extreme low quantities can be visible and appear as marks on the carpet.

For Further confirmation on carpet defects contact the National Carpet Cleaners Association – www.ncca.co.uk