One of the most frustrating things for a consumer in the carpet cleaning industry is wicking. Wicking is a very common, it accrues when the stain is in bedded deep in the carpet padding and or sub floor. When the carpet cleaner get the carpets damp or wet, the moisture reactivates the stain causing it to wick back up. This can be cause by to much moisture being applied to the carpets by the cleaning service or walking on the carpets while still wet. If your carpets are not maintained on at least a yearly bases, most of the time the carpet cleaner will need to apply more solution to remove the in bedded soil, causing the old stains (liquids) to wick back up to the surface.
An example of wicking
If you have a 5 gallon bucket filled half way and you put a piece of cardboard in the bucket. The water will rise above the water line with in the cardboard due to the cardboard absorbing most of the water. Same with your carpets. When that carpets get damp or wet the stain (liquid) will rise to the tip of the carpet fibers. Over the past 10 years we have discovered that most carpet cleaning projects with wicking issues are due to lack of maintenance on the carpets.
