Carpet Cleaner Birmingham: Yellowing Carpets

Carpet Cleaner Birmingham: Yellowing Carpets

Phenolic carpet yellowing or simply yellowing carpets. It certainly is an unusual name for an unusual phenomenon that commonly happens with several carpets and rugs. But what is it? If you have this or you simply noticed I, and wondered what it was back then, then carpet cleaning Birmingham will do our best to explain it as it could hopefully shed some light on this issue.

How will you notice your carpets getting yellow?

First of all you do not need not be confused with your original carpet colour compared to what you are seeing now, simply being retained under a rug which of course, happens a lot. As the yellowing can always happen on any colour of carpets. An example would be your carpet under your sala, you lifted it up and noticed that it is a bit yellowish, a perfect example of phenolic yellowing.

Why does it happen to your carpets?

The main reason is due to what we at cleaning services Birmingham called ‘off gassing’. Essentially (in the case of the carpet) butylhydroxytoluene (BHT) is used as a preservative either within the carpet itself, especially the latex on tufted carpets in your living room, and also some underlay. When a rug is placed on the carpet it seals in the area, like a lid ‘trapping’ air and not giving the carpet space to breathe. It is because of this trapping that contains the chemical that would normally float into the atmosphere and so it would react and discolour the carpet fibres.

If the carpet was not a tufted pile (or a carpet not containing BHT) then there is still a possibility for the yellowing to happen. It will probably be more than likely a secondary backed latex glued back, often has a smooth textured backing that has no resemblance to the pile of the rug. This could be the reason why it yellowed, due to BHT in the backing compound. It’s basically the same as the carpet example above – but in reverse. The ‘off gassing’ is trying to escape from the rug, but is being trapped by the carpet – causing it to turn about a bit yellowish

If you are wondering if it could be cleaned away, we are sorry to say that it will be permanent but calling a professional carpet cleaner in Birmingham will give you some options on how to solve these kinds of problem. Contact us now!