Tales From The Floor: Cause and Effect - Lighting

Over the years of our cleaning and inspection experience, we have come across some strange spots on carpet.

In a commercial building, the head of maintenance said they had bleach spots that needed repaired. They said they didn’t notice them for a while, but they showed up after cleaning and figured the cleaners did something to the carpet.

After looking at the entire space, the “bleach” spots were actually light spots caused by the new bulbs that were put into the recessed lighting. Can’t clean those!!

Another cleaner was frustrated they couldn’t get a dark spot clean. They tried all kinds of different cleaners, extracted extra times and still the dark spot didn’t look any different. When they finally backed up and looked at it again, they realized it was a shadow.

The customer said there was a strange light area in her carpet. While the salespeople tried to explain what shading was, and why that can make carpet look different, the customer insisted there was something wrong with the carpet.

Examination of the strange light area revealed it to be the light reflecting off the mirror on the closet door. The last carpet was darker and more of a frieze style, so it absorbed the light differently.

It’s not always a crazy customer or a darn cleaner! Looking at all the surroundings to determine what a cause could be is critical.