Asphalt,
Creosote,
Driveway Sealer,
Parking Lot Sealer,
Tar
Spot & Stain
Removal

from Bane-Clene®

Asphalt coating may be walked onto the carpet (and even onto vinyl tile) from driveways and parking lots and turn the carpet yellow. Since this is being tracked in from the outside, it is most noticeable near the entry areas. This is most common after repaving or sealing the asphalt, especially in the summer with elevated temperatures.

Jennite® J-16 driveway sealer causes less problem than other asphalt coatings.

This problem is most commonly a problem on blue and light gray carpet.

Yellowing from asphalt track-in is virtually impossible to remove. Asphalt coating and sealers are coal tar based materials, which are yellow when highly diluted in solvent. Unfortunately, the solvents required to totally remove these materials are also strong enough to delaminate the carpet.

Whenever a customer asks for your advice on replacing carpet and has a parking lot, advise him or her to avoid blue and light gray

Yellowed carpet from Asphalt - supplied by Beaulieu of America
  1. If not removed when fresh, yellow stain from asphalt and tar from parking lots and driveways is nearly impossible to completely remove without delaminating the carpet.
  2. For small areas, blot with Saf-T-Solv™, absorb, apply Gel-Solv®, scrape up, thoroughly blot with Saf-T-Solv™, absorb, and thoroughly extract.
  3. For large areas, prespray with TLS® 2000 mixed with Pro’s Choice Energy, agitate, and extract at high temperature preferably with Pro’s Choice Extreme Clean or PCA™ Formula 4 or Super LCA® followed with a Last Step or Brown Out® rinse through the base unit - be sure to neutralize the tank with cleaning solution afterward.
  4. If this fails, pre-spray with Citrus APS™ or Citra Quick and clean.
  5. Advise the customer to use adequate walk off mats which are exchanged or cleaned at least weekly.
  6. Blue and light gray carpets particularly show yellowing and should not be used where asphalt or oil track-in is a potential problem.
  7. For dried road tar, be sure to cut up the tar into small pieces first using Duckbill Napping Shears.

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