Trial Purpose:
To test the effectiveness of the given cleaners at removing blood from carpet.
Date Run:
11/02/2017Experiment Procedure:
L*, a*, and b* values were measured for each carpet coupon. Synthetic blood was then pipetted onto the carpet samples and allowed to dry overnight. L*, a*, and b* values were taken of the soiled carpets. The carpet was then sprayed twice with the given cleaner as was one strip of Wypall paper towel. The paper towel was then used to scrub a single carpet coupon for two minutes. The carpet samples were then allowed to dry overnight before final L*, a, and b values were taken.
Efficacy rating process:
The cleaners were rated by the amount of cleaning cycles required to clean as much contaminants from the surfaces. In addition, to calculating the % detergency of the cleaners. The % detergency indicates how much contaminant is being lifted from the surfaces of the carpet coupons using the cleaning solutions. The % detergency is calculated as the following:
% DET = (LClean - LDirty)/(Linitial - LDirty)*100
The % Detergency formula is used to calculate results for the gloss L* readings. The gloss reading for L* indicates the contrast between light and darkness. Whereas, color readings for the carpet: a* and b* values are indicative of the color of the carpet at different spectrums of the color band waves. The following formula is used for a* and b* color reading values to calculate for the % contaminant removed based on the coloration of the carpet based on the initial, before and after cleaning of the carpet.
% Cont Removed = {[(SDirty - SInitial) - (SClean - SInitial)]/(SDirty - SInitial)}*100
Where s is a subscript notation to be replaced by a* and b* in the actual calculation for the % Cont. Removal based on color reading results from the spectrometer machine.
Trial Results:
L* Gloss Results:
| Cleaner | Initial L* | Dirty L* | Clean L* | % Det. | % Det. Avg. |
| Aquavert Pet Stain & Odor | 63.70 | 47.61 | 52.21 | 28.59 | 22.75 |
| 68.12 | 50.12 | 53.57 | 19.17 | ||
| 67.38 | 50.98 | 54.34 | 20.49 | ||
| Aquavert Multi-Purpose | 66.59 | 51.48 | 54.76 | 21.71 | 21.14 |
| 66.64 | 48.39 | 52.63 | 23.23 | ||
| 68.51 | 52.39 | 55.37 | 18.49 | ||
| Nature's Miracle Stain & Odor | 66.82 | 50.05 | 55.01 | 29.58 | 27.97 |
| 66.05 | 48.51 | 52.09 | 20.41 | ||
| 66.82 | 48.92 | 54.99 | 33.91 | ||
| Shout Oxy Stain Odor* | 67.53 | 54.43 | 58.37 | 30.08 | 32.24 |
| 67.70 | 52.79 | 57.95 | 34.61 | ||
| Resolve Pet Expert* | 67.99 | 56.98 | 56.88 | -0.91 | 1.59 |
| 65.79 | 54.78 | 55.23 | 4.09 | ||
| Out Advance Severe Stain* | 66.94 | 55.58 | 57.47 | 16.64 | 25.56 |
| 66.55 | 53.18 | 57.79 | 34.48 | ||
| Nature's Miracle Advanced Stain & Odor* | 66.56 | 54.98 | 57.35 | 20.47 | 16.99 |
| 67.87 | 57.51 | 58.91 | 13.51 |
* Note that these cleaning agents were only tested with two blood stained carpets because there was not enough blood serum.
The higher the % detergency, the more effective the cleaning solution is at removing the blood serum from the carpet. As shown, from the results the most effective cleaner was Shout Oxy Stain Odor with the highest average % Detergency of 32.24% as compared to the other cleaning agents. However, both Nature's Miracle Stain & Odor, and Out Advance Severe Stain were observed to only be slightly less effective as compared to Shout Oxy Stain Odor with respective average % detergency of 27.97% and 25.56%. There is a respective difference of only 4.27% and 6.67% from Shout Oxy Stain Odor. Whereas, the least observed effective cleaner in removing blood serum from carpets is Resolve Pet Expert, with an average % detergency of 1.59%.
a* Gloss Results:
| Cleaner | Initial a* | Dirty a* | Clean a* | % Cont. Removed based on color a* | % Avg. Cont. Removed based on color a* |
| Aquavert Pet Stain & Odor | 2.31 | 24.27 | 10.71 | 61.75 | 58.80 |
| 1.90 | 23.08 | 10.44 | 59.68 | ||
| 2.39 | 21.54 | 11.01 | 54.99 | ||
| Aquavert Multi-Purpose | 2.17 | 22.09 | 10.27 | 59.34 | 61.25 |
| 2.30 | 25.39 | 12.23 | 56.99 | ||
| 2.43 | 20.26 | 8.24 | 67.41 | ||
| Nature's Miracle Stain & Odor | 2.12 | 22.82 | 12.20 | 51.30 | 53.07 |
| 2.25 | 23.8 | 13.02 | 50.02 | ||
| 2.18 | 23.26 | 11.06 | 57.87 | ||
| Shout Oxy Stain Odor* | 2.43 | 18.03 | 8.24 | 62.76 | 69.01 |
| 1.83 | 18.56 | 5.97 | 75.25 | ||
| Resolve Pet Expert* | 2.26 | 16.35 | 7.11 | 65.58 | 65.43 |
| 2.10 | 16.85 | 7.22 | 65.29 | ||
| Out Advance Severe Stain* | 2.39 | 15.67 | 7.52 | 61.37 | 63.29 |
| 2.24 | 18.39 | 7.86 | 65.20 | ||
| Nature's Miracle Advanced Stain & Odor* | 2.56 | 17.72 | 8.15 | 63.13 | 52.30 |
| 2.29 | 12.56 | 8.30 | 41.48 |
* Note that these cleaning agents were only tested with two blood stained carpets because there was not enough blood serum.
A high % Cont. Removal indicates the cleaning agent has removed most of the blood serum from the carpet in accordance to the color spectrum captured from the a* color readings. From the a* color readings, the most effective cleaning agent was Shout Oxy Stain Odor; with a respective % Avg. Cont. Removed of 69.01%. However, the following cleaning agents were observed to not be significantly less effective as compared to Shout Oxy Stain Odor: Resolve Pet Expert, Out Advance Severe Stain, and Aquavert Multi-Purpose; with respective % Cont. Removal of 65.43%, 63.29% and 61.25%. The least effective cleaning agent in removing blood serum from carpets as indicated by the a* color reading is the following: Nature’s Miracle Stain & Odor and Nature and Nature’s Miracle Advanced Stain & Odor; with respective % Cont. Removal of 53.07% and 52.30%.
b* Gloss Results:
| Cleaner | Initial b* | Dirty b* | Clean b* | % Con. Removed based on b* | Avg. % Cont. Removed based on b* |
| Aquavert Pet Stain & Odor | 10.95 | 0.52 | 4.73 | 40.36 | 42.01 |
| 10.05 | 0.60 | 4.48 | 41.06 | ||
| 10.77 | 0.01 | 4.81 | 44.61 | ||
| Aquavert Multi-Purpose | 10.29 | 1.10 | 4.27 | 34.49 | 41.25 |
| 10.68 | -1.98 | 3.28 | 41.55 | ||
| 10.58 | -0.13 | 4.98 | 47.71 | ||
| Nature's Miracle Stain & Odor | 10.72 | -0.60 | 4.65 | 46.38 | 45.37 |
| 10.45 | -0.84 | 3.86 | 41.63 | ||
| 9.88 | -0.39 | 4.55 | 48.10 | ||
| Shout Oxy Stain Odor* | 10.50 | 1.28 | 6.45 | 56.07 | 62.27 |
| 10.19 | 1.34 | 7.40 | 68.47 | ||
| Resolve Pet Expert* | 10.55 | 2.90 | 6.00 | 40.52 | 45.06 |
| 10.11 | 2.71 | 6.38 | 49.59 | ||
| Out Advance Severe Stain* | 9.89 | 2.91 | 7.48 | 65.47 | 63.74 |
| 10.45 | 1.58 | 7.08 | 62.01 | ||
| Nature's Miracle Advanced Stain & Odor* | 11.09 | 2.39 | 6.23 | 44.14 | 39.32 |
| 10.71 | 4.39 | 6.57 | 34.49 |
* Note that these cleaning agents were only tested with two blood stained carpets because there was not enough blood serum.
A high % Cont. Removal indicates the cleaning agent has removed most of the blood serum from the carpet in accordance to the color spectrum captured from the b* color readings. From the b* color readings, the most effective cleaning agent is Shout Oxy Stain Odor and Out Advance Severe Stain; with a respective Avg. % Cont. Removal of 62.72%, and 63.74%, a difference of 1.02%. Whereas, the remaining cleaning agents are observed to have similar Avg. % Cont. Removal within the range of 39 to 45% in Avg.% Cont. Removed in accordance to the b* color readings; with Nature’s Miracle Advanced Stain & Odor’s Avg. % Cont. Removal of 39.32% as being the lower end of the % Cont. Removed.
Success Rating:
A cleanliness study, addressing only various analytical techniques.Conclusion:
The most effective cleaning agent is listed in the following based on firstly the Avg. % Det. and subsequently the Avg. % Cont. Removed categories: Shout Oxy Stain Odor, Out Advanced Severe Stain, Aquavert Pet Stain & Odor, Aquavert Multi-Purpose, Nature’s Miracle Stain & Odor, Nature’s Miracle Advanced Severe Stain, and lastly Resolve Pet Expert. Despite the calculated removal of the blood, there were no significant visual changes from the carpet pieces. The cleaners had limited effect on the removal of synthetic blood from the carpets when looking at the carpet coupons.
