Filtration Soil

Dark lines and dirty edges in carpets along walls are more common than one might expect. Many blame these black lines on their vacuum cleaner. Some say that their vacuum is not picking up the dirt along the wall or whoever is vacuuming needs to concentrate more along the edges of the carpet.  The fact is, something else is going on at the edges of their carpet.

  New Carpet                                                         

Microscopic particulates filtrating through the carpet  

Soiled carpet along edge over a space of time    

This area along the carpet  is where your house breathes. The dark lines are caused by a phenomenon called Filtration Soiling. It is at this place where the drywall meets the floor and a small enough gap between the two  allows air to slowly travel through. When your heating/air conditioning unit is turned on, it builds up pressure and this is where it escapes. The soot and very fine microscopic particulates that are floating in the air get trapped here in the carpet along the edges. Your carpet acts as a filter to the air passing through the face fibers of the carpet. Notice that the dark lines are more prominent along the perimeter of the house and nearer the heating/air conditioning unit.  All though filtration staining accors in most homes; it typically stands out on lighter colored carpets because of the contrast of color.

Filtration Soiling causes...

Black lines under closed doors

Black spots

Along seams

Can it be removed?

How can you prevent this from happening?

Slowing the process (air duct cleaning)