IICRC CCT Carpet Cleaning Technician
Actual Exam Questions and Answers with
Rationales (2026) | Verified |
Guaranteed Success
• natural fibers -✓✓More expensive, require more drying time
Ex: Wool Cotton Silk
• Synthetic Fibers -✓✓By-product and man made
Ex:Nylon Polyester Olefin Acrylic
• Two types of Natural Fibers -✓✓cellulosic=plant and protein=animals
• Wool -✓✓Natural crimp so springs back, stains easily, high alkalinity
can damage it, very absorbing, comes from fleece, most common natural
fiber
• What fiber type is Opaque and what does that mean? -✓✓Wool, it
hides soil well BUT wool absorbs dye therefore it stains easily
• Cellulosic Fiber Facts -✓✓Strong, absorbent, shrinks (often used as
backing of carpet so carpets don't shrink the backing shrinks)
• Browning out -✓✓When a cellulosic fiber gets too wet it releases
brown dye and you must use an acid rinse to fix it
• Sisal -✓✓Type of cellulosic fiber, color can be removed when cleaned
so best to use dry powder cleaning technique
• Dry Powder Cleaning -✓✓Sprinkle a powder use a machine to brush it
in after 20mins soil should be absorbed then vacuum all the powder up
, • Encapsulation -✓✓Neutral Cleaner... machine like cymax machine to
brush powder in to absorb soil and then vacuum up
• Jute -✓✓Plant fiber so *cellulosic*, susceptible to *mold* damage and
if over wet it will *shrink*
• Abrasion -✓✓Scratches on the side of carpet, typical reason why
people replace carpet, happens to planet fiber carpets
• 5 Gen of Nylon -✓✓1. *round* fibers which *magnified* dirt so 2.
The *shape* was *changed* in order to *reduce apparent soiling* 3.
Then *carbon core fiber* was added to reduce static 4. Then
*Fluorochemical soil repellent* *ex: Teflon*was added to reduce soiling
5. Then when things like kool aid was invented, *acid dye resistance*
was applied b/c fluoro is only for soil and didn't repel dyes
• Nylon is dissolved by -✓✓Formic acid
• 2 kinds of ions -✓✓cations and anions acid dye resistant carpet is
cationic so must use anionic cleaning products on it
• Polyester -✓✓Synthetic, PET, either disperse dyed or solution dyed,
naturally stain resistant, low absorbable bc moisture goes around the
fiber, eco friendly and cheaper, hard to dye, attracts oil, crimp loss so
can matte and appear darker typically happens in straight lines or
sections
• Solution dyed -✓✓Color is added to the polymer solution prior to
extrusion (so it's dyed before becoming a fiber)
• Ohliphilic -✓✓Attracts oil (polyester and olefin)
Actual Exam Questions and Answers with
Rationales (2026) | Verified |
Guaranteed Success
• natural fibers -✓✓More expensive, require more drying time
Ex: Wool Cotton Silk
• Synthetic Fibers -✓✓By-product and man made
Ex:Nylon Polyester Olefin Acrylic
• Two types of Natural Fibers -✓✓cellulosic=plant and protein=animals
• Wool -✓✓Natural crimp so springs back, stains easily, high alkalinity
can damage it, very absorbing, comes from fleece, most common natural
fiber
• What fiber type is Opaque and what does that mean? -✓✓Wool, it
hides soil well BUT wool absorbs dye therefore it stains easily
• Cellulosic Fiber Facts -✓✓Strong, absorbent, shrinks (often used as
backing of carpet so carpets don't shrink the backing shrinks)
• Browning out -✓✓When a cellulosic fiber gets too wet it releases
brown dye and you must use an acid rinse to fix it
• Sisal -✓✓Type of cellulosic fiber, color can be removed when cleaned
so best to use dry powder cleaning technique
• Dry Powder Cleaning -✓✓Sprinkle a powder use a machine to brush it
in after 20mins soil should be absorbed then vacuum all the powder up
, • Encapsulation -✓✓Neutral Cleaner... machine like cymax machine to
brush powder in to absorb soil and then vacuum up
• Jute -✓✓Plant fiber so *cellulosic*, susceptible to *mold* damage and
if over wet it will *shrink*
• Abrasion -✓✓Scratches on the side of carpet, typical reason why
people replace carpet, happens to planet fiber carpets
• 5 Gen of Nylon -✓✓1. *round* fibers which *magnified* dirt so 2.
The *shape* was *changed* in order to *reduce apparent soiling* 3.
Then *carbon core fiber* was added to reduce static 4. Then
*Fluorochemical soil repellent* *ex: Teflon*was added to reduce soiling
5. Then when things like kool aid was invented, *acid dye resistance*
was applied b/c fluoro is only for soil and didn't repel dyes
• Nylon is dissolved by -✓✓Formic acid
• 2 kinds of ions -✓✓cations and anions acid dye resistant carpet is
cationic so must use anionic cleaning products on it
• Polyester -✓✓Synthetic, PET, either disperse dyed or solution dyed,
naturally stain resistant, low absorbable bc moisture goes around the
fiber, eco friendly and cheaper, hard to dye, attracts oil, crimp loss so
can matte and appear darker typically happens in straight lines or
sections
• Solution dyed -✓✓Color is added to the polymer solution prior to
extrusion (so it's dyed before becoming a fiber)
• Ohliphilic -✓✓Attracts oil (polyester and olefin)
