A silk tufted rug – now what?

July 23, 2010 — admin

I was sent some photos of a relatively “new” type of product hitting the market – a tufted rug using silk as highlights.

Now…tufted rugs are of course not new to retail shops. I’m sure you’ve seen them, rugs with a material backing, like this:

Tufted rug - cloth backing.

Tufted rug - cloth backing.

Tufted rugs are what I refer to as FAKE rugs, because they are a cheaper, quicker way to create the look of a woven rug without the quality and longevity of a real woven rug.

Tufted rugs are essentially hooked rugs, looped into a cotton mesh, then latex is poured over the back to glue the fibers in place. They most of the time cover the back with a cloth, because the latex is ugly and can sometimes crumble or yellow the floor/carpeting underneath it. Then they shear off the top loops so it is straight fibers like a “real” rug.

Tufted rugs by and large are cheaply made, and have a life of several years, versus decades (or centuries) like quality hand woven wool rugs.

A real hand woven rug can take months - or years - to craft.

A real hand woven rug can take months - or years - to craft.

I am a fan of real rugs – WOVEN rugs. Especially wool rugs.

That said, most consumers do not know the difference, and many buy tufted rugs, so you need to know how to clean them.

Because tufted rugs have a lot of corners cut to allow them to sell for cheaper prices, you have a number of concerns:

1) The latex, if poor quality, can crumble and the face fibers can pull loose during vacuuming or cleaning.

2) The designs, if stenciling is used that is INK, can bleed out when wet and wick up to the top (this is a manufacturing flaw, because they should NOT be using ink to do this).

3) The latex, if it has gone bad and soured, can create a HORRIBLE odor (smells like a cross between dirty socks and rubber) that will get WORSE with any moisture from cleaning. If the rug is new, and smells, tell your client to RETURN the rug immediately to exchange for another one or to get their money back. This is flawed merchandise.

4) Because of the latex construction, these rugs can take up to 4 times as long to dry as woven rugs do. So you need to boost air movement and dehumification to boost your drying results for tufted rugs.

There are some other issues, but those are the biggies.

And I don’t want to imply ALL tufted rugs are crummy. There are some high-end, very nice tufted rugs, for example Edward Field’s rugs are VERY expensive wool tufted rugs that are high quality.

Back to my story… I was sent a photo of a TUFTED rug with wool face fibers, but also SILK highlights throughout it. And the cleaner wanted to know any tips or concerns he should have. Here’s two photos of the rug in question:

Wool and silk tufted rug - front view

Wool and silk tufted rug - front view

Wool and silk tufted rug - back corner

Wool and silk tufted rug - back corner

Now, considering this is a tufted rug, the odds of the highlights being good quality silk are not high. In fact, it is likely rayon or viscose or mercerized cotton (all used as artificial silk).

To determine if it is real silk versus fake silk, you take a tuft from the rug (use tweezers) and drop it in a small cup of fresh Chlorox bleach.

If it is real silk, it will begin to bubble and slowly dissolve.

If it is fake silk (mercerized cotton, or rayon/viscose which is cotton by-products), it will do nothing. By the way, rayon/viscose is the WORST fiber on the planet for rugs.

There are many high quality rugs from Persia, and China, that are hand woven wool oriental rugs with silk highlights around the floral designs. They are beautiful.

Silk is a natural protein fiber, like wool, and in these cases where the amount of silk is not large, you can follow the same guidelines you do for cleaning wool and safely clean the silk as well. Same shampoo, same dye stabilizing solutions, same vinegar rinse to remove the residue.

One difference is that the silk will get matted and stiff when fully dried, and this requires some grooming to loosen those fibers up again. Very slow hand brushing is required (similar to the grooming needed for velvet when it is cleaned, except you use a hand brush instead of a carding brush). This additional time needed is why it usually costs more to clean silk rugs than wool rugs, because more time is required. (By the way, grooming is required for FAKE silk also, so even cheap viscose rugs cost more to clean than wool rugs because it takes more time.)

With this tufted rug in particular, because these rugs are made quickly and not with the highest quality ingredients, I would pre-inspect for a few things. I would want to know: are the dyes colorfast? are the fibers strong or do they pull away easily? is there any stenciling? is the silk actually RAYON? is there any latex strong odor?

I would test the dyes. If they test colorfast, and the rug is fairly soiled, then I would wash the rug. Give it a bath.

If the dyes test as fugitive, then I would surface clean the rug with an upholstery tool section by section carefully, to clean it. I would use an Airpath air mover to speed dry.

I would test the fiber strength. If they test strong, and the rug is fairly soiled, then I would wash the rug.

If they test weak (easily pull away from the rug), then I would surface clean it with the upholstery tool, and if needed, place a screen over the rug sections as I clean them to keep fibers from being pulled away during extraction strokes.

I would inspect for stenciling. If I see none when I grin open the fibers to look, then I would wash the rug.

If I do see stenciling, and the rug is fairly soiled, I would STILL wash it… because the rug is dark and so ink bleeding out will not be visible on the front, but I would let the client know ink marks will show on the backing material. (Most clients don’t care what the back of the rug looks like, and I always prefer to give rugs a bath versus surface cleaning because it is the difference between taking a real bath or having a sponge bath.) Just in case the ink might bleed into the white silk highlights, I would use an Airpath to speed dry it.

I would test to see if the highlight fibers are RAYON instead of silk. If they are in fact rayon, then I know I need to be careful about scrubbing the rug, and to be extra careful when grooming after it’s dry. Rayon is a very weak fiber, and will break apart with even the gentlest cleaning.

I would pre-inspect for the horrible odor found in some tufted rugs. If the rug has that odor I would NOT CLEAN IT. This is a manufacturing flaw, tell the client to return it to the store they bought it at.

As long as you are VERY good at pre-inspection, and VERY good at carefully cleaning a rug, this should not be a problem rug to clean.

If you have any questions for me on this rug or others, please post them in the COMMENTS.

Thank you for reading the Rug Chick blog, I am always happy to see so many come to visit me here.

:)

- Lisa

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Rug To Run From: Viscose Rugs!

January 2, 2010 — admin

Real rugs (hand woven oriental and occidental rugs) are truly pieces of hand craftsmanship to showcase in your home.

They are a piece of a weaver’s life that you get to enjoy. A piece of art that will live centuries (if it is properly cared for).

Commodity rugs are mass produced today to feed a need of the fact that many people have hard floors in their homes, and they want a nice looking area rug, but they do not want to pay a fortune for it.

As with anything produced today, there can be items that are truly a great value, and others that are not worth your hard earned money. And viscose rugs are one of these areas where the great deal is just not worth it.

Viscose (also known as rayon) is in my opinion one of the absolute worst fibers to ever choose to use in something that people will walk on. Here are just a few reasons why:

Rayon/viscose is a weak fiber that distorts and breaks.

Rayon/viscose is a weak fiber that distorts and breaks.

In strength tests, wool fibers can be bent up to 10,000 times before it breaks. Silk is also very strong at 2,000.

What is rayon? 70.

Yes 70. So as you can guess, walking on it becomes quite stressful for a viscose rug. Also, washing the rug (where you are required to do a little scrubbing) can be very stressful.

Rayon/viscose, because it is made from cotton by-products and wood pulp fibers, tends to show soil very quickly. It also yellows with time and can have a yellow/brown cast when it gets wet. (If you are a professional rug cleaner, you will want to give the rug a vinegar rinse, and dry face down after water removal so that you can lessen this browning and wick any that occurs to the back side of the rug.)

Another weakness of viscose rugs is the dye quality. They easily bleed.

Viscose rugs have dyes that are rarely colorfast.

Viscose rugs have dyes that are rarely colorfast.

In this case, a cold water flood in a home resulted in these dyes migrating all throughout this viscose rug. This is not reversible.

A flood, improper cleaning, or even a simple spill can bleed viscose rug dyes.

A flood, improper cleaning, or even a simple spill can bleed viscose rug dyes.

Why would manufacturers use a fiber so unsuitable for a rug in their inventory?

Simple. Because it is CHEAP.

They want the look of silk, but they do not want to actually use silk. They turn away a far superior fiber that will last a century, and exchange it for one that might have one solid year of looking good.

For professional rug cleaners, they are trained to identify rayon/viscose rugs and to run from them. They are one of the few rugs that end up looking worse after cleaning than better. They distort, the dyes can bleed, they fade, and they look shaggy over time.

For rug buyers, if you want the look of silk, I would suggest seeking out a lower grade silk rug over anything made of rayon or viscose. The taller the face fiber height, the lesser quality a silk rug. High quality silk rugs have a high knot count and a very low nap. Here is a very nice Qum silk rug, woven in Iran.

If you want the look of silk, then buy a real silk rug.

If you want the look of silk, then buy a real silk rug.

Viscose rugs are what we in the industry label as “disposable rugs” because they have a short life under normal foot traffic, and then they end up in the landfill and you have to go buy another one.

If all you want is a disposable rug, then go get one. They are cheap. But you can also find some great deals on wool rugs, which are fantastic for the floor and will not give you any of the headaches that viscose does. And they will last you a much, MUCH longer time.

- Lisa

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Pet Accidents Happen. Now What?

December 27, 2009 — admin

Pet activity may happen on your favorite rugs this season. Guests in the home, or you away from home, restless pets can end up doing things they should not.

With an inexpensive tufted rug, this can be a blessing because it is protecting a much more valuable wood floor underneath it.

With an oriental rug (hand woven), this can be a curse because pet urine on a rug is one of the most dangerous spills on a textile – not only for the rug itself, but for the occupants if you allow the accidents to happen over and over.

With woven rugs, the foundation fibers are typically cotton. This means the wool fibers are tied around cotton warps. So pet urine (or vomit or #2) will penetrate the wool fibers – because this accident is hot and acidic – and will become absorbed by the cotton interior fibers. This means the accident you see is only the tip of the sewage iceburg.

This Chinese rug has much more urine absorbed in its foundation.

This Chinese rug has much more urine absorbed within its foundation fibers.

Ideally, when you notice an accident has happened – you jump to action. These are your spills steps:

1) If there is anything to scoop up – scoop it up. Blot up what you can with a cotton towel.

2) Pour some club soda (or if you have no soda water – a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and cool water) into a container. Use a sponge, wringing out the excess, and DAMPEN the affected area. Then blot with a cotton towel to pull out the urine or vomit or fecal matter.

3) Blot until you see nothing coming into the towel. Then take a hair dryer on warm (not hot) and dry the fibers. Ideally raise the rug up in this area so air flow is along both sides.

WARNINGS! If you see the rug dyes transfer into the towel, you need to stop getting the rug damp, and blot and dry as quickly as possible. If you get a woven rug too wet you will risk potential mildew and mold problems, so do not get the fibers WET, just damp. If you SCRUB wool instead of blot, you can potentially create fiber distortion/breaking.

The bigger problem with rugs comes when you allow repeated pet accidents on your rugs. The stains will be permanent, the odor strong, and long term exposure can lead to mildew and dry rot of the rug.

Besides of course the fact that this becomes an open pet toilet in your living space – which is not good for the health of you or your family.

Mildew growth on back of Persian rug with repeated pet urine activity - this is the stage before dry rot sets in.

Mildew growth on back of Persian rug with repeated pet urine activity - this is the stage before dry rot sets in.

The only way to remove the urine from the inside of these rugs is to have them completely immersed in a plant specializing in washing rugs. The rug needs a thorough bath.

Cleaning rugs like these in the home only surface cleans them. It gets the top fibers cleaner, but does nothing to the inside fiber contamination.

They may spray some disinfectant, or deodorizer on the rug to make it smell “good” – but smelling good does not mean it is CLEAN. This is not any different than spraying fragrance on a diaper, and then expecting it to be used again. It may not smell bad – but you know that would be completely unacceptable and unhealthy.

Proper cleaning presents a catch 22 though, because what is needed is a good thorough soak for an extended period of time. You soak it first in white vinegar (acetic acid) to penetrate the inside of the rug to liquify and help remove the urine salts from the inside of the rug – many times you can see the water literally run gold from pet problems.

However, pet urine stains, if they have sat on the rug for longer than a week, can create a break in the dye bond to the wool and can make even very colorfast rugs “bleed” during the wash.

The catch 22 is that because there are pet urine stains, the rug needs to be soaked completely… but because there are pet urine spills the dyes will likely bleed if the rug is washed, no matter what a professional cleaner does to stabilize dyes during cleaning.

It is important, if you are a rug cleaner, to inform your client of this, and to make sure they are informed of these four things: 1) the rug must be given a wet wash to remove the odor causing contaminants from the inside of the rug; 2) that pet urine stains are permanent; 3) that even though white vinegar will be used to remove the urine salts, and stabilize dyes during the wash process, pet affected areas are likely to bleed despite all of your best efforts; and 4) that pet urine causes damage to rugs that devalues them permanently.

If a rug can be cleaned properly soon after any significant pet accident, you can avert permanent damage. If a rug cleaning cannot happen quickly, then the steps outlined in this post can help you minimize the damage.

It might be a good idea to either toss some cheaper rugs over the top of your valuable ones during the hectic holidays, or roll them up until your company – and happy chaos – passes and your pets get back to being wonderfully well-behaved.

Happy New Year!

- Lisa

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Braided Rugs – What To Watch For

September 30, 2009 — therugchick

I’ve seen braided rugs come in all colors, sizes, and ages. New product from stores like Pier One, and some from the 1930′s with a story from the owner about how their neighborhood tore clothing into strips to create a community rug when she was a child.

These rugs are braided. Fabric strips braided into long braids, and then crafted into a rug like this one:

Braided rug from America

Braided rug from America

Many are very sturdy rugs, but some of the older ones can pose some problems for both rug owners and rug cleaners. Here are a few items to check for:

Rug dye problems. You want to test the dyes of your rug to see if they are not colorfast. If you own the rug and a damp cloth shows dye transfer, then you will want to be careful what type of surface you place the rug on top of as dye may transfer onto other surfaces.  If you are nervous about a vibrant braided rug being on top of light colored wall-to-wall carpeting, then use a pad underneath as a barrier between the rug and the carpeting. (Rugs are meant to be placed on HARD surfaces, so this is only if you have no choice but placing it over a soft flooring.)

If you are a rug cleaner, and the dyes are highly fugitive, then instead of giving the rug a proper wash, you will be forced to lessen the amount of water during the cleaning and treat the rug as you would tricky upholstery and use a tool such as the Drimaster tool to clean, rinse, and immediately extract the cleaning solutions.

Rug braid filler threads. Sometimes the inside of the braids are supported with filler materials to make the braids more stiff. These filler materials, if they are dyed, may create “bleeding” problems when wet. You will want to open up the braids a bit and see of this filler material exists. This is a blurred photo – but this is what the filler material can look like:

Cut braid with filler material inside.

Cut braid with filler material inside.

Broken braids. With especially older braided rugs, the thread holding the braids along side of one another can weaken and break. This ends up making the rug fall apart. If you own the rug, tripping on broken areas can make the problem worse, and if the rug is given a bath, moving the rug around can create more and more broken areas.

Braided rug coming unraveled.

Braided rug coming unraveled.

The problem of broken connecting threads needs to be addressed BEFORE the cleaning process as it will become worse. If the rug is heavily soiled however, hand sewing the braids together will not be possible (it’s unsanitary to the rug repair specialists to be handling and breathing in the contaminants in a heavily soiled rug).

In this case, you can sandwich the rug between two plastic screens, sew these screens to one another to press the rug tightly inside of them, and then soak the rug, scrub, and rinse the rug as that “braided rug sandwich.” Then after complete drying it can be repaired.

When you send a braided rug off for repair, be sure to make sure they use very strong upholstery thread for those connecting threads so that you do not have to have the rug repaired yet again in a few more years.

These are colorful and fun rugs – and the older ones have some great stories attached to them. Just be sure to inspect them very carefully before cleaning so that you do not create any unexpected problems.

- Lisa

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New Oriental Rugs – Protecting Your Investment

September 15, 2009 — therugchick

I use the term “oriental rug” to mean a hand-woven rug (as opposed to an “area rug” which is a machine made rug).

Technically “oriental” refers to “the East” (the Orient) and rugs woven over on the other side of this great planet of ours. Academics use “occidental rug” to refer to those rugs woven in the western hemisphere, such as Navajo rugs.

I know that technically I should distinguish between oriental and occidental – but I don’t. I’ve never used the term occidental with a client, ever. They think I’m saying accidental rug with a pompous “oh” instead of the “ax” – so I keep it simple. Hand woven is “oriental rug” to me – and this is what I see in my head:

Loom from Castle Cleaning in Colorado.

Loom from Castle Cleaning in Colorado.

I see the hand work that has twisted every single knot around those warp threads. I see the sheared wool, the dyeing process, the spinning process, the months (and sometimes years) of creation time.

I see a piece of someone’s life in front of me. A part of someone’s soul in a piece of art now place in your home for you to enjoy.

A hand woven rug makes me smile.

Machine woven rugs? Tufted rugs with material backing? They just have no heart to me. No soul. No love.

I have loved many, many wonderful rugs, brand new and some centuries old. None have been machine made. It’s like really loving GOOD food, and having to go to McDonald’s – there is just no pleasure in a knock off. At least not for me. It’s one of the joys – and curses – of knowing so much about a craft … when you really appreciate the art, you are drawn to the well-made pieces.

And I appreciate those who in a world full of commodity, cheap, machine-made product, will choose to buy a hand crafted rug. I appreciate those who value and buy a REAL rug. (I am still very nice to everyone who buys area rugs also – I just enjoy the hand woven rugs more.)

I received an email today from a peer who received a brand new hand woven rug from a client. She has had the rug a few days, and noticed that a damp cloth makes the red dye transfer to it. The peer was asking me for some advice – here is the rug from Iran:

Wool hand woven rug.

Wool hand woven rug.

With brand new rugs, it is possible that they have a certain amount of “excess dye” in the fibers. This washes away in the first cleaning (some rugs are washed thoroughly before being sold and these do not have this situation).

If the rug is in an area where there may be spills, then they might pose a problem, because the dye may move and migrate to other areas. So this is what I suggested to my peer. Not to wash it fully, but to rinse the tips of the fibers.

Rugs, especially oriental rugs, should be given a bath when cleaned. This is the recommended thorough way of cleaning rugs. This should be done in a rug plant, because thorough dusting, the wash, and complete drying are required. Many rugs have dyes that are not colorfast, so these professionals are trained to stabilize the dyes during the cleaning process.

But with this rug, a bath is not needed. The issue is not soil, but excess dye. If you are a professional rug cleaner, these are the steps I’d recommend:

1) Use your Drimaster tool. This is the PERFECT tool because you want to be able to rinse the fibers thoroughly and IMMEDIATELY extract without the water moving to other areas and potentially making the red dye move to neighboring areas. (If you do not own a Drimaster tool you can find it on the Hydramaster site.)

2) You can adjust the amount of water flow, and you can see the water through the viewer to see if it is red or simply clear. Make short strokes WITH the grain of the wool fibers several times, and then turn off the water flow and follow up with a dry stroke to pick up any remaining moisture.

(To determine the GRAIN of the fibers, pet the rug as you would your dog. You will know when you are going WITH the grain or AGAINST it – and you always want your tool strokes or brushing strokes to be WITH the grain.)

3) Keep the rug out flat, and dry it quickly. If you use a Dri-Eaz AirPath, it will dry in minutes.  Set it beside the rug rather than over it so as not to leave any impressions from the airmover legs.

4) Take a damp towel to verify that no more dye transfers as before.

It is not unusual to have “excess dye” in the fibers of a new rug. This wool is very thoroughly dyed those beautiful colors, and just as with new sweaters in the laundry, some dye comes off in the first cleaning. (Just as your grandmother used to add vinegar to her wash to help stabilize and protect neighboring fabrics from absorbing this migrated dye – many rug plants use vinegar also as a rug dye stabilizing agent in their facilities. Old world ways in new world operations.)

The reason I like this “surface rinse” of a brand new rug is because it takes away that excess dye (which might give a rug owner problems if there is a spill), but also because even though the rug is “new” it is not necessarily clean. Dust settles in the store, some have people who walk on them in the store, and the shipping and transport from overseas is not necessarily the cleanest experience. The thorough rinse can remove surface contaminants as well as that excess dye.

If you are a proud owner of a brand new wonderfully hand woven rug, and you find a little dye coming off on a damp towel and you are concerned – now you know what to do.  A surface rinse with a new piece of technology that keeps the rug from having to be given a bath just to remove a little bit of extra dye.

Some rugs last for centuries – so they are not a part of our lives; we are a part of theirs. I hope you enjoy your new (or old) woven rug for many years to come.

- Lisa

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Tea and Rugs – A Good Mix?

September 5, 2009 — therugchick

There’s a rug phenomenum out there called “tea-washed.”

It’s not really TEA – but a brown over-dye that is applied to a rug after it’s woven in order to do several things: make it look older, mute the colors to give it a softer look, and also sometimes to HIDE flaws. I wrote about this in the blog That Rugs Lies!

Tea-washed can be called also Henna-washed and Antiqued.

Take a look at this rug, with a light application, but you can see it in the fringe tassels:

The fringe used to be white, as you can see on the tips of the tassels.

The fringe used to be white, as you can see on the tips of the tassels.

The “tea wash” application is applied by dipping the rug, or spraying it over the rug. And as with everything in life, sometimes work is done VERY well with the best grade materials, and sometimes it is done VERY poorly.

The tea wash dye application is not permanent. And it will wash out depending on that quality of application.

Where you see the most visible loss of the over-dye of that brown dye is on the fringe. You begin to see the original white of the tassels peek out.  And in the field of the rug a cleaning can make it a bit more blotchier as the over-dye washes out (and can do so even with the gentlest of cleanings – but if you ever make the wrong choice to steam clean a wool rug in the home, which you should never do of course on any wool rug, you will see that loss of dye even more significantly).

Let’s say though, you give it a gentle proper cleaning – using cool to warm water, a vinegar mixture to stabilize the dyes during cleaning, a mild neutral pH shampoo for the wash, and a thorough rinsing. Let’s say you do everything properly … you will still see a loss of this tea wash.  Not as severe as if the rug were cleaned in the home rather than in a rug cleaning plant – but still, a loss nevertheless.

And sometimes this tea wash application is a cover-up for a problem, such as pre-existing dye bleed in a rug:

Reds in rug have bled and "tea wash" used to hide this to buyers.

Reds in rug have bled and "tea wash" used to hide this to buyers.

If you buy a tea washed rug for the “look” of it, this is fine.  You just need to know if it is a GOOD application of the over-dye process.  A sign of a BAD application would be: 1) very blotchy fringes; 2) brown dye that comes off on to towel during a dye test with hot water; and 3) the worst, if dye comes onto a DRY towel when you wipe the rug – this is known as crocking and means ANY amount of moisture will make that dye leave the rug fibers.

However, if the application seems solid, then you simply need to know that over time this over-dye application will lighten up, and may make the rug appear to be more blotchy over time.  In most cases the difference is only something a trained rug cleaning eye will notice.

So – if you see a rug that has beige or gold or brown fringe – you need to investigate a little closer:

Inspect the rug thoroughly whether you are cleaning or buying the rug.

Inspect the rug thoroughly whether you are cleaning or buying the rug.

If you are BUYING the tea washed rug – test the dyes and closely look at the designs (front and back) for damage the over-dye of brown may be covering up. You want to make sure you are not buying damaged merchandise, or a rug that may release dye onto socks or onto flooring underneath it.

If you are CLEANING the tea washed rug – test the dyes, and also inspect that rug closely front and back for pre-existing damage. You want to let the rug’s owner know that “tea wash” applications are not permanent, and that you will wash gently so to not remove a great deal of the application. (If the rug has had pet accidents – this is the worst thing to happen to a rug in terms of “spills” so they need to know that urine will likely remove this “tea wash” more significantly in those affected areas.)

Many tea wash applications are very attractive looking – just know what you are buying or cleaning – and you will be able to keep the rug looking great for a long time.

- Lisa

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Tip of the Rug Spill Iceburg…

August 30, 2009 — therugchick

Most woven rugs have wool knots tied around COTTON fibers for its construction. Cotton allows for a more consistent shape and construction as foundation threads (warps and wefts).

Take a look at any hand woven rug, and you can grab one single fringe tassel, and it literally runs all the way through the middle of the rug to the opposite side. The knots are wrapped around each of these warp strands.

Each cotton fringe tassle runs the entire length of this rug.

Each cotton fringe tassel runs the entire length of this rug.

Most rugs have a cotton interior “skeleton” to them – and as we know, cotton is absorbent (it’s why we use it for our towels).

This means when you have a rug with a spill on it – what you can see on the surface is just the tip of the iceburg, especially if the spill is an acidic spill like juice, soda, coffee, tea, or the worst spill – pet urine or vomit.

This is bad... but it is just the tip of the iceburg.

This is bad... but it is just the tip of the iceburg.

Ideally, when you spill something on a wool rug, you go to blot it up immediately. Wool has a certain level of repellency to liquid so it does give a level of protection that allows you to grab a cotton towel and blot the spill up.

But when a spill is allowed to sit for awhile, and soak into the cotton interior, you have several problems as a result. It can cause color loss, stiffness of the area (and potential mildew and dry rot if left damp too long), odor, and also if the spill is food-related it can end up being a food source for a host of different insects.

With significant spills, of course the rug needs to head to a rug cleaning plant and given a bath in order to remove not just the contaminants in the surface wool fuzzy face fibers, but also to flush out what has been absorbed into the middle of the rug cotton foundation fibers.

Thorough cleaning like this cannot be done in the home, it can only be surfaced cleaned.  The rug needs to be given a bath and by companies who know how to fiber test, dye test, and who have experience handling both woven and tufted rugs.

If you keep trying to clean an area on your rug, and it seems that the problem keeps coming back again and again – now you know why. You are treating the tip of the iceburg, and you need someone to help clean all of the contaminants that are lodged inside the middle of your rug.

- Lisa

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Rugs To Keep Out Of The Sun.

August 15, 2009 — therugchick

A little sun never hurts, right?

Well, with rugs, that depends.  Some rugs , you could put them in the sun for ages with no affect. While others can’t last even a few hours.

Take a look at this rug. It appears to be a nice beige Chinese sculpted wool rug. (They use a hand tool to carve out those floral designs.) These are plush rugs, with nice BRIGHT white fringe tassels.

Chinese rug - popular in the 1980s-90's and found in many homes.

Chinese rug - popular in the 1980s-90's and found in many homes.

This particular rug was cleaned by a professional cleaner – one who had cleaned this rug several times before over the years. But this time, he made the decision to put the rug into direct sunlight to dry it out. Something that normally would not be a bad decision – but with this particular type of rug, it was, because the rug USED to be not beige, but blue – take a look:

The original color can be seen on the back of the rug - pastel blue.

The original color can be seen on the back of the rug - pastel blue.

Many contemporary rugs are chemically washed with a chlorine-bleach solution before it is sent to market. This process can lighten up strong colors and because it strips scales off of the wool fibers to make them smoother, they reflect more light and appear “shinier.”

With certain rugs from China, and this particular type shown in the photos – the chemical processing is aggressive, and while it makes the rug very attractive, it also makes it very reactive to many things. It permanently stains very easily with acid sources (coffee. tea, soda, juice, and pet urine), it reacts horribly to any spot removers (coffee stain remover will strip color out completely), and it is VERY sensitive to sun fading.

This rug in the photos was only in the sun for a few hours, yet that color change was severe, and also not reversible. And I receive photos like these several times a month from cleaners who want to thoroughly dry a rug for a client, and end up having a surprise like this result.

I have not found any rug more reactive to sun that this type of Chinese rug, and it has a very distinct fringe style, a wide white fringe base, with a knot style that looks like a fist.  Print the photo for your files so you can watch out for these in your cleaning business so that you don’t get yourself in trouble when you decide to place a rug in the sun.

- Lisa

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Tackling a Silk Rug in Tampa.

August 6, 2009 — therugchick

Just had a GREAT workshop yesterday at Interlink Supply of Tampa with a full classroom of cleaning and restoration professionals. They came to spend the day learning some rug cleaning and identification guidelines, and handling rugs when they are involved in floods and fires.  We also went into restoration marketing strategies and how to educate both consumers and insurance adjusters on the equipment and methods needed for handling the structural drying and contents cleaning of disaster work.

It was an energetic, and very knowledgeable group – great questions and dialogue back and forth.

And… one of the attendees brought us a “surprise” – a silk rug:

Here I am explaining the dangers of this silk rug.

Here I am explaining the dangers of this silk rug.

This particular rug had a few issues that made it an interesting case study: 1) it had been cleaned several times with a dry-compound cleaning agent which had left a great deal of residue and yellowing in the ivory; 2) it had multiple pet stains and dye bleed of the blue in these areas; and 3) this rug is a BLEEDER – it tested “not colorfast” with our hot water quick test. (View my post on dye migration for the link to the video on how to properly test for colorfast versus fugitive dyes.)

We opted to stabilize the dyes with Bridgepoint’s Dye-Loc, then used a Hydramaster Dri-master hand tool to control the amount of moisture during rinsing the shampoo and extracting , and followed up with using the Dri-Eaz Airpath to speed up the dry time significantly.

Blue is one of the most difficult colors to strip in a rug to try to correct prior damage. Our goal was to clean the rug safely, without causing additional damage to the textile. This gave us the opportunity to show how to handle a rug “bleeder” and also how to handle silk rugs in general – from cleaning to grooming.  Silk rugs tend to create more problems than wool rugs for professional cleaners, so giving them a proper good bath for cleaning often is not an option.

This was not an investment grade rug at all, but it was a good example of a commonly found silk blend rug in homes in this region. And it gave us the opportunity to talk about damage inevitably caused by pets on rugs, and some tricks of the trade to help you have success in cleaning rugs with multiple “danger” signs.

Off to Atlanta next… we’ve sold out the house (again!) – should be another fantastic group.

Thanks to Interlink for being our host, and to all of the professionals who took their day to come learn with us.

- Lisa

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That Rug LIES! (Or it is lays…?) :)

August 1, 2009 — therugchick

Just like Tammy Faye used a lot of makeup to cover up her “real” look to try to appear younger … certain rug dealers can use some “tricky” cover-ups to make a rug look OLDER. (Interesting, huh?)

Tea wash, henna wash, antiqued wash – these are the culprits.

It is a brown or gold dye, applied after the rug is woven, to give it a darker, older look. It can hide harsh strong dyes to make them more subtle. It can also hide past stains, flood damaged dyes, and other damage to make it appear un-damaged to the uneducated buyer. It can also be used to make a rug appear to be an antique to the uneducated buyer.

Or – it could simply be used to make the rug more attractive.

But here’s the problem – most of these applications are NOT permanent. So if a someone buys the rug, and gets it cleaned, it can suddenly lose the “look” that compelled them to buy the rug in the first place. (Usually they are not told the rug has been “tea washed” when they bought it. And honestly, many retailers handle too much product to know a wash warning sign like this – but rug cleaners, we need to catch it before we end up buying the rug ourselves from an unhappy client.)

Look at this rug:

Hmmm .. the color looks a little off.... (hint, hint!)

Hmmm .. the color looks a little off.... (hint, hint!)

If you are running a conveyor belt cleaning operation – hundreds in and out a week - you might not catch these.

But when you run a hands-on workshop operation, where the teams inspect each rug closely, and then wash the rugs one at a time carefully, you will pick up on these dangers (and you can let the rug owner know there is a problem BEFORE it’s cleaned).

Grin open those fibers – what do you see?:

WOW! This rug was living a LIE! It's not antique, it's antiqu-ED!

WOW! This rug was living a LIE! It's not antique, it's antiqu-ED!

When you clean a rug like this one, even if you are gentle, you will remove this over-dye process.

How do you spot the warning signs – as a rug CLEANER or as a rug BUYER? You compare the front to the back (any color differences?), you grin open the fibers (any color differences from the base to the tips?), you take a towel and dampen it and wipe the fibers (ANY color coming off onto the towel?).

You also look at the FRINGE to see if it is beige or brown instead of white. Usually they spray or dip the entire rug, and the cotton fringe will dye unevenly from that process.

If you like the look of a tea washed rug – then by all means buy it. But know that eventually this rug needs to be cleaned (at least once every 18 months under normal use, once a year for high traffic, that is IF you vacuum the rug regularly) and when it is cleaned it may lose some of this coloring process. It is not permanent, but some applications are better than others. Some are horrible and will come off with simply water.

Be aware that this means the color can also come off onto fabrics if you sit on the rug, and it may transfer to the carpeting underneath if you are placing the rug on top of wall-to-wall carpet.

As a cleaner – test the strength of the over-dye application and make the decision to move ahead with cleaning, or turn the job away if the rug owner will not release you from liability on cleaning their tea-washed rug. Your cleaning process is not doing damage, the application process is the problem.

Makeup will only cover up spots so long … eventually you have to show the “real” you … and eventually these rugs need to be the rugs they were “born” to be.  Just be wary of the cover-ups!

- Lisa

P.S. Since you’re here anyway… why not post a comment? I’d like to know if you like my posts, or if you don’t, or if there is anything you’d like me to share some insight on.  Come on! It’s fun! :)

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