Weird,

Funky Rugs
…and what t o
do wit h t hem .
By Lisa Wagner, CRS

28 CM/Cleanfax® JULY 2010 CLEANFAX.COM


Lisa Wagner is a second-generation rug care expert, NIRC Certified Rug
Specialist and an owner of K. Blatchford's San Diego Rug Cleaning Company.
Visit www.RugSecrets.com to request her free publication "RUG SECRETS:
The Insider's Guide To Successfully Adding Rugs To Your Cleaning &
Restoration Business."
S everal months ago, I made a post
on the Cleanfax magazine Bulletin
Board about a rug made from spider silk
strands.
It is a fascinating story behind a beauti-
ful, unique rug currently being showcased
in a New York museum.
I posted to share something unique. But
someone asked, “Would you clean it?”
Now, I’ll be the first to admit, I have
never washed a spider silk rug. However,
I am confident enough in my inspection,
cleaning and troubleshooting skills to
answer, “Yes, I would clean it.”
This is a rare, one-of-a-kind rug woven from
spider silk threads.
We may not come across a piece that un-
usual or valuable in our careers, but we
have all had rugs come our way when our
first response has been, “Huh?”
A rug we’ve never seen before, one that
challenges our skill level.
The trick is to have a system in place to
do three things:
1. Inspect to direct your cleaning
decisions
2. Protect through testing to keep
from having a rug damaged from
your efforts
3. Communicate to the owner so he or
she is aware of why you are
making the decisions you are, and
work to manage expectations in the
more difficult cleaning scenarios
you face.
Consistent systems — and checklists —
rug cleaning
For more information on
this topic, visit
www.cleanfax.com.
can keep you from inadvertently making
mistakes.
Trusted peers can assist you with strate-
gies and insight to help you do the job, or
to turn it down. But it begins with the ini-
tial inspection; that gives you the certainty
of whether you can tackle the job or not.
Funky fibers
The majority of woven and tufted rugs
that cleaners come across are made from
wool, because it is a superior fiber.
Cleaners also come across the other
usual suspects: Natural fibers like cotton
and silk in handmade rugs and synthetic
fibers like nylon and olefin in machine
made rugs.
There are always exceptions to every
rule, except one: There will always be one
crazy person that decides to make a crazy
rug that sounded like a good idea at the
time.
I’ve seen rugs made from paper, jute,
acrylic, polyester, hemp, sisal, sea grass,
leather, torn rags and… the worst fiber
(next to paper) in strength for rugs…
rayon/viscose.
I’ve also seen rugs woven with gold and
metal thread, beadwork and even sequins.
Leather rugs have their own list of pitfalls to
prepare for, so be very careful.
Without very close inspection, a cleaner
might treat one fiber in a way he knows is
safe, and then end up with disastrous re-
sults if he was wrong about the fiber type.
Paper will fall apart with washing. Plant
materials can discolor (from released oils)
CLEANFAX.COM
COVER STORY
rug cleaning
For more information on related products,
visit www.cleanfax.com, select Supplier
Search from the main navigation bar.
with uneven moisture use. Leather can lose
its sizing, or color, with cleaning. Rayon
can brown horribly without the right pre-
cautions, if a cleaner accidentally cleans it,
mistaking it for real silk.
If you are not 100 percent positive what
you are working on, clip off a small tuft
and perform a fiber identification test to
make certain of the face fibers.
Also, do not forget to inspect the inside
fibers — warps and wefts — so as not to
miss any fiber concerns there.
Weird dyes
Dyes that are not colorfast can be a pain,
but this doesn’t necessarily qualify them as
“weird.”
Hamadan rug over-dyed with ink that will
wash away. Grin open the fibers to look for
color differences between the base and the
tips of the fibers.
Weird is the unexpected. Dyes that mi-
grate, despite applying a dye stabilizing
solution on them, qualify as weird.
Most rug disaster scenarios in this arena
come from being lazy about the dye test-
ing process.
Cleaners who eyeball a rug and say
with 100 percent certainty, "I know that
won't bleed!" are setting themselves up for
disaster. Even the best of us allow one to
occasionally slip by and our confidence
costs us a rug because we don’t want to in-
vest the few minutes it takes for a dye test.
The dye scenarios to keep an eye out for
are: Over-dyeing (tea wash and antiquing
treatments), excess dye (lack of thorough
rinsing before the weaving process) and
JULY 2010 CM/Cleanfax® 29
 COVER STORY
ink (used to cheaply recolor a rug or to
cover up flaws).
Tea wash treatments essentially apply a
brown dye over a rug, through spraying or
dipping, to give the rug a more muted and
sometimes older look.
Opening up the fibers, and inspecting
the fringe tassels, can show you if this treat-
ment has been applied. Most cleaning ef-
forts will wash away some of this
India tufted rug which has been tea-washed
with a brown dye. Be sure to dye test the back of
these rugs also, as the material backing can
bleed as well.
30 CM/Cleanfax® JULY 2010 CLEANFAX.COM
Cleaners who eyeball a rug and say
with 100 percent certainty,
'I know that won't bleed!'
are setting themselves
up for disaster.
application. A more aggressive cleaning
can remove enough of it to change the en-
tire look of the rug, which can create a
problem with the client.
You need to identify the situation first,
give your client options and realistic ex-
pectations, and then let him or her decide
what they’d like to have you do.
Excess dye, usually present to a certain
extent in rugs that have not yet had their
very first cleaning, is simply excess dye that
needs to be washed away.
With enough water flow, and a dye sta-
bilizing solution, you can generally protect
Circle 213
the neighboring fibers from grabbing the
migrating excess dye molecules. You may
have to color correct the cotton fringe, but
in most cases that won’t be a noticeable
problem.
Problems with excess dyes tend to come
most often from tribal rugs out of places
like Afghanistan. And if the designs are
dark, this may not be noticeable if migra-
tion happens in the field.
That being said, if the dye dry crocks on
to a white towel during a dye test, or on a
damp towel, you need to decide if this is a
risk you want to take.
 COVER STORY
Ink is a more serious situation, especially
on natural fiber rugs. Removing an ink
stain on a wool, silk or cotton rug can be a
tricky task.
Having a rug that has had ink applied in
large areas (as a shortcut to recoloring the
field) can create stains that you may never
be able to fully correct, not to mention the
problems the ink can contribute to on other
surfaces.
With ink, there is a blotchiness that
comes across on the worst of them (the rug
just looks weird), and in many cases it dry
crocks on a white towel, just as with excess
dye or tea wash applications.
The point to remember with weird
dyes is not unlike that with unknown fibers
… test!
Test to identify problems beforehand.
Test for cleaning effectiveness with your
chosen cleaning solutions if you are wor-
ried about your cleaning results.

Consistent systems
— and checklists —
can keep you
from inadver-
tently making Some fabric borders can shrink, or seam tape can split, so be careful washing certain “custom” rugs.

mistakes.
Funky construction
At some point in your career, you will
come across a rug that was made by a
client’s grandmother or aunt.
It will be a latch-hook rug, or a needle-
point rug, or perhaps a braided rug made
from torn strips of old clothing.
Items like these have high sentimental
value, but can be made with inferior fibers,
dyes and construction methods.
The fibers and the dyes you can test, but
the construction is something that requires
a keen eye and touch to determine what it
can or cannot withstand during cleaning.
Inspections need to be conducted from
the top side, the backside and then the in-
side of any funky rugs.
You want to test the strength of the tufts,
to make sure they will not release with
scrubbing or rinsing.
You want to inspect the back to look for
any telltale signs of potential problems
such as creases or unevenness in width or
length, which could mean a potential for
buckling or shrinking during cleaning (de-
pending on the fiber type and cleaning
method used).
You want to grin open the tufts or loops
to see if there are any dangers lurking be-
neath the surface, such as stenciling ink
that might wick up during cleaning or a
jute foundation that may be deteriorating
with age.
Just looking at the front and back is not
enough. You need to literally feel for prob-
lems inside the rug.
Other construction weirdness comes
from independent makers of “custom”
rugs. I’ve seen rugs that look like a patch-
work of different fibers and styles, literally
a “Frankensteined” rug that required dif-
ferent solutions because they were made
with incompatible fibers.
I’ve seen sisal rugs with decorative bor-
ders held together with only seam tape, and
fabric on the borders that required different
cleaning methods than the body of the rug.

32 CM/Cleanfax® JULY 2010 CLEANFAX.COM

 COVER STORY
Some rugs, due to their construction Don’t assume that everyone shares your when something feels wrong, and protect
weaknesses, have to be dry cleaned. Not ethics and integrity. There are scam artists yourself accordingly.
because that is the best method for clean- out there looking for a free ride. However, if you can see no clear
ing rugs, but because that is the only way When something feels wrong, or sounds danger from the order, and you have your
to clean the rug without causing any struc- too good to be true, don’t be afraid to turn documenting systems in place to protect
tural damage. away a job. You can simply say you don’t your interests, you can go ahead with
Many rugs today are made without feel you are the right person for the job. the work because sometimes working
regard to whether or not they can be Much nicer than, “I think you are weird.” with weird customers can be entertain-
safely cleaned. People communicate through much ing... and we all could use a little more fun
You have to expect that some rugs more than just words. Trust your instincts in our companies. CF
will come your way that are truly not
cleanable with any of the methods you
have to offer.
When
W it comes to
to restoration...
restoration...
on...
Weird customers
Sometimes the rug is not weird, but the
owner of the rug is another story. Once in a
The
The job can’t
can’ttw
w
wait!
ait!
while, I have a gut feeling that something For
For over
over 50
50 years,
years, Aramsco
Aramsco has
has been
been serving
serving contractors
contractors
is not right with an order. just
just like
like you.
you. We
We have
have built
built a reputation
reputation on
on knowing
knowing
Perhaps I have a feeling that I’m being ho
how
ow tto
o fulfill yyour
our cr
critical
itical En
Environmental
vironmental
tal and RRestoration
estoration
set up to uncover a problem that is hidden p
product
roduct n
needs.
eeds. W
We’re
e’re n
national
ational iin
n sscope,
cope, b
but
ut llocal
ocal in
in
under heavy soil, so they can try to get me sservice
ervice aand
nd d
delivery,
elivery, w
with
ith 1166 ffulfillment
ulfillment centers
centers across
across
to replace the rug.
tthe
he ccountry.
ountry. O
Our
ur ssales
ales aand
nd sservice
ervice tteam
eam h
helps
elps
Here’s a big hint for you: If a customer is
yyou
ou g
get
et tthe
he rright
ight p
product
roduct ffor
or tthe
he jjob,
ob, aand
nd o
our
ur
not willing to sign off that there may be
deliv
delivery
elivery fleet is in yyour
our neighbor
neighborhood.
hood.
problems hidden under heavy soil that
you can’t be held responsible for, then take W
When
hen yyour
our jjob
ob ccan’t
an’t w
wait,
ait, A
Aramsco
ramsco h
has
as ssupplies
upplies
that as a sign they are hiding something
and
d equipment on hand and in st
stock
ock ffor:
or:
from you.
fW
Water
ater D
Damage
amage R
Restoration
estoration
f FFire
ire R
Restoration
estoration
f Mold R
Remediation
emediation
Sometimes the rug fO
Odor
dor CControl
ontrol

is not weird, f CCarpet

arpet Cleaning
fA
Air
ir D
Duct
uct Cleaning
but the owner f Janitorial
Janitorial Services
Services
and much,
much, much
much more!
morre!
of the rug PProud
roud Distr
Distributor
ibutor of

is another
story.
Ad
10-0018 A S July 2010
d ICS

I’ve had first-hand experience with un-

scrupulous customers who were unable to
sell their rugs for cash, and looked to have
Baltimore
B altimore | Boston
B ostton | Chicago
Chicago | Dallas
Dallas | Hartford
Har tford
some unknowledgeable cleaner steam 800.434.3015
00.434.3015
0.434.3015
434.3015 HHouston
oust on | Los
Los Angeles
A ngeles
eles | MMinneapolis
inneapolis | NNew
ew YYork
ork City
C it y
clean and ruin it as their way to try to get www.aramsco.com
w.arramsco.com New
N ew Orleans
O rleans | NNorth
Phoenix | Puerto
P uer
or th Carolina
er t o Rico
C arolina | Philadelphia
R ic o | Rochester
R ochest er | Tampa
Tampa
the cash through insurance coverage.

Circle 215

CLEANFAX.COM JULY 2010 CM/Cleanfax® 33