cleanfax - weird funky rugs

8/9/2019 Cleanfax - Weird Funky Rugs

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Funky RugsWeird,

a n d w h a t t o

d o w i t h t h e m .

8 CM/Cleanfax JULY 2010 CLEANFAX.COM

By Lisa Wagner, CRS


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Several months ago, I made a poston the Cleanfax magazine BulletinBoard 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, Ill be the first to admit, I havenever washed a spider silk rug. However,

I am confident enough in my inspection,

cleaning and troubleshooting skills to

answer, Yes, I would clean it.

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 weve 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 themore difficult cleaning scenarios

you face.

Consistent systems and checklists

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 fibersThe 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.

Ive 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.

Ive also seen rugs woven with gold and

metal thread, beadwork and even sequins.

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)

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 dyesDyes that are not colorfast can be a pain,

but this doesnt necessarily qualify them as

weird.

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 usa rug because wedont want to in-

vest the few minutes it takes for a dye test.

The dye scenarios to keep an eye out forare: Over-dyeing (tea wash and antiquing

treatments), excess dye (lack of thorough

rinsing before the weaving process) and

CLEANFAX.COM JULY 2010 CM/Cleanfax 29

COVER STORY

rug cleaning

For more information onthis topic, visitwww.cleanfax.com.

rug cleaning

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Search from the main navigation bar.

Lisa Wagner is a second-generation rugcare expert, NIRC CertifiedRug

Specialist andan owner of K. Blatchford'sSan Diego RugCleaningCompany.

Visitwww.RugSecrets.com to request her freepublication "RUG SECRETS:

TheInsider's Guide To SuccessfullyAdding Rugs To YourCleaning&

Restoration Business."

This isa rare,one-of-a-kind rugwoven fromspider silkthreads.

Leather rugs have theirownlist ofpitfalls toprepare for, sobeverycareful.

Hamadan rugover-dyedwith inkthatwillwash away. Grin open thefibers to look forcolordifferencesbetween thebaseandthetips of thefibers.


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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

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 theyd 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

the neighboring fibers from grabbing the

migrating excess dye molecules. You may

have to color correct the cotton fringe, but

in most cases that wont 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

Circle 213

Indiatufted rugwhichhas been tea-washedwitha brown dye.Be sure todye testthebackoftheserugsalso,as thematerial backingcanbleedaswell.

Cleaners who eyeball a rug and say

with 100 percent certainty,

'I know that won't bleed!'

are setting themselvesup for disaster.


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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.

Funky constructionAt some point in your career, you will

come across a rug that was made by a

clients 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. Ive 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.

Ive 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.


COVER STORY

Consistent systems

and checklists can keep youfrom inadver-tently making

mistakes.

Some fabricborders canshrink,or seam tape cansplit, sobecarefulwashing certain custom rugs.


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Some rugs, due to their construction

weaknesses, have to be dry cleaned. Not

because that is the best method for clean-

ing rugs, but because that is the only way

to clean the rug without causing any struc-

tural damage.

Many rugs today are made withoutregard to whether or not they can be

safely cleaned.

You have to expect that some rugs

will come your way that are truly not

cleanable with any of the methods you

have to offer.

Weird customersSometimes the rug is not weird, but the

owner of the rug is another story. Once in a

while, I have a gut feeling that somethingis not right with an order.

Perhaps I have a feeling that Im being

set up to uncover a problem that is hidden

under heavy soil, so they can try to get me

to replace the rug.

Heres a big hint for you: If a customer is

not willing to sign off that there may be

problems hidden under heavy soil that

you cant be held responsible for, then take

that as a sign they are hiding something

from you.

Ive had first-hand experience with un-

scrupulous customers who were unable to

sell their rugs for cash, and looked to have

some unknowledgeable cleaner steamclean and ruin it as their way to try to get

the cash through insurance coverage.

Dont assume that everyone shares your

ethics and integrity. There are scam artists

out there looking for a free ride.

When something feels wrong, or sounds

too good to be true, dont be afraid to turn

away a job. You can simply say you dont

feel you are the right person for the job.Much nicer than, I think you are weird.

People communicate through much

more than just words. Trust your instincts

when something feels wrong, and protect

yourself accordingly.

However, if you can see no clear

danger from the order, and you have your

documenting systems in place to protect

your interests, you can go ahead with

the work because sometimes workingwith weird customers can be entertain-

ing... and we all could use a little more fun

in our companies. CF

CLEANFAX.COM JULY 2010 CM/Cleanfax 33Circle 215

Sometimes the rug

is not weird,

but the owner

of the rugis anotherstory.

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