Wool Rug Cleaning HELP
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Topic: Wool Rug Cleaning HELP
Posted By: bensurdi
Subject: Wool Rug Cleaning HELP
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 6:43pm
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I was asked to clean a wool rug for a client and was going to clean it with just hot water and my wand, but I don't want to mess it up. My question is: How do you clean oriental rugs, that are wool, and make them look good without damaging them? ------------- - Carpet Cleaning Seattle|Carpet Cleaners Seattle|Carpet Cleaning Woodinville|Carpet Cleaning Redmond| Carpet Cleaning Bellevue NW Green Clean |
Replies:
Posted By: Mick Oz
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 6:58pm
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Benjamin
Have you done any formal carpet cleaning courses? If no my advice would be dont touch the rug and sign up for some classes. Customers are STRANGE creatures, they buy an expensive rug and put it on the floor and they the kids and dogs do all sorts of things on it. Then when you come and clean it and they are not happy the sue you. And you need some qualifications behind you to beat these lunies. Some of these so called expensive rugs are done using food dyes etc and if you dont know what your doing you could cause the colours to run. Mick ------------- I'm a happy Little SLIDER |
Posted By: bensurdi
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 7:01pm
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Yeah I here you. I don't have the time to do a course between now and Monday which is a problem. Can anyone give me cleaning advice as to how to do it?
------------- - Carpet Cleaning Seattle|Carpet Cleaners Seattle|Carpet Cleaning Woodinville|Carpet Cleaning Redmond| Carpet Cleaning Bellevue NW Green Clean |
Posted By: Mick Oz
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 7:08pm
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Benjamin
You will probably get some advice but experience has taught me to know when to walk away. How much would you get doing this job? Is it worth the risk? My advice would be to pass on the job or network with an experienced operator in your area. Learn from a master not a possible financial heart ache. Mick ------------- I'm a happy Little SLIDER |
Posted By: bensurdi
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 7:14pm
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You're probably right. I've all ready cleaned many wool rugs in the past without complication but jon don told me that it was crazy to do it without training. It's a $400 job...
------------- - Carpet Cleaning Seattle|Carpet Cleaners Seattle|Carpet Cleaning Woodinville|Carpet Cleaning Redmond| Carpet Cleaning Bellevue NW Green Clean |
Posted By: Mick Oz
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 7:20pm
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When i started cleaning i didnt have the luxury of a board like this full of experts in all different fields.
I bumbled through doing what i thought was right (from what ppl told me how to clean) After doing courses through ACCI and IICRC here in Australia, i still today shake my head and wonder how the hell i got away with doing what i did for so long. Keep seeking advice from ppl on this board but DO the training ASAP. No doubt there will be ppl here who can direct you to the courses you require over there. Best of luck mate. Mick ------------- I'm a happy Little SLIDER |
Posted By: John L
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 7:39pm
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Do the job and get paid man.. Here's a little training course and its free.. Inspect then Vacuum first.. Wool is damaged by alkali solution..
 Wool is resistant to mild acids, so cleaning solutions on the acidic side or with neutral soaps are preferred. 
Chlorine products will damage wool instantly , but the other products, such as hydrogen peroxide or sodium perborate, are safe.Prolonged heat, agitation and strong alkali solution will cause wool fabrics to "felt" or become a little fuzzy. .
Wool can be easily cleaned if care is taken not to over-wet it and if the chemicals are watched carefully.. Wool has the following advantages: * It resists burning * It hides soil well * It cleans easily due to it's soil resistance * It dyes easily into a variety of colors and tones * It is flexible * It is resilient (stretches and returns to it's length) * It is strong * It resists mild acids Wool's weaknesses are that it: * It stains easily * It is weak to alkaline solutions * It is expensive to use in carpeting ..
Wool fibers respond well to shampoo systems as do all of the natural fibers. Dyes used in wool are generally colorfast when cleaned this way and they dry brighter. 
Carpets made of wool will easily shrink if over wet. Particularly the woven backed carpets. The wool fibers are stretched during the weaving process and when wet they want to return to their original length. This shrinkage is noticeable in the length and the width of the carpet backing rather than in the relatively short pile. In Axminster carpets the shrinkage in the weft yarns is not correctable by re-stretching.
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Posted By: bensurdi
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 7:48pm
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Should I just turn my cleaning solution off and use just water to clean it? I have a prochem legend machine. Or should I buy the appropriate "shampoo" ------------- - Carpet Cleaning Seattle|Carpet Cleaners Seattle|Carpet Cleaning Woodinville|Carpet Cleaning Redmond| Carpet Cleaning Bellevue NW Green Clean |
Posted By: Mick Oz
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 7:51pm
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Very good advice there John L if he was just to clean a wool rug.
The overlooked part is the (ORIENTAL) part. Few if any that i have come across are just a plain one colour rug. Normally they are multi coloured. Having done several carpet cleaning courses and also the Woolsafe international training course, i was erring on the side of caution for an inexperienced operator. $400 may sound good to grab and run, but if you have to pay your insurance excise and the down time you could have, if you dont know what your doing, dont do it. That is my advice and of course my opinion only for what it's worth. Mick ------------- I'm a happy Little SLIDER |
Posted By: bensurdi
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 7:58pm
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Mick I understand that the training is necessary, but assuming you have gone through the training would you please provide the steps to doing a succesfull rug cleaning ?
------------- - Carpet Cleaning Seattle|Carpet Cleaners Seattle|Carpet Cleaning Woodinville|Carpet Cleaning Redmond| Carpet Cleaning Bellevue NW Green Clean |
Posted By: John L
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 8:00pm
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"if you dont know what your doing, dont do it." Great advice MickOz... Forgot to mention caution should be taken when cleaning multi-colored dyed wools, because dyes are not as stable in wool/oriental fibers.
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Posted By: John L
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 8:03pm
DUDE read my post if you cant clean it with that info then you need hands on training..
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Posted By: bensurdi
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 8:03pm
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Guys I understand the caution part !!! :) I have cleaned several rugs but I was just looking for someone who is experienced to the point where they can suggest the cleaning solution and procedure of doing this correctly. So far I have been told not to do it. If you go to a training course they don't just say " don't do it" they tell you how to do it.
------------- - Carpet Cleaning Seattle|Carpet Cleaners Seattle|Carpet Cleaning Woodinville|Carpet Cleaning Redmond| Carpet Cleaning Bellevue NW Green Clean |
Posted By: Mick Oz
Date Posted: 18/July/2008 at 8:07pm
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Benjamin
Try this site www.woolsafeusa.org i am sure they will steer you in the right direction. Mick ------------- I'm a happy Little SLIDER |
Posted By: duckcountry
Date Posted: 19/July/2008 at 3:57am
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Ben, you may be hearing but you aren't listening. You lack the training, you lack the experience and there is not way to learn this without getting some formal training. Let's bottom line it for you - you may have ambition but you don't have the experience to draw upon. If you screw up, you screw it up for all of us in the mind of the customer and his/her circle of influence. Wanna practice? Great, you can practice on your OWN carpet and your OWN wool rugs. What you can't practice on is a paying customer's carpet. Have you got liability insurance? Keep this up and your insurance company will cancel you for all the claims you are accumulating. Stop what you are doing and learn what you should be doing. You have the time or you have no business cleaning carpets. Don't cheapen our business. There, I said it - now I am the jerk and proud of it. ------------- Are you in a high paying business or are you just a self employed low paid grunt who thinks this business provides dignity? |
Posted By: Mick Oz
Date Posted: 19/July/2008 at 4:23am
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That straight to the point Duck and clear.
I probably beat around the bush too much. Mick ------------- I'm a happy Little SLIDER |
Posted By: Hammy
Date Posted: 19/July/2008 at 6:22am
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Nobody bothered to ask if it was machine made or hand made.??
I also have a hard time understanding how a so called cleaner can charge $400 to clean a rug when they don't know how?? ------------- Could somebody just clean my carpets! |
Posted By: cmaster
Date Posted: 19/July/2008 at 8:12am
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If the custy is wiling to pay $400 for cleaning, replacement cost must be high. Sure hope he doesn't screw it up ------------- 
The STD Meter |
Posted By: Hammy
Date Posted: 19/July/2008 at 9:55am
I have an idea..........................maybe he could wash it in the river like they have been doing for hundreds of years.  ------------- Could somebody just clean my carpets! |
Posted By: bensurdi
Date Posted: 19/July/2008 at 11:35am
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Yeah, I guess I will be bringing it to DA Burns to have them clean it for me. I guess what I was looking for was... If I posted a question on how to remove a koolaid stain, I would hope that someone would say, " you need to buy Red1, spray it on and let it sit for 20 minutes, then take a white cloth with an iron and apply heat to the stain thus removing the stain". Instead of saying " Well that's a crazy thing to do without proper training, I wouldn't do it". I understand that proper training is necessary for any step in carpet cleaning but that's what this forum is for, it's to help eachother learn what the other doesn't know. There has to be a system for cleaning a wool rug that can be explained in a paragraph, does no one no the proper steps? ------------- - Carpet Cleaning Seattle|Carpet Cleaners Seattle|Carpet Cleaning Woodinville|Carpet Cleaning Redmond| Carpet Cleaning Bellevue NW Green Clean |
Posted By: duckcountry
Date Posted: 19/July/2008 at 1:21pm
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Step One: Get Proper Training Step Two: Did You Take Step One? If Not, See Step One ------------- Are you in a high paying business or are you just a self employed low paid grunt who thinks this business provides dignity? |
Posted By: FreshAire
Date Posted: 19/July/2008 at 2:05pm
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doing it the right way involves creating a "bath", involving a fair bit of effort and time, done at your own premises, not the customer's and would be worth every penny of the $400 you would have to charge to make anything out of it. otherwise John L's post gave you all the info you needed... vac, mild pH detergent, agitate, extract with appropriate acidic rinse agent, groom and speed dry... No guarantee given that dyes won't run or at the very least partially migrate, nor would I be guaranteeing against shrinkage if it is an actual woven type of carpet. For safety's sake and excellent results encapsulating with a counter-rotating brush type of machine (e.g. Rotowash or Icapsol) with a Woolsafe encap product is a pretty sure bet as well... want to get any more technical than that, try training first; you should get a bit of training under your belt regardless, so that you are aware not just of how things work but why things work... I remember how much the world "opened up" to me as it were when I came to understand the how's and why's of my chosen profession! |
Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 11:09am
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Lots of good advice....
I would send it out if I wasn't sure nothing wrong with that.
or you can take the Mr. Steamers easy course..
Hang the rug and give it a real good beat out..
then dry vac dry vac dry vac...
use chemspec oriental shampoo in a rotor if you have one using a plain cloth pad
or prespray it on work it in with a very soft horse hair brush
rinse with COLD COLD water... cold water locks the colours they will never run
if the rug has white fringes...Chemspecs haitian cotton cleaner works excellent on those..just rub in or spray on and run in...the trick is to comb all the strands straight don't let them touch..
if the are not white the shampoo will do the trick just comb them out after your finished washing the rug.
wrap in brown paper and bring it back..lol
collect your money....
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Posted By: LilNiteRidrhood
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 11:38am
| I like Steamer's answer |
Posted By: bensurdi
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 11:54am
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Thank you Steemer. I'm doing it to guys, i'll let you know how it goes!
------------- - Carpet Cleaning Seattle|Carpet Cleaners Seattle|Carpet Cleaning Woodinville|Carpet Cleaning Redmond| Carpet Cleaning Bellevue NW Green Clean |
Posted By: doug
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 12:07pm
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I you have a problem blame the board?? ------------- Just My opinion |
Posted By: duckcountry
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 4:56pm
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Better than admitting that learning before earning is right. After all, can't just anyone clean carpet? Doesn't look too hard to those who have no experience. Next guys like that will think brain surgery is a no-brainer.
------------- Are you in a high paying business or are you just a self employed low paid grunt who thinks this business provides dignity? |
Posted By: John L
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 5:44pm
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He should be fine with all the info he got for free..
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Posted By: bensurdi
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 6:13pm
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Just cleaned it! Looks great and just finishing up the drying of the rug. Thanks for everyones help and comments.
------------- - Carpet Cleaning Seattle|Carpet Cleaners Seattle|Carpet Cleaning Woodinville|Carpet Cleaning Redmond| Carpet Cleaning Bellevue NW Green Clean |
Posted By: Hammy
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 6:38pm
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Nice to here everything worked out for you.
Next time maybe you should consider educatding your self some more before taking on a job that you are not confident about.
Steamer gave some good info on cleaning area rugs......................unfortunatley you haven't learned about crocking,bleeding, or identifying the type of rug you where cleaning.
Everybody wants to be a professional cleaner in front of the client.
You just got lucky this time! ------------- Could somebody just clean my carpets! |
Posted By: John L
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 6:46pm
Any volunteers for a crash course for bensurdi on crocking,bleeding, or identifying the type of rug you where cleaning..??  Good job there bensurdi..
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Posted By: Hammy
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 6:49pm
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bensurdi..
What type of rug was it?? ------------- Could somebody just clean my carpets! |
Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 7:01pm
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it's about being gentle..... silk what ever can be washed..you just can't get to agressive
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Posted By: Hammy
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 7:08pm
Chinese, Persian, Indian, Afgan............................ or what ever it is, if you can't identify the rug you shouldn't be cleaning it
Basic cleaning!
John you should know better! ------------- Could somebody just clean my carpets! |
MR. STEAMER wrote:Posted By: John L
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 7:22pm
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It dont matter if you cant figure out where it came from you do a bleed test..
I should know better? what u mean? If it cleaned well and didnt bleed and dried fast he did well.. its not as difficult as some of you make it..
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Posted By: Hammy
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 8:04pm
That was my point!
They still wash them in the river don't they John.
Let's not kid ourselves though John, Some simple knowledge is required. ------------- Could somebody just clean my carpets! |
Posted By: John L
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 9:09pm
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I dont know if they wash'em in the river Hammy! 3rd world countries probably dont even bother washing much of anything..
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Posted By: doug
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 9:14pm
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with all the acid rain in the river water it sets the dyes???? ------------- Just My opinion |
Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 20/July/2008 at 10:53pm
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In the middle east the put the rugs out on the street so people can walk and drive on them...so they can have that cool worn out look.
Hammy you are right ...you should know what it is.....but as long as your careful does it really matter???
do a burn test on the custys rug..LOL
always do a pre-qualification before you take the rug....so at least you can give the customer an Idea of whats going to come out.
if I see pee..I always tell them NO that aint comin out
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Posted By: rugcleaner
Date Posted: 28/September/2009 at 1:19am
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If you are not sure how to clean ruge then you can take advice of professional rug cleaners< id="gwProxy" ="">< ="jsCall;" id="jsProxy" =""> ------------- www.heavensbest.com - Rug Cleaner |