[M.Acorn]

Have been asked by a prior customer of mine to clean a wool and silk Chinese rug, it's quite a big one 9ft x 6 ft, have said it's probably something I can't do hwe, due to the silk content.
Would I be right in thinking it's a dry / solvent type clean only ?
Customer has been very happy with prior work I have done for him, so don't want to ruin things by messing up.
Ta

[Jim_77]

Well you can dry/solvent clean it if they're not bothered about it looking much better!

If it's what I presume it is - mostly wool with some silk sculptured pats making the pattern - you should be able to wet clean it no problem.  Just make sure you use acid rinse and a decent flush out if your pre-spray is on the alkaline side (a little bit of browning whilst drying will normally correct very easily with browning prescription anyway).  Groom the silk parts really well after cleaning, ONLY in the direction of the pile (tampico brush normally good).  Get some air movement over it and groom again whilst part dry and then again when fully dried.

I would always inform the customer beforehand there will be a slight texture change in the silk, to cover my backside, but usually they turn out OK

[wynne jones]

Mark

Do you think it would nice in your living room? 

[M.Acorn]

Cheers for that Jim, think in that case it may well be worth me going to have a look at it, gotta be worth at least £65 for me if I collect and deliver it back after cleaning, customer only about 10 mins away.

[M.Acorn]

Hi Mark, I have recently acquired a Nourison 2000 handmade Chinese rug. It is a
wool/silk blend and needs a rudimentary specialist clean. It is quite large 9.9
x 7.9 ft and heavy. At the moment
It is not sited but rolled up. We would appreciate a quote and some idea whether
you would prefer to clean it here or take it away to be done.
We were very impressed when you recently cleaned a small area of our carpet from
a pet accident!!

http://www.funkyrugs.co.uk/shop/customer/home.php?cat=590

Will be one of these,not cheap

[John Kelly]

As Jim has said the silk is usually used to accentuate the patterns. The bulk of the material will be wool. If you look at the areas directly around the pattern you should be able to see the silk fibres, usually white.

[Chris Straker]

Rug like that would be £105 for onsite clean, taking away would make it over 175 ......... don't under charge for your expertise !!

Silk parts clean as easily as wool but it will need grooming, as Jim says ......... I have seen silk rugs et washed before and they came up beautifully, once groomed & dried  

[wynne jones]

Hand  made?

It's heavy, you need somwhere to dry and groom it, there is some risk involved with silk if you don't know what you are doing.

If £65 is what you feel comfortable with then hoover both sides, encap it and groom till dry then towel buff  damped in a weak acid rinse and set pile again.

[M.Acorn]

Went in a bit higher at £80, custy has confirmed that silk content is as stated above.
Booked him in to have a look at it Thursday, as will be passing him on my way back from another job.
He is a good customer and I have already had a couple of jobs from people he has recommended me too.
Going to be doing the clean in my kitchen, plenty big enough in there.will prob go over it with my rotary and the dry it with my blower.
Thanks for the input

[AshWhite]

Funnily enough I picked up 4 silk rugs to clean today. I've done 3 smaller ones, got. 10ft one left do do. I HWE'd using handtool, towelled and brushed, then left in front of air mover.

Am I right in thinking they look a bit poop til they're dry?

[wynne jones]

Funnily enough I picked up 4 silk rugs to clean today. I've done 3 smaller ones, got. 10ft one left do do. I HWE'd using handtool, towelled and brushed, then left in front of air mover.

Am I right in thinking they look a bit poop til they're dry?

You have to keep on grooming them that's why they are a PITA. Watch out for art silk!

[wynne jones]

You would think at that price these rugs would at least be be knotted.

[wynne jones]

And another thing that can go wrong...

Heavy rotary on a fine wool rug may not be a good idea if bonneting. A little orbital would be safest.

[Max Campbell]

Just wanted to re-stress Wynne's point. We often get told a rug is silk, or part-silk, when actually it's "art silk" - ie viscose, which shrivvles when wetted. An awful lot of grooming can get it back to only c**p, rather than s**t.

[Paul Redden Countryfresh]

I've noticed with rugs I done the silk part gets accentuated after the clean white and glossy or is that how it's
supposed to be?

[John Kelly]

Thats how it should be. If you look on the photos from the link, the ones where the guy has his hand under the rug, you can how the white shines out.

[Jim_77]

£80??!!!  You're a nutter mate.  They cost about £1,700 brand new, this isn't a cheap bit of rag from Ikea!

Mark, by the time you've returned this to the customer you'll realise you should have been charging at least £2.50 per ft² (£200)

What I would do is phone them and tell them how beautifully it's cleaned up and advise protecting it, at least get another £40 to make up toward the shortfall

[wynne jones]

Do you think 'rudimentary specialist clean' is code for it's in a real poo state?

 

[colin fitch]

Lots of good advice given above.

If you are taking off site to clean your price is on the low side (it would cost me £81.00 to get it cleaned by the trade)Do you think 'rudimentary specialist clean' is code for it's in a real poo state?( does it have any odour concerns? )

colin

[Mark Lane-Matthews]

Never use high heat on the silk parts as the tufts could blow and keep the moisture down to a minimum