Cleaning a wool and silk rug ?

« **on:** November 12, 2012, 01:54:39 pm »

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

« **Reply #1 on:** November 12, 2012, 02:33:41 pm »

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

« **Reply #2 on:** November 12, 2012, 02:59:33 pm »

Mark

Do you think it would nice in your living room?

« **Reply #3 on:** November 12, 2012, 03:12:27 pm »

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.

« **Reply #4 on:** November 12, 2012, 03:43:35 pm »

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

« **Reply #5 on:** November 12, 2012, 04:45:48 pm »

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.

« **Reply #6 on:** November 12, 2012, 04:47:30 pm »

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

« **Reply #7 on:** November 12, 2012, 04:57:50 pm »

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.

« **Reply #8 on:** November 12, 2012, 05:19:06 pm »

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

« **Reply #9 on:** November 12, 2012, 05:29:54 pm »

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?

« **Reply #10 on:** November 12, 2012, 05:35:25 pm »

Quote from: AshWhite on November 12, 2012, 05:29:54 pm

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!

« **Reply #11 on:** November 12, 2012, 05:36:58 pm »

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

« **Reply #12 on:** November 12, 2012, 05:55:36 pm »

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.

« **Reply #13 on:** November 12, 2012, 06:21:39 pm »

Quote from: wynne jones Watch out for art silk!
[/quote

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.

« **Reply #14 on:** November 12, 2012, 06:31:49 pm »

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?

« **Reply #15 on:** November 12, 2012, 06:43:17 pm »

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.

« **Reply #16 on:** November 13, 2012, 12:04:43 am »

£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 $:-\$

« **Reply #17 on:** November 13, 2012, 12:20:52 am »

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

« **Reply #18 on:** November 13, 2012, 08:44:01 am »

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

« **Reply #19 on:** November 13, 2012, 11:25:52 am »

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

« **Reply #20 on:** November 13, 2012, 02:11:33 pm »

Going to inspect it on Thursday, my price may increase if it's in a mess.
Yes I realise it's a very expensive rug, but the same goes for a lot of the carpets I clean.
As said I will be passing there on Thursday,so not out of my way for collection and it's only just down the road so return is not an issue really, that's if I can man handle it into my van, may yet pass on it and get someone else I know who keeps spamming my letter box with rug cleaning flyers to do it and get a kick back...

Plan on a light misting with lot's of dry strokes then blower it clean with lot's of pile grooming

« **Reply #21 on:** November 15, 2012, 12:47:32 pm »

He got a flipping bargain, bought it off a well known auction site,for less than £100 !! Said it smells a bit musty as it came from an old house,so all he really wants is a freshen up

« **Reply #22 on:** November 15, 2012, 01:14:31 pm »

I like that Mark even though it's a tufted rug. It's hard to get any type of rug that size for that price.

Should be straightforward.

Is there some shading or is it just the nap?

« **Reply #23 on:** November 15, 2012, 01:26:33 pm »

It's a beautiful rug and would fit my lounge perfectly

There is some shading near one of the corners, also a small stain and some of the silk has pulled a little in places, custy has said really not bothered if it comes out, all he wants is the old musty smell to go.
Really nice guy, ex fire fighter , who messed up his back while cutting someone from a car smash, he spends most of his day on his own ,wish I had the time to stop for a bit, but got loads to do at the moment.
Want to get it done and back to him, as I can't smoke in my house until it's done

« **Reply #24 on:** November 15, 2012, 02:54:48 pm »

Kitchen not quite big enough then, Mark?

« **Reply #25 on:** November 15, 2012, 04:48:36 pm »

It is now I have swung the rug around the other way

It's currently rolled up in my utility room, sure the custy wont appreciate the smell of my wood burner or me cooking my dinner.
Going to have to stay there until Sat now as chokka with work

« **Reply #26 on:** November 15, 2012, 06:44:59 pm »

Cant beat a good picture.
Another over priced tufted rug with shading.
Make sure it is an old musty odour and NOT the latex breaking down.

Colin

« **Reply #27 on:** November 15, 2012, 06:49:55 pm »

nice rug. simple to clean

« **Reply #28 on:** November 15, 2012, 07:33:04 pm »

Don't you mean £135 Jim.
9 x 6 = 54 x 2.50 = 135....

« **Reply #29 on:** November 17, 2012, 02:53:48 pm »

Never seen anything like it !! has taken me 50ltrs to get it clean,using my hand tool so recovered most of it,water came out absolutely filthy, but it's now looking amazing, like a different rug,very happy with results.
Will post up some pics once it's dry,got my turbo fan on it now, so shouldn't take long

« **Reply #30 on:** November 17, 2012, 07:34:29 pm »

Blower still on it,as it's still a bit too damp to roll up

« **Reply #31 on:** November 17, 2012, 08:00:28 pm »

wow... looks exactly the same

joking!!

Get the aluminium handle on that brush, looks sexier!

« **Reply #32 on:** November 18, 2012, 09:18:25 pm »

Some great info on Silk

http://www.jacobsenrugs.com/silk-rug.htm

« **Reply #33 on:** November 20, 2012, 12:16:36 am »

John, the rug is roughly 10x8 maybe your calculator needs some new batteries

Mark, how do you feel about the pricing now? $:-\$

« **Reply #34 on:** November 20, 2012, 04:27:11 pm »

I feel that I undercharged by around £100 if I am honest, I took far longer than anticipated, was far dirtier, and took a fair few hours to dry, with blower and dehumidifier.Plus it was also taking up space in my house all weekend , lesson learned.
He was very happy and I did mention that it would have been £200 + if he had used any other reputable company.
Spent over an hour with him chatting , he has spent the last few years restoring an MG Midget 1971 ,with a Ford pinto fitted and twin Webber 40's, looked like new

« **Reply #35 on:** November 20, 2012, 06:36:13 pm »

The other thing is how many you have to do and having your stall laid out. Doing one offs like that is a pain, but if you do a batch say one day a week it's far more profitable and handy if you have a cancellation or you're expecting a delivery.

« **Reply #36 on:** November 20, 2012, 06:46:40 pm »

Jim

In his first post he said it was 9 x 6, missed the post later
where size changed.

« **Reply #37 on:** November 20, 2012, 07:11:01 pm »

In honesty Wynne, it's not something I really push, don't really enjoy cleaning them and also really don't have the space, getting that rug laid out flat in my kitchen was about as big as I could take on, then there is the fact that I smoke and can't smoke in the house while it's here,can't have my wood burner lit, which is a main source of my heating,so all in all a pain in the A really.
Only did this one as I really liked the guy and know he has passed on my number and will continue to do so.

« **Reply #38 on:** November 20, 2012, 07:40:17 pm »

Quote from: M.D'Alcorn on November 20, 2012, 07:11:01 pm

In honesty Wynne, it's not something I really push, don't really enjoy cleaning them and also really don't have the space, getting that rug laid out flat in my kitchen was about as big as I could take on, then there is the fact that I smoke and can't smoke in the house while it's here,can't have my wood burner lit, which is a main source of my heating,so all in all a pain in the A really.
Only did this one as I really liked the guy and know he has passed on my number and will continue to do so.

This is why I suggested originally to vac it to death and encap it. No risks and done in an hour @£65.

« **Reply #39 on:** November 20, 2012, 11:42:44 pm »

Believe me you'd have enjoyed collecting £200 for it, which is the point I was trying to make. It's like people who say they hate cleaning upholstery but only charge £80 a suite - try doubling it and suddenly the job becomes more of a pleasure

Not having a bash at you mate, just trying to bolster you up really. I too bring rugs back home and sometimes have to have them in the house overnight if they're too big or the weather's not good. More rugs = more problems space-wise so not really a scale saving unless you've got decent workshop space.

I'm working on some ideas for workshop space which will hopefully bring the £/hr up to a decent level and remove the hassle factor. Just got to convince a farmer to part with a little corner of a field.....

« **Reply #40 on:** November 22, 2012, 12:39:39 pm »

I get pretty good money on upholstery,don't really enjoy that very much either,but it's really picked up this year, so increased my prices.
Rug wise normally get asked to go over that quickly will you mate , like the last one,the guy said he only wanted a sort of freshen up / light clean, thing is as you know, there is no such thing as a light clean.
Once you wet it it becomes apparent that they are normally filthy.