[Ben Lugg]

Hello,
got to clean a carpet in a few weeks time and having surveyed the job i think it is jute or hessian but customer not sure. It has a felt underlay but is not stuck down, just tacked at the edges.Looks like the floor underneath could be small wooden tiles maybe parquet.Not done one like this before, appreciate any tips from you guys.   (i use prochem products)
Regards.
Ben.  

[markpowell]

Sissal or seagrass maybe?
Sounds like a natural fibre to me
Mark

[C A Payne]

ben, if its jute the strenghts are; cheap, suitable for stretching, very strong & can be used with latex adhesives... weaknesses are; prone to cellulosic browning, when wet becomes weak & will shrink... jute - taken from the course fibres of the bark on the jute tree grown in india, pakistan etc. treated with oil, the fibres are produced into the most widely used 'weft' yarn in the world. seen on the backing of tufted carpets as a secondary backing. hope this helps, charlie

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Ben

This is an unusual one - sisal, seagrass, jute or coir should all be fully adhered to the sub-floor. The fact that this is laid on felt would suggest that either the client wouldn't pay for the floor to be prepared for the carpet to be stuck to it or that the fitter didn't install it in the correct method.

Are you sure it is what you think it is ? Did it have a latex backing ? Did you take any photos ?

If it is a natural fibre then the usual caution should be used when considering wet cleaning, in other words DONT.

Some of the guys on here have some succeess with very low moisture or granules.

Try using the search function to look at some of the previous topics.

Steve

[Ben Lugg]

Thanks for your help, am i right in thinking that this is something that should not be wet cleaned then Steve.
Might re-assess job as i don't have a dry cleaning system to offer yet. Will look on past posts aswell.
Cheers,
Ben.

[Amethyst]

Whatever you do don't wet clean it. Coir etc will watermark with clean water let alone anything else. If you don't have a dry cleaning option (granules) which even then will produce limited sucess - I would gently suggest you say - agh no thank you!

[Ken Wainwright]

Everyone above has supplied you with enough information Benn, to make an informed decision as to the action to take.

I would also add though, that these vegetable fibre carpets are also prone to colour loss, even with the lightest of dry cleans. Do a little extra work on a spot or traffic lane and the loss is even greater.

Safe and happy (dry) cleaning
The Ken

[Ben Lugg]

Thanks again all, made the decision to leave this one out,there are other rooms to do but no more jute !!
 Will phone customer tomorrow,
Regards.

[Karl Wildey]

Ben, craftex do a shampoo designed for jute, sisal carpets called ecotex.

Special 'green' cleaning product with the gentle power of plant active agents. Suitable for shampooing all types of carpet and upholstery made from synthetic and natural fibres such as wool, silk, cotton, tretford/goat hair, coir, jute, seagrass and sisal.
Use neat or dilute up to 1:10. pH 5.5-6.5.


copied amd pasted from the restormate site

[Ben Lugg]

Thanks Karl i'll take a look.

[Jamie James]

Karl is right Ben, we use that product from Craftex as are only 5 mins down the road.
If it is sissal or seagrass you want to be charging £8.00 to £10.00 per sqm as the custy would have paid £40.00 or £50.00 per sqm.

I dont do to much as find it takes a while to do, just dont make really wet or you will have problems.

all the best

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Hi Jamie

If they have paid £40 - £50 per m2 then they have been seriously ripped off.

I sell seagrass for £16 per m2 plus labour and sisal for £25 per m2 plus labour.

The 100% wool naturals look-a-likes are obviously more expensive.

Steve

[Jamie James]

Hi Steve

A custy of mine paid £30.00 per sqm for hers in 1986, so I guess she must have been ripped off then.
Oh well.
What sort of price would you quote for cleaning sissal or seagrass per sqm just out of interest.

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Hi Jamie

Personally I won't touch the stuff - don't need the aggro 

But you're not far wrong with your estimation of £ 8-10 per m2

There was a guy at CCDO who does a lot of it and charges £ 12 per m2 if I remember correctly.

Steve

[derek west]

http://www.flooringsupplies.co.uk/Carpet/default.aspx?range=sisal&gclid=CMXA8-XMkZoCFRBhnAodTR-zQA

you could charge £20 per meter to clean it and tell them it will look like new, just make sure there out when you get the fitters in
derek

[Karl Wildey]

This stuff was all the rage in the 80's and those 'must have' people bought it at silly money, it only took a few years before people realsed it was crap, and the price become real. Hence if you paid £40 a metre that why you still got it 20+ years on, its was too bloody expensive to remove, their probably hoping to leave it to their grandchildren in the will