[Dan Williams]

I just started cleaning this light cream chinese wool rug and I just am a bit cautious on over wetting it but I can not seem to get the stains and dirt out of it. Is it alright to use HWE on it with a wand?
Any help would be appriciated

cheers

[mark_roberts]

Providing it is a wool chinese rug then

Turn up side down and vacuum for 2 min then flick over (removing the dust off the floor) and vacuum the front.  Do this until theres little dust coming from the rug.

Pre-test with a wool safe pre-spray.  Pre-spray and agitate with VERY soft brush on a host machine or similar.  Extract with an acid rinse or wool safe rinse depending upon the dyes.

Groom and then clean the fringes and speed dry.

Chinese wool rugs usually have a very fine wool sometimes mistaken or called silk.  It will be impossible to remove really heavy stains or dye stains from it but you could try BUT this type of rug has a tendancy to lighten in local areas where spotters have been used.

Mark

PS. Someone with more experience may have more specific advice for the stains but from my experience they dont come out easily.

[Derek_Walker]

Hi

I would suggest using your hand tool rather than the wand, you will get a more intense rinse plus the rug will dry a lot quicker.

Derek

[Cleantime Europe Limited]

Chinese wool rugs usually have a very fine wool sometimes mistaken or called silk. 
Mark

No. Wool is wool and silk is silk - don't get the two confused.

I would also follow Cleansmarts instructions, they're alot safer 

[mark_roberts]

Cleantime

Correct wool is wool and silk is silk but I didnt say otherwise merely stating that sometimes customers mistake the fineness of the chinese wool for silk and of course there are rugs with both fibres woven into them.

Dont see how cleansmarts instructions are any safer apart from the agitation which when done with a very soft brush will improve the cleaning dramtically.

However the real secret of rug cleaning is the dry soil removal which can be difficult with these types of rugs due to their thickness.

Mark

[Kev Loomes]

Danrosswil

Good advice so far, although agitation is fine! Without agitating you wont get as good a result. We have cleaned hundreds and hundreds this way and they come out very well indeed. The only thing I would be wary of is what chemicals you use. Play it safe and all wil be ok. Dont use rotary scrubbers as they will take Ages to dry

Silk chinese should only be dry cleaned (with limited results).

[Graeme@Access]

Hi,

Spend more time vacuuming the rug than any other cleaning operation.  It is worth trying to elevate the rug off the floor on a dusting board (essentially mat that has lots of holes in it) as this will quicken the dry soil removal.  Like Mark said, keep vacuuming it face down untill the amount of dust falling out of the rug is small then turn it over and vac the face a few times.

Test, test and test some more. If you test properly it will never become your rug.  eg We have seen one example of dye stability on one edge of the rug, but not the same colour on the other side (vibrant pink dye on a hand made Maroccan wool).  We allways test all the colours on a few different areas of the rug to ensure stability across the entire face. Test your cleaning mixture and your rinse mixture, i guess in theory you should also test both mixtures at the cleaning temperature (i think this is going a bit too far and have never bothered)

Personally, i would prefer to use a wand on rugs like this as they put out more water.  We have found that upholstery tools (intentionally) have a vastly reduced flow rate and dense pile wool rugs really need that bit more rinse.  We dry at 40-50% rel humidity @20-25°C and have never experienced problems with drying times due to overwetting.  A prominet CC figure said at a training event that these rugs can be submersed, its not really about how much water you use, more to do with how you dry them.

Hope this helps

Graeme
Access Cleaning Solutions

[mark_roberts]

Graeme

Good advice.

How have you set-up your drying room and what equipment do you use for heating and humidity control?

thanks
Mark

[Cleantime Europe Limited]

All this advice.

Just wet clean the rug normally and get the job done. Hand it back to the custy and get paid. Simple!

If you spend all day vacuuming a rug then God help you 

[Liahona]

In almost all cases an area rug or Oriental Rug should be totaly immersed. It is not how wet you get the rug it is how long it stays wet after you have cleaned it. I use an air line to get any dry soil out of the textile and have found this to be the most thorough way. I would never use a vaccum on an Oriental nor would I use hwe to clean it. Where most rugs are made they are cleaned with immersion sometimes just in a river and hung over a tree to dry. P.S. If you dont clean both sides of the rug and even inbetween the knots you arent doing the job properly and this can not be done with out immersion and certainly not with a hwe machine or any of the rinky dink dry systems out there.....just my opinion........As to the original post, these are relatively easy rugs to clean and just pure old rain water and a very soft brush will usually get out most stains......but not with a wand of any description or hwe....... Feel free to e-mail me as obviously there is a boat load of things to go through and I would be happy to discuss them, best, Dave.

[maxcarpets]

stick in the washing machine, intense wash at 1000 degrees, then straight in the tumble dryer! NOT REALLY, It's Friday! Listen to the other advice, probably safer.

[cleanability]

Well said Cleantime Europe. Just get on and clean the thing. I guarantee if  u showed a customer a pre vaccced and unpre vacced wet cleaned rug they wouldnt see any difference. In fact would anyone.

Chris

[mark_roberts]

Cleanability

Try shaking a rug after you clean it and see what comes out of it. 

Mark

[Derek_Walker]

Why do half a job, removing the grit from a rug is one of the most important parts of the cleaning pie and will help to prolong it's life. There is nothing worse than taking a rug back to it,s owner, opening it out on the floor and seeing a cloud of dust come out of it. It is tempting to run over a rug quickly but if you want the best for your clients do not cut corners.

Derek

[Liahona]

Well said Derek. Best, Dave.

[Dan Williams]

Thank you for all the feedback dudes

It is funny how now one has mentioned browning and what the best way to remove stains cos they are a bitch to remove

cheers

[Liahona]

If it is cleaned properly it shouldnt brown so there wasnt a need to mention it. With regards the

staining, most soils will come out of an area rug again if cleaned properly. Much easier than wall to wall

carpeting because you can clean both sides, immerse the textile and just keep on cleaning till all that is

 going to come out comes out. Mostly this will be everything, best, Dave.

[darren_metcalfe]

Liahona, excuse my ignorance but what vessel do you use to immerse the rug in.  Also if you had a saturated rug from a leak what would you suggest as the ideal dry down procedure. I would suggest air movement and dehum, and extraction??

regards

Darren

[Liahona]

Darren, sometimes as in most cases I just put the rug on the floor and hose it down and this is wet

enough as it still saturates. Other than that depending on the rug and its needs I use a paddling pool

to make a bath and/or if it is a big rug I use 4 inch plastic pipe, make a square or rectangle and then lay

 polythene over it to make a pool. Pretty easy realy and it is very effective. To empty it out just move

the end pipe and then start over again.To clean the rug properly this would be done many times over,

 sometimes 4 or 5 and sometimes 10 or 11. This is why you cant clean an Oriental Rug with a hwe

machine or any dry system either. People do and have good results I am sure but it isnt the best way

 to do so. Best, Dave.

[Steve Chapman]

dave,
which rugs would you not immerse & what do you use to dry them.

cheers
steve