[JS2]

Dear Colleagues

I'm sure that this has been asked before (but I don't know where, or when), however upon reading some of the scare stories about the 'shrinkable' Belgian Wilton I think it would be a good thing to clarify how we can reasonably confirm that a carpet is one these and how we go about tackling it.   Any brief lines of advice please ?

Regards

Pete (JS2)

[Bill Robinson]

i did a rug from ikea i just started the top left corner and stoped straight away it was ruffeling up as soon as i had touched it i dont think its the fibers its the backing that shrinks the fibers hold no water at all ive also just bought a rug from ikea its only cheep so i will never atempt to clean i t

[calmore]

Almost any woven carpet has the potential to shrink if it's not treated with care. Be especially wary if it has a synthetic pile as the moisture will go straight though to the backing.

[Chris R]

If you do a search on this site for " wilton" you will get all of the info that you need.

If you can see the pattern of the carpet on the underside, its probably a belgium wilton.

If you have a truckmount you can get away with wet cleaning them , otherwise dry fusion or texatherm is you best bet.

I had one shrink on me once, i had only cleaned half of the room, turned around and it had pulled the gripper out of the floor and shrunk by about an inch.

Fun.

[Geoff Jewkes]

Check backing. If woven and you can see pattern then its a wilton, do burn test, if the end of the fibres melt into a hard ball then yes...... Belgian wilton.
Like calmore says, any woven backed carpets has the ability to shrink but the synthetic ones are the ones to really watch for, they can be done under circumstances if you're experienced enough. I did two last week with a porty, but only mildly soiled. Low pressure, high temp, central heating on full with ventilation and a blower, plenty of pre vac and aggitation. Dry and safe when I left

[JS2]

Yes, the water absorption straight into the backing seems to be problem.  Chris, as you suggest, the high vacuum of the TM seems to control the situation a bit.  As you can guess, I'm thinking of a Dry Clean option to handle these shrinkables (but I don't really believe this can also handle heavy soiling - a dilemma).

Nevertheless, the comments so far are very good, please keep them rolling in for the benefit of other forum members.

Thanks and regards

Pete (JS2)

[jacko]

I clean them at 100psi with heat, LOTS of dry passes with wand. I use 1st generation M/S as don't need so much. Good agitation essential. Turbo dry.

[nevil]

I regularly clean my local Indian resturant which is a belgian wilton. Normally they don't call me until it is really bad.I find plenty of aggitation is the key to it. Then it becomes very easy to rinse the dirt away using hwe. If you experement by moving the wand faster than normal and noting how fast you can move it and still be effective.As has already been said plenty of dry passes, and avoid spraying while the wand is statioary.

Edited to add.

I also look after a nearby pub that has wool wilton. In theory it shouldn't be a problem as the woolen pile will absorb a lot more water than the polyprop. However my local competitor mangaged to shrink it. I guess that is why I look after it now and not them, even though I charge a full three times more than they do on that particular job.

[Karl Wildey]

A standard wilton is made from wool, and Belgian wilton from polyprop. Assuming you know a wilton either do the burn test, 'wool smells like burnt hair, polyprop balls up', or
place a piece of fibre in a cup of water and make it sink.
wool sinks as it take in water, polyprop floats and will not sink for no one, as it will not take in water as it is a solid fibre.

[David_Annable]

Hi

When you say look at the back for the pattern, what if its a plain BW.

Dave

[Martin_Bignell]

Why does everyone call these carpets Belgian Wiltons when in fact they are Axminsters. If they were Wilton carpets you could never see the pattern from underneath.
We don't seem to get many of them down here on the south coast, I have only cleaned one house with them fitted the rest have been the usual Ikea rugs. All ok with HWE dry fast with blower.
Regards, Martin

[cleanability]

I know there are numerous ppl who wet clean Belgian Wiltons on here. I used to be one. I cleaned a hall stairs landing once with upholstery tool. It shrunk. Now I never dowet clean them. Law of averages surely states " wet clean  Belgian Wiltons long enough and you will shrink one one day ". I spose if you work on that basis then you will have made enough money to buy a new carpet when it does happen lollllllllllll

Chris

[cleanability]

Martin yr dead right lol I always call them Belgian Axminsters when I talk to myself, which i tend to do alot.

Chris

[nevil]

I did see one recently that I wouldn't have been to confidant over. It didn't have the usual very dense pile. You could see the woven backing without even parting the pile and that's when it's new. Fortunatly I was there to clean something else.

[calmore]

If you come across a belgian wilton explain to the customer the risks of shrinkeage BEFORE you start work and offer a "dry" clean method as the solution (Obviously for more ££££)..

If the customer still wants it wet cleaned get them to sign something saying that they accept the risks and that there will be no come back.

[Bill Robinson]

why do they make carpets that react in such a way

[woodman]

Its not just BW that react in this manner but also natural flooring so beware

BW was never intended to be fitted in the manner in which we do in this country ie on underlay and gripper it was originally manufactured as a cheap stick down flooring for hotels and bars etc on the continent as an alternative to expensive Axminster and Wilton.You will see it fitted all over place in europe in this way.

British buyers picked it up and saw it as a good selling point in UK stores being called a Belgium 'Wilton' and adapted the fitting to British tastes,The carpet should be fitted on double edged gripper to hold it in place and stuck to the underlay but many company's don't do this hence as it is very susceptible to moisture and will shrink if not professionally cleaned.

The reason it is called Wilton is because of the way it is manufactured on face to face looms like its more important big cousin.

As cleaners we have to overcome these problems by adapting our cleaning methods to differing styles and constructions otherwise we limit ourselves as to what service we can provide.For BW I would always clean using LM.

[Bill Robinson]

if its the backing thats the problem. wonder why they cant sort that out

[calmore]

Wilton Carpet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_manufacturing_terminology#W

[gwrightson]

Dont know where i heard this from!!!
but i was under the assuption that b/w been fitted in hotels ,bars etc was now against fire regulations,
due to the fact of the dense and high toxicity of the fumes created by polypropelene

Can some body clarify this, or have i been misinformed?

Geoff