[rs_cleancare]

I have a wilton wooven carpet to clean on friday. I have cleaned one before with no shrinkage but wondered if any one has shrunk one even being very careful.

The method used last time was not to pre-spay but to use ultimate master 3 dry passes and an air mover.

Rob.

[Atlantic Cleaning]

Always been wary about cleaning any woven carpets, when in any dobt I always clean them using a Low Moisture method so to dramaticaly reduce the risk of any shrinkage/damage. It also gives me peace of mind, nothing worse than slaving over a carpet knowing in the back of your mind there is a good possibilty it could shrink....

[Ken Wainwright]

Hi Rob

My rule of thumb is that a tufted carpet wont shrink, an Axminster may shrink and a Wilton will shrink. So for a wilton, you need to be satisfied with the quality of the installation and then clean it by the book.  A woven carpet has a greater ability to retain dry particulate then a tufted, so pay particular attention to the vaccing. As long as everything is up to scratch, I wouldn't have any concerns about cleaning a wilton.

You've probably safely cleaned loads of Brinton's Bell Twist, they're a type of wilton and probably more sensitive to shrinkage than most.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[calmore]

If/when it shrinks it can possibly be stretched back and re-fitted.

[Dave_Lee]

Axminsters and true Wiltons usually settle down after, up to two weeks, and if there is slight shrinkage they can normally be restretched. However most BG synthetic type Wiltons when shrunk are extremely tight and very difficult to impossible to restretch, so inform customer of this possibilty - I always do and have never had a customer not still wanting it done, even though I only clean them at their risk.
Dave.

[rs_cleancare]

Thanks for the feed back chaps!

I think somone is watching down on me as i havn't had a cancellation in almost a year now and what happens she phones me to cancel.

I have cleaned a lot of Axminsters and must say i have never had a problem and find they clean very well.
It's just these Wiltons come with a bad rep for turning from carpets to rugs.

Lets just hope she dosn't re-book as i know i won't be able to say no!

Rob.

[Amethyst]

I'm interested in your comment Ken re Tufted won't, Axminster might and Wilton will shrink. Is this irrespective of the fibre type/backing combination. I thought wool could hold more moisture than a synthetic fibre and therefore reduce the likelihood of moisture reaching the back and shrinking taking place. Have I missed something here ? I understand that woven carpets can hold much more debris and therefore need more vaccing. I can also appreciate that keeping the moisture as low as possible ( irrespective of the actual method used) and extra dry passes help - Is there a reson why I should be concerned about "genuine" axminsters and wiltons?

[Ken Wainwright]

Hi Amythyst

Modern tufteds use a polypropylene primary backing, but may have a hessian/jute secondary backing. However, to make this shrink would need a lot of abuse and then it may not even shrink.  Having said that, there are still some older tufteds around that have a hessian/jute primary backing, and these do shrink quite easily.

As for Axminsters and Wiltons (traditional wiltons or face to face) if they have a synthetic yarn they are much more prone to shrinkage. Classic examples are Acrylic pile ax's and face to face wiltons popular in the 80's.  The reason is that synthetic yarns retain little moisture, so gravity and/or higher pressure application through a sprayer or wand can lead to moisture transfer to the backing yarns.

When we come to wool yarns, they will retain much more water than synthetic fibres, typically about 30% by weight (synthetics are typically between 0.04% and 5%).  This retention property of wool keeps more moisture from the backing, but only initially. Mother nature designed vegetable fibres to absorb water very effectively in order to feed the plant. For jute and cotton, this can be upto 100% by weight. So for want of a better description, the jute backing yarns will try to "suck" water from the wool pile. This can lead to shrinkage.

When it comes to the varying degrees between a genuine wilton and a genuine axminster, the wilton will typically have about 30% more face yarn of wool over an axminster, so this would be like having a 30% larger reservoir of water. The wilton also has about 30% more jute than an axminster, so is working more to absorb the moisture too.

Hence my statement that an axminster may shrink and a wilton will shrink. But a correctly executed and appropriate clean on a correctly fitted carpet should in neither case present a shrinkage problem. The carpet will tighten on the grippers, but not shrink.

With wool carpets, there is a rule of thumb that to return to the dryness level of pre-clean, regardless of system used, will take about 48 hours.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[Amethyst]

Thanks Ken,

Eloquently explained (as usual).