We Specialize in wool rug cleaning in Fresno and clovis
We are here to properly clean your fine wool rugs so they will last a lifetime- Home
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- WOOL AREA RUGS
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Cleaning wool rugs is not like cleaning carpets
Wool area rugs are a beautiful addition to any home. Nothing can finish a room like a well-placed wool area rug. So you spend hours searching for just the right rug, and that can be a long search with the choices that you have. Hand-knotted, or machine-made, wool, synthetic, fringe or no fringe, a rainbow of colors and patterns. So after you spend countless hours picking just the right rug, you bring it home and put it in its place. Now there is nothing left to do but enjoy it. Right? So what do you do when you need wool area rug cleaning? Who do you call to do it right? There are a lot of carpet or rug cleaners however if you need a professional area rug cleaning in Fresno you don’t want just any carpet cleaner to do the job. Wool area rug cleaning is not the same as other carpet cleanings. Our services include rug cleaning, upholstery cleaning, and deep cleaning.
I will just have my wool area rug cleaning done by my regular carpet cleaner.
Most people will do just that. I have received wool area rugs that have been cleaned for years by an unqualified carpet cleaner that happens to offer wool area rug cleaning as an add on when they clean your carpet. As a result the rugs have un-removed embedded soil, detergent build up, and damaged fiber. So what do I do then. Well here is the deal with wool area rug cleaning. Some fibers like synthetic nylons or polyester can be cleaned just like the carpet in your home. However if your rug is wool then there are some special considerations when you clean them. One of these is that wool rugs can be damaged by the wrong cleaning products such as the ones used to clean your home carpet. (For more information about that read “wool fiber” below). Another concern with wool fibers is there absorbency they will absorb up to 40% there weight in liquid. This can cause a problem when cleaning because it will absorb the cleaning agent being used causing a residue problem if not sufficiently rinsed clean. Yet another concern is the fringe on some rugs. If a cleaner tries to whiten these fringes by using a bleaching agent made to lighten white fibers it will degrade the cotton used to make these and they will literally fall apart. So now that you are sufficiently freaked out and too scared to do anything to your wool area rug. Its time to learn that these rugs are absolutely incredible.
So how do I do wool area rug cleaning?
Well, wool area rugs certainly aren’t the same as carpet. Therefore they shouldn’t be cleaned the same ether. So what’s involved in the proper wool area rug cleaning?
Don’t get ahead of yourself
First, we evaluate your wool area rug. Are there problems inherent with your rug. problems such as unstable dyes, past cleaning residue, damaged face fiber, or weak fringe. Knowing if any of these problems exist helps us to clean your rug properly. Now we can start cleaning.
1. Dusting.
Before adding any water to a wool area rug it must be “dusted”. This is the process of removing as much dry soil as possible from the rug. since a wool area rug can have a tremendous amount of soil without looking dirty this is a very important stage of cleaning. Otherwise, the soil will be turned to mud that is nearly impossible to remove. After this step, the rug is free of dry soil leaving only soil that has bonded to the rug with oils or other contaminants.
2. Pre-treating.
In this step, a wool-approved product is applied to the wool area rug. This breaks the bond of the soil to the rug, allowing it to be removed from the rug. The cleaning product is allowed to dwell on the rug for a short time.
3. Agitation
This is when the cleaning really starts. Gently agitating the fiber of the wool area rug thoroughly breaks loose the bonded soil from the wool fiber. After this step, the rug is ready to be rinsed clean.
4. Flushing
Get ready for a clean rug. The flushing step is when we remove all that soil as well as the cleaning products used during the cleaning. This is accomplished by flushing the rug with fresh water until the water flows through clean and clear no soil and no cleaning products. The rug is left truly clean.
5. Drying
Floating is the term we use for this step. Airflow is applied underneath the rug causing it to float and in turn quickly and efficiently drying the rug leaving it ready for the final step. In addition, we have the ability to control the humidity during drying by using dehumidification if necessary further speeding the dry times.
6. Detail
The final step in the process is to detail or finish the wool area rug. We work with the fringe to make sure it’s clean and beautiful just like the rest of the rug. The rug is given a final brush and is then ready for delivery back to your home.
7. Wrapping
If you will be storing your wool area rug we can provide a wrap for your rug so it will be safe and secure until you are ready to use it once again.
So whats so great about wool?
Well lets start with longevity, the oldest surviving wool area rug was made in the 5th century BC. You are lucky to get 20 years out of a modern carpet. Wool is by far the most resilient fiber used in the textile industry. Another benefit to wool is that it is opaque. So what does that mean to you? Well the simple answer is that you can’t see the dirt in it. Synthetic carpet fibers are translucent (you can see through them). So when those fibers are dirty they no longer reflect light and they look dirty. Since wool never reflects light through the fiber it doesn’t look dirty even when it is. It is said that there can be 3 lbs of dirt in one square foot of a wool rug before it even looks dirty, that is a lot of dirt. So if you did buy a wool area rug, you have a textile that will outlive you if you take proper care of it. Gold Standard is here for you when the time comes to properly wash your wool area rugs. Just give me a call when you need wool area rug cleaning done and I will let you know how we will gently restore your rugs so they will always look like the day you brought them home.
Wool Fiber
I mentioned that it can be damaging to wool to use cleaning products that are not designed for wool fibers. I think this could use a bit more explanation. You see, wool is a fiber that has properties that make it very unique. If you look at the photo to the left you can see that the fiber is covered with tiny scales. These scales are the natural stain resistance inherent in the wool fiber. If something is spilled on a wool area rug it will naturally repel the spill. However, if a wool area rug cleaning is done with a product not designed for wool it can strip these scales from the fiber and leave the fiber unprotected and vulnerable to spills. Also wool is by far the most resilient of all fibers no other fiber even comes close. Unless it is cleaned with an improper cleaning product. Not only will it strip the stain protecting scales it will cause the fiber to dry out and turn brittle. Every time a wool area rug is cleaned improperly it can shorten its life by 50%.
Undamaged wool fiber
