Thought I would share our experience cleaning BLEEDERS

[bensurdi]

We had 2 rugs brought in that were both tested for dye stability and failed. Both bled.

Here is what we did:

We vacuumed the front and back very thoroughly.
We mixed in a pump up sprayer 50/50 with vinegar and water and sprayed the rugs down pretty good.
We then mixed up fine fabric pre-spray and pre sprayed the rugs and took the rake and worked it in.
Allowed dwell time
Fired the machine up and cleaned as usual. BUT with temp. down and pressure down
We ran an acid rinse through the machine while cleaning-
We left the rugs flat and quickly dried with turbo dryers

The results: Outstanding. The colors really stand out now and the fringe looks great.

[Rob Allen]

Interesting ben. Thanks for sharing. Did you do a "grin" test before cleaning of area rugs? 1st thing I do in my cleaning process.

[bensurdi]

You mean spreading the fibers apart to see if the dyes are darker on top than on bottom? - We did do that and determined that the colors were more faint on the surface than on bottom.

[Dave Y]

Anyone have experience with Dye Lock

[spotman123]

No experience with dye lock, cant help u there. About 20 yrs ago(smile) I had a white and red cotton jacquard sofa a c/s wanted to clean. Tested it for wet cleaning and it bleed, then tested it for dry cleaning and it bled also (couldnt believe it!!). All the time the c/s was right by my side. Told her I could only dry-vacuum it! Wasn't happy. About 2-3 months later I ran into her in the store, asked her what she did with the sofa, " I gave it to the Salvation Army and got a new one" Spotman

[Rob Allen]

Dye Lock works great.

Ben, grin test is where you open the fibers and test for colorfastness.

[jwhatley]

Thanks for the info. I have thought of getting into area rugs. There is another comnpany in town that does it and he well do others that are broght to him. But maybe after more info I would try it myself

[LisaWagner]

Ben - next time, please post your photos so others can see what "great" surface cleaning looks like. That's always helpful.

On another note to everyone, on wool and silk rugs, using a RAKE on especially chemically washed/processed rugs (done before they go to market) can create scarring in the pile that is not correctable. It is better to choose a slightly stiff floor broom.

Thanks for sharing,
Lisa