Area Rug Dry Racks

[DavidVB]

Rob - when you say you bought Steve's drying rack are you referring to Steve Lillard or Steve (Dusty) Roberts. When I refer to having Clark's drying racks I'm talking about the same ones that Dusty sells.

Ron - As you know, I have a centrifuge from Clark and as I told you when we last talked, it is performing great. I'm sorry you are still having to hang wet rugs. Lifting submerged rugs out of a pit like many do I'm sure requires a whole different approach. It doesn't surprise me that Lisa has concerns about the integrity of a rug when that is done. I guess having the centrifuge is why 2 x 4s work well for me on most rugs. Still, a damp 9 x 12 Chinese is pretty heavy and having the hooks on the uprights so you can lift one end a couple of feet at a time really helps. Plus, if a rug is too heavy and makes a 2 x 4 sag, a 2 x 6, amazingly enough, fits in the same slots. Or I can buy some rectangular steel tubing locally whenever I want. For now, I like the friction fit of the wood poles so I can move the rack wherever I want just pushing on one end. No duct tape solution. That is the way Clark designed it and it works well.

Lisa - You recommend drying everything flat. I understand the logic in that. I think the vast majority of cleaners dry some rugs flat and hang some rugs. There are advantages to both. It is nice to know that the methods and equipment you use and recommend is by your choice, not just because you can't afford something better if you want it. I also totally agree with your description of many of the back yard distributors in this business.

There are far more rug experts in this country who never even look at a bulletin board than there are those who do and they usually have no axe to grind, nothing to promote and are still very willing to help people learn.

[pack7483]

I guess being in business for over 27 years and using top of the line equipment and materials to create an affordable' well built drying rack is fly by night? LOL I live an hour from Lilliard and saw his first rack ONCE and told him to build me one ASAP. It definintly does not look fly by night. I guess if someone else came up with a Rug Cleaning Book they would just be fly by night no matter how much experience or knowledge they may have? Oh and until I get my rack I am using saw horses and ladders LOL. Not everyone has a drop off place. My clients NEVER see the inside of my shop. Part of my fantastic service is I pick up and deliver EVERY rug I clean. The rack no matter which brand will only be seen by me. Steve's fits my budget and my needs.

[LisaWagner]

Is Dusty the only one to be in this business? What is your deal with him?

He sells your rug secrets manual, and I dont!

What states a fly by nite business?
27 years in this business, thats a good track record! I say

Steve, no Dusty is far from the only one in this business...and by the way, Dusty does not sell my Rug Secrets program - Jon-Don used to. And I've never had any deals with Dusty, LOL!

In fact, you will see on this forum I've been open about some things I don't care for about the Badger.

Fly-by-night simply means construction quality, which in your personal message to me you mentioned going off to have it fabricated professionally, and not that you built it willy-nilly in your garage, which is kind of the impression I got from your original post.

When you are hanging up wet rugs, there are safety concerns. I just want to make sure everyone considers safety of people, and construction concerns of rugs, when hanging them.

Looking forward to seeing your photos!

Lisa

P.S. Rob, can you post your rug racks, then the group can see what your mini-shop looks like. I think you got a Badger also, you like it?

[LisaWagner]

Not everyone has a drop off place. My clients NEVER see the inside of my shop. Part of my fantastic service is I pick up and deliver EVERY rug I clean. The rack no matter which brand will only be seen by me. Steve's fits my budget and my needs.

You missed my point, which in chatting with Steve it seems this was planned and fabricated professionally (which would incorporate certain safety standards), which with photos we would have clearly seen.

Some guys are never going to be real rug cleaners. They are going to handle a few now and then, and not target the high-end clients who own oriental rugs. And if no one comes to your location, no big deal what it looks like, so you do what fits your budget and space.

I get that. We used to use a wet vac when we were little kids on 100 year old rugs we sold. when we got serious and got a plant, that all changed as we could afford it.

In fact, in my rug cleaning report I lay out different ways to do each step depending on your budget and what equipment you may already have. It's at www.rugsecrets.com ... just gives you some different things to consider.

Rugs are awesome though...

Lisa

[Eddie Rhone]

Hi Lisa

I may have this wrong but I tried to download your report but was unable to said it was for limited period only and only for the first 150 people to sign up.

As I said I may have looked in the wrong place or pushed the wong button but could you please clarify this.

Many Thanks
Eddie

[LisaWagner]

Eddie - shoot me an email and I'll get you another link if you have not received it already. It did hit the limit, but I'm still sending copies out.

My email is rugwarrior@gmail.com

Lisa

[Dusty]

Lisa, regarding hanging rugs we encourage all our EZ tower and powered tower owners to get a couple of BIG, 12+ inch cardboard concrete form tubes to use with their rug towers. Just wrap the cardboard in plastic then you can hang even very "stretchy" rugs and not worry about them getting out of shape. I know that Nathan Koets does it like this, maybe he can put up a pic.
.
Just FYI, the power you use to force dry a rug with an airpath is terrific (and noisy) and not very friendly to the environment. With the wheel set up you can roll your full days load out for a free "solar dry" and then roll back in for the eve and then place the airpath under the full load with the fan facing up to dry the load the rest of the way.

[LisaWagner]

Lisa, regarding hanging rugs we encourage all our EZ tower and powered tower owners to get a couple of BIG, 12+ inch cardboard concrete form tubes to use with their rug towers. Just wrap the cardboard in plastic then you can hang even very "stretchy" rugs and not worry about them getting out of shape. I know that Nathan Koets does it like this, maybe he can put up a pic.
.
Just FYI, the power you use to force dry a rug with an airpath is terrific (and noisy) and not very friendly to the environment. With the wheel set up you can roll your full days load out for a free "solar dry" and then roll back in for the eve and then place the airpath under the full load with the fan facing up to dry the load the rest of the way.

I've never had a problem with the Airpath being noisy - that's the first I've heard that... kinda funny, because the Badger is VERY loud - that was the biggest negative when we were testing it.

As for solar drying - you have to be VERY careful with chemically washed rugs - which is about 80% of the new product, and all product from China. Maybe up in your area it's not an issue, but in the Southwest US - you can fry the front of the rug with direct sunlight. With the Airpath, with woven rugs, they just dry super fast, and most guys already have these on their trucks because they use them to speed dry in homes - so it's a product they already own, which is convenient too. I like to make suggestions to people on products they already own and could use on rugs.

Such as using the Dri-Eaz Rover on rugs for extraction. For those who can afford $40k-60K on a wringer or spinner, or the room to hold it, the Rover is inexpensive, and many restoration companies already have this on the truck. (I've tested the Extreme Extractor, but in some cases it's too heavy and left some creasing I could not get out. But the Rover has glides on it, and we tested it front and back on several rugs and no distortions, I was really impressed.)

Tufted rugs will still get creases when hanging, just FYI, and any bordered rugs, like Stark product, forget about it! They need to dry flat.

We actually dry all of our rugs out flat, and face down, it results in any issues (migration, stained, browning) to wick to the back if they happen, it means less cleaning of the fringes because no moisture is pooling down into the cotton while being hung, and the shape stays consistent.

I've also never heard of anyone saying an airmover is not friendly to the environment. How is dusting with the Badger friendly? That seems a little inconsistent? I've never heard of a rug cleaner being anti-air mover before. That's weird.

Lisa

[Nathan K.]

I prefer to spin rugs in the 'fuge & dry them flat, upside-down in the sun, when weather allows. That said, here in MI it often does not allow, and some rugs I hoist dripping wet, so I have an in-plant hanging system that I (over)built myself. People have died from falling rug drying beams and poles - no joke. So I had an engineer design my rail/trolley system & supports and hired a pro fabricator to do the welding according to his specs. I'm sure Steve L. is doing the same - overbuilding it, because I know he's a smart guy.
Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of space outdoors, so I bought a Rug Rack from Dusty to TCB when we have lots of rugs to wash on a nice sunny day. I honestly don't remember what it cost (couple grand?) but I love it!! It holds lots of rugs, and on a good day when I fill it, I make enough $ with that days production to pay for the Rug Rack. Buying a few long 2x4's and some corrugated drainage tubing to sheath them in (rugs need to dry where thy make contact with the beams, too) was not a big deal. I didn't feel I was sold an "incomplete" system, but maybe that was meant to be a joke? Thanks Dusty, for not including stuff I can buy at Home Depot and marking it up, lol. We had a group of cleaners here for Summerfest and soaked a heavy Chinese rug and one guy hung it, dripping wet, boosting it one notch at a time. It's easy to use but harder to explain, maybe Dusty has a video on his site?
Lisa, Dusty & I would be the first to tell you - don't buy ANYTHING expensive until you can justify it with the volume of rugs coming in...
Oh, and I would advise everyone to stay far, far away from company that ripped off several of Dusty's ideas and (this one blows my mind!) USP. For the record, yes I am biased - very biased. I tend to be biased against people who lie, steal, pass themselves off as something they're not, have absolutely zero integrity or honor, and leave a trail of former friends, business partners and employees (all of whom, without exception, went out of their way to help) blindsided & bleeding by the wayside. Suffice it to say I don't know how some people sleep at night...

[Dusty]

Lisa

1. I love the Airpath and was Keith Studabakers # 1 distributor when he got started up before he sold the patents to Dri-eaz and I sold a ton of them for him in 2006 at Connections.

Here is a pic showing a RugBadger from 2006 where we sold a ton of AirPaths with the inventer Keith Studabaker back to the camera!


We recommend that folks use the Airpath fan upside down under the EZ tower to dry rugs hanging all at once,, the diffuser is perfect for drying the full load and if you load the EZ with smaller rugs in the middle with successively larger rugs to the outside you will trap the air and usually be able to dry a full load of rugs (eg EZ pro-max holds up to 2160+ sq. feet of rugs) all with one fan.

2. If you have the luxury of the great outdoors and a dry day, take advantage of the Wheels truck set for the EZ tower and push the rugs out the door,, just make sure like Lisa says, rugs must be upside down and make sure the sun can not get at the front side as "some" rugs will fade badly. The beauty of this VS laying flat outside is it does not take up much for space (6'x20') and you can greatly reduce labour costs as you are only loading your EZ once at the pit and no more humping rugs one or 2 at a time, rolling them out in the sun, then re-rolling later in the day and in most cases hanging on your poles overnight.
As Nathan said,, for rugs that are sensitive to being hung,, just hang those ones on a oversized round concrete form on your EZ pole.

3. Noise,, yes the RugBadger can be noisy, however it does depend on the rug you are Badgering, some rugs are very quiet to Badger, but of coarse it is very important to get the dry soils out as much as possible B4 cleaning as your results will be superior. Yes, the airpath is VERY noisy and costly to run as it uses high amperage as the rug takes hours to dry, at least up here in the North and especially when you dont have a compression wringer or centrifuge. If you are flat drying your rugs one at a time with Airpaths this will show up on your power bill big time :(

Regarding the Dri-Eaz Rover.. lets get one over to our rug bath and give it a test drive!

Here is a direct link to see are 3 different EZ towers
http://rugbadger.com/eztowerpromax.html

[Dusty]

Nate, Lisa and others. The reason we ship the EZ towers without poles is to keep the shipping costs WAY down. As soon as anything over 6' long ships the rates go sky high. Of coarse we designed and engineered the EZ towers to fit on a 6' pallet to keep the costs down so we can ship thes all over the world on the same pallet as the RB and dusting grids and this saves shipping $.

For anyone concerned about the poles not being strong enougn for big, wet and heavy rugs you can always use a 2x6 or a better yet get a couple of aluminum 2x6 poles for your heavy rugs.

I do get a ton of calls from folks interested in our big powered dry towers, but I always ask folks to consider our EZ towers first to save money and concentrate on growing your business, then later on they can add a powered system if still needed.

[DavidVB]

Like Nathan, I love my EZ Tower. I did the wheels a little different. I had them welded onto the bottom. I got 2 locking wheels for each end to keep it from moving when loading. I work in a small space and just having the wheels helps even when they are empty.

Dusty - How does the nap lay when you hang a rug to dry upside down over a corrugated pipe?

[Dusty]

Great question David, truth is you may have to reset the pile afterwards.. our little Yorkster finisher is perfect for this!

[Rug Washer]

David Do you dry rugs upsidedown over corrugated pipe?? Nate do you? LIsa????? IN all the classes I've been to Phil, Lisa Arron and any Plant I visited or any book I've read I've never heard of that. Sounds like it could do some pretty bad things. IMO its not sound advise.

[Dusty]

Rug Washer. We do the drying outside when the weather is conducive to drying, that is hang upside down on our poles. If you are worried that corrugated pipe will distort the pile then use a smooth pipe, and if you are still concerned about this then be very careful what rugs you do hang outside in the sunshine as like Lisa explained, some rugs will fade severely. Hope this helps.

[Nathan K.]

I never hang upside down, this is news to me. Never saw a need for it. If you do it for wicking reasons, just place an airmover under the dry pole blowing up, and the EP (evaporation point) will still be the back side... That said, I don't think it would hurt anything ('cept maybe on a dry-rotted Sarouk, lol), just make unnecessary (IMO) pile correction (steamer) work for yourself...
One thing I've found among rug washers - even the best of the best - is that everybody does it a little different, wouldn't you agree?

[awpov]

Nathan, I am the first person to own the first Centrum-Force centrifuge, as well as I own one of their drying towers. I must correct you about your statement of zero integrity or honor and leaving a trail of former friends. Tom and Greg have stood behind everything they manufacture. They have flown down to my place on their dime to make certain my equipment was running properly, and of course it was and still is. These two men have the highest level of integrity in their business and personal lives. If you took the time to know them, I believe you would find the same.
Linda

I prefer to spin rugs in the 'fuge & dry them flat, upside-down in the sun, when weather allows. That said, here in MI it often does not allow, and some rugs I hoist dripping wet, so I have an in-plant hanging system that I (over)built myself. People have died from falling rug drying beams and poles - no joke. So I had an engineer design my rail/trolley system & supports and hired a pro fabricator to do the welding according to his specs. I'm sure Steve L. is doing the same - overbuilding it, because I know he's a smart guy.
Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of space outdoors, so I bought a Rug Rack from Dusty to TCB when we have lots of rugs to wash on a nice sunny day. I honestly don't remember what it cost (couple grand?) but I love it!! It holds lots of rugs, and on a good day when I fill it, I make enough $ with that days production to pay for the Rug Rack. Buying a few long 2x4's and some corrugated drainage tubing to sheath them in (rugs need to dry where thy make contact with the beams, too) was not a big deal. I didn't feel I was sold an "incomplete" system, but maybe that was meant to be a joke? Thanks Dusty, for not including stuff I can buy at Home Depot and marking it up, lol. We had a group of cleaners here for Summerfest and soaked a heavy Chinese rug and one guy hung it, dripping wet, boosting it one notch at a time. It's easy to use but harder to explain, maybe Dusty has a video on his site?
Lisa, Dusty & I would be the first to tell you - don't buy ANYTHING expensive until you can justify it with the volume of rugs coming in...
Oh, and I would advise everyone to stay far, far away from company that ripped off several of Dusty's ideas and (this one blows my mind!) USP. For the record, yes I am biased - very biased. I tend to be biased against people who lie, steal, pass themselves off as something they're not, have absolutely zero integrity or honor, and leave a trail of former friends, business partners and employees (all of whom, without exception, went out of their way to help) blindsided & bleeding by the wayside. Suffice it to say I don't know how some people sleep at night...

[LisaWagner]

Nathan, I am the first person to own the first Centrum-Force centrifuge, as well as I own one of their drying towers. I must correct you about your statement of zero integrity or honor and leaving a trail of former friends. Tom and Greg have stood behind everything they manufacture. They have flown down to my place on their dime to make certain my equipment was running properly, and of course it was and still is. These two men have the highest level of integrity in their business and personal lives. If you took the time to know them, I believe you would find the same.
Linda

It's really interesting how two people can have completely opposite reactions in terms of interpreting integrity and character. I think you were lucky Linda - others have not been so lucky with interactions/transactions. But I'm glad to hear your POV. =) And nice to see you post here.

Lisa

[bill luke]

100_0565.jpg100_0564.jpg100_0567.jpg100_0566.jpghere is a couple of rug racks i made,nothing special,but they work.very inexpensive,most of old lumber i already had just laying around.have casters on the one with a rope and pulley,the other is hanging from ceiling,those are 10'fence rails across where you can easily hang small rugs.

[Newman]

Keeping it safe and simple.