I have cleaned many rugs in my time with great results. The only ones I have problem with is silk rugs. I would really appreciate if anyone have cleaned silk with success to share how to clean them. Shad
Huumm haven't clean one yet also / Once, back in Cabo San Lucas / at the Residential [ One & Only Palmilla ] I had a silk rug also to clean. at the end they cancell the job. I was thinking to use / low pressure. Cold Water & A really mild delicate fabric type cleaner. Remember I don''t have here Don Jon's or other Cleaning Supply Store. The managment from Palmilla / started doing other cleaning in the residential. At the end I didn't do the job. Hummm maybe I could ruin it with my method? Don't know
So far, no one has really complaind. May be, because I always let them know that I can't gaurentee silk rugs. I clean silk rugs by prespraying with neutral prespray & going over with wand, low pressure + low vacuum (warm-hot water rince). The carpets do look a lot cleaner but the texture feels slytly not as soft. Any advise would be appreciated. Also sorry for my poor grammer & spelling. Shad
When using a truck mount to clean silk I lay the rug out and get down on my hands and knees and feel which way the nap is laying. Find which direction the nap lays down and that is the direction you want to move your wand when cleaning. Vacuum really good first and then test for colorfastness. Once you are sure it is not a bleeder I prespray it lightly with either an oriental rug shampoo or a mild carpet cleaning solution. I then start my truck mount and run it at about half the normal speed and set the PSI between 200-300 pounds. Pull the wand towards you in the direction the nap lays. I find I get better results if I take the wand all the way from one end of the rug to the other end in one long pass. Lift the wand and carry it forward to do the next pass and continue on this way until you are done. After cleaning take a super soft bristled brush and groom the rug, again only moving the brush only in the direction that the nap lays and then use fans to speed up drying. After it is 100% dry I take the brush again and this time brush it against the nap and then brush it again with the nap for a final time (this helps to soften the pile). Roll it up and deliver.
Todd / what about the right water temp. to use for this type of Rugs / I heard once before. Not messing with hot water for this rugs?
I do exactly the same as you mention, the only difference is the last step, ( When the carpet has dried, I dont rake against pile followed with towards pile) I will surely try that, I have a couple silk rugs waiting for me at shop. I thank you once again for all your help. Shad
Paul Lucas at Chem Max in Norton Shores Michigan sells a product to apply to silk after cleaning to make them feel silky. Most silk rugs are very densely knotted. It is hard to get soil that has found its way down into the foundation yarns. Be sure to do a thorough job on the dusting step. I suggest immersion cleaning if there is any heavy soil. You can use Wool Zone or other prespray for natural fibers.
First step is to find out if they are really silk. Many are called art silk and Art is not the guy that wove the rug. These are usually cotton or even worse the dreaded rayon. I would do a search on TMF for Lisa Wagner and I am sure she recently wrote something on silk. Silk rugs (real silk) is incredibly expensive so be very careful.
Are you dusting the rugs well before you clean them? I think this alone seperates a good rug cleaning from a wanna be rug cleaner.
I have no fascility for immersion cleaning, but I do have a bitter bar. Don't know why, but I was always worried putting silk rugs through bitter bar. Whould it be a good idea to put it through the bitter bar, then pre-vacuum & proceed to clean.Whould you happen to have Chem Max's website. Thanks a lot for your support. Shad
The one's that I have come accross are, 100% silk & 100% viscose, or a mixture of both, I think. I will do a search on Lisa Wagner on TMF. Thanks for your support. Shad
I have pre-vacummed the rugs before cleaning. Whould running the silk rug through the bitter bar, then pre-vacuum prior to cleaning, be the same as dusting? Thanks for your support. Shad
Prevacuuming is not close to dusting. You need to turn the rug upside down on grids and vibrate out pounds of dirt and dry soil from the back. And that was with that junk vacuum to vibrate it. We got a much better machine now.
Sorry, may be I spelled 'Beater bar' wrong. Anyways, the rugs go through the beater bar upside down & beats all the sand out, then I vacuum & proceed with cleaning. Your way is also great. Where did you buy those grids from? I would'nt mind getting some. Thanks again for your help. Shad
I bought these off a TMF member that had them for sale. You can buy them online too. Can you post pics of how you dust or shake yours? It sounds interesting.
