This rug is in a store in a high traffic area. 5 months old. Hand tufted. Never cleaned. The raised areas are silk - rest is wool. Silk areas are turning brown. I am suggesting a cleaning but I think the silk may be abrading. Traffic comes in off the street - no walk off. May have to use some type of low moisture on this due to store hours. Any thoughts? I am going to attach a PDF file as this is how they were sent to me - hope it works! I have not personally seen this yet.
Its a shame to take nice materials and use them in a situation where they get abused like this. I'm not sure it will be corrected. Here is an idea to try on a small area. If it works you can do the rest of the rug. The van der Waals forces will be a big factor because of the small denier fibers in the silk and consequent large surface area. A charged hydrotope should help overcome this attraction between small particles and the silk. Apply Filter Free. Work in gently with soft brush (horse hair). Extract with a low moisture upholstery tool. Flush thoroughly. Brush up the pile while still damp.
Thanks Scott - I am going in to look at it on wed. This is a pretty big area I think. At least a 20x10 area rug - custom made in Thailand. Not a good place to put a rug like this but a VERY high end area - 5th ave in NYC.
Stupid interior designers (or are they? LOL) I bet they easily have 50K into this rug... Obviously a poor choice for a high traffic area. The dyes are faded, or walked off. The rug can be cleaned but there is color loss. Grin the fibers, if there is color down deep, tip-shearing may be a temporary fix, but original (3-D) look of the rug will be lost. Cleaning and re-dyeing is probably their most cost-effective option. Retufting by the manufacture is another option. Photo document the condition. Cleaning it in-plant is their only option if they want it done right. I clean V'Soske's and Scott Group tufteds like this all the time, and they often need repairs/shearing/re-tufting when put in a commercial setting... NK
Good points Nathan. Color is there when grinning the fibers. My thought was to clean it so we could get a good look at it to see if color was gone. Can't take it out - too many fixtures. Manufacturer is in Thailand. Tip shear might work but would have to be done every 5 months! Rug wouldn't last long. This is a really high end store so they don't care about $ of the rug - funny though - no cleaning schedule for it or any others in the store. Theyare holding off on the cleaning and going to bring in a color expert (whatever that is!). I will post if I get any more info.
