When I worked for my old rug plant.We use to lay them flat and Cimex them.I believe these are high risk for shrinkage.I only came across about 5 in 2 years.We had a guy that just did these,seamed on borders,and any high risk low moisture rug.Hope I was able to help.
I get a lot of viscous rugs. Do not steam clean them! You will not be able to get the wand marks out. I immersion wash them and groom them real well when wet and they come out great. Dave Posted via Mobile Device
I learned a few things not to do. Viscose is a form of rayon. Sometimes sold as artificial or "ART Silk." The fibers are very weak when wet. They show wand stroke marks. They even fall down under their own weight. They you have to groom like crazy to get them to stand up again. I did sucessfully clean a few with dry upholstery tool and loots of hand grooming. If I get another one to clean, I would like to try Dave R's method.
They use the wrong dye frequently on these rugs so some can bleed wildly. We had one last week that the customer signed off on and it bled like crazy. I think some would say the best way to clean them is with a match.
Rayon (viscose is its fancy stage name...) is the WORST fiber on the planet. Whoever decided to use it for rugs should be shot. Yes ... you can quote me on that. It has the strength of pasta. (Wool breaks in strength tests after 10,000 bends, silk after 2400, and rayon after SEVENTY.) It loses color (fade and bleed), it is horrible with agitation (Dave is right - wand marks - UGH!), and over time it looks worse after you clean it. Fibers like to break too. When you see the Art Silk rugs like Scott mentioned, they look like a cat has clawed the heck out of it ... staple fibers break off. It also is FAMOUS for yellowing. Spill water on it - BAM! Big yellow spot. I've seen it ... looks like a pet stain when it's just water. Test it for dye colorfastness. If it does not show as a bleed risk, then clean it as you would tricky upholstery - dust it (gently), use a shampoo foam to clean the face fibers, then acid rinse/extract - I'd use a Dri-Master hand tool ... allows you to control the water flow so you don't use too much. These are dangerous rugs. And I'm shocked to see Karastan coming out with wool and viscose blend rugs - BUT rayon is cheap, and everyone seems to be cutting corners today to get rugs to market cheaper. Some client buy these thinking they are silk - so you may have someone who paid a lot for a rug not worth much at all. Be careful, Lisa
