Hello I have just been on a survey for some carpets and the guy wants a rug cleaning aswell. The rug isnt dirty but just needs freshening up since the rest of the room is being cleaned. It has 100% acrylic fibres, the backing however is made from a mix of cotton, viscose and rayon (says the label). I was going to use a dry foam for this and 'wet vac' the foam up afterwards, im kinda of thinking to keep it as dry as possible. I think a mix backing like this caused me a headache last time and bled but im not sure it was the same mix.Wanting to avoid trouble. Any help would be great, thanks in advance
Acrylic face yarns will not bleed. If it is a machine tufted rug there should not be an issue. However, if it is gunned or hand tufted, there may be a stencil or cartoon on the foundation yarns. This can sometimes bleed through to the surface. Sometimes you can see this by grinning the fibers or looking at the backing. But the best test is to clean a small section first as a test. Then you will know if there is a bleed from the foundation or any other issues.
Can you post a photo? I have never seen a rug as you've just described. You are right to be more concerned with the back than the front. I hate this term "freshen up" though... you are either cleaning the rug, or you are not. If they want a "freshen up" - then just vacuum the darn thing. I think they believe a "freshen up" means lower price. Anyway - please post the photos. You may have to surface clean this - which you could do with an upholstery tool, to control the moisture to the back. Lisa
Thanks for the advice, unfortunately I don't have any photos of this (I need to get into that habit) but I now know it is tufted in construction (very dense) with the material mix glued on backing covering the latex layer. I have found a match online though that I believe is the exact rug: http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/s... I find it strange that the back isnt synthetic since the main fibre content is.
This motley mix of fibers is a warning sign. I'd clean both sides (front and back) like you would upholstery. Don't overwet it, use a hand tool for control. Especially the back side - rayon is going to want to brown, shrink, mark up. I like the Sapphire Scientific tool for this. You know what the face fibers are - and the backing - but who knows what the foundation fibers are - that could be ANOTHER problem. If there is stenciling (marking the design in ink before it was hooked), that could bleed out and create a disaster. You want to grin open the fibers and make sure that is not lurking. Here's a post about that => Hooked Rug Dangers Surface cleaning acrylic should not be a problem, just don't agitate too much - you can use your portable/truckmount - also test the dyes with your solution to play it safe. It is the BACK that will be your potential problem. Rayon sucks. So be careful. Use an Airpath to speed dry that puppy when you are done. Lisa
Foam apply with scrubber soft brush(this is why I love my little Koblenz) taking care only to use fluff of foam no water portion what so ever(I use a large Rubbermaid container about a foot deep to create fluff), fan dri, vacuum as recommended by Lisa and please charge her full price; Never give away your work; try getting a free Big Mac today see how hard they laugh at you. Good Luck!
Just n update. Did the job today, grinned the fibres and couldnt see any pen marks etc. Sprayed lightly with prochem fibre shampoo, agitated with oreck orbiter, lightly sprayed again, another go with oreck in opposite way. Then extracted with sapphire hand tool with prochem fibre/fabric acidic rinse and clensan sanitiser (dog household). When I left it was nearly dry. In the future though I will be bringing rugs back to work on, too much to deal with when you are cleaning the carpet it sits on aswell.
