I found a natural wool rug 11 X 7 feet that was absolutely filthy with a "Free" sign on it about 3 months ago while walking in my neighbourhood. Being a professional carpet cleaner the filthiness of the wool rug did not intimidate me at all and indeed I thought the clean would be a challenge and the end result would be a beautiful clean rug.
The first day I cleaned it twice on the top using my Rotovac 360i at a 250 psi setting, using Flex citrus pre-spray and also I sprayed the numerous ground in dirt stains with Simple Green and mechanically scrubbed with a brush in addition to using my Rotovac. I worked on the top of the carpet approximately 4 hours and cleaned the back of the rug using a regular wand and generous amounts of Simple Green. I think I spent about 5 - 6 hours altogether the first time cleaning the rug and probably went through 8 - 10 buckets or so of water, using the 250 psi setting on my Esteam Warrior extractor.
The following day I thoroughly vacuumed the rug.
The rug looked cleaner but still dirty after the vacuum. A week later I looked under the rug and to my horror the laminate floor under the rug looked like a sand box. I thoroughly spent another day vacuuming both under and on top of the rug and deep cleaned it two more times with the Rotovac 360i on the 250 psi setting. I thought for sure the rug was clean now.
Two days later after a routine vacuum I looked under the rug and saw lots of sand. I vacuumed under the rug too. Surely the sand and dirt would be gone now!
A week later more sand appeared under the rug and a friend commented the carpet still looked dirty. I cleaned it by now so much and compared to the first day it actually was starting to look clean to me. I decided to blast the carpet again, with Flex citrus pre-spray and my Rotavac 360i on the 250 psi setting using about 6 buckets of water water over a 2 hour period, then I did a slow dry pass with the Rotovac. I then saturated the rug with Simple Green, let it sit for ten minutes and manually scrubbed the rug with a brush before blasting it with my Rotovac and another 6 buckets or so of water and then another slow dry pass. I then turned the rug over and cleaned every square inch of the back of the rug with my hand tool at a 200 psi setting.
After the carpet dried I vacuumed it thoroughly both front and back.
The carpet looks cleaner for sure, but to my horror and amazement I just lifted the carpet again and the underneath literally still looks like a sandbox. Sweeping it up there is enough sand to fill a large dustpan.
I have many satified customers. In nearly 20 years of carpet cleaning I never have had to clean a carpet more than once, maybe making a couple slow wet passes and then one dry pass at the most.
Has anyone ever encountered a carpet like this?
The first day I cleaned it twice on the top using my Rotovac 360i at a 250 psi setting, using Flex citrus pre-spray and also I sprayed the numerous ground in dirt stains with Simple Green and mechanically scrubbed with a brush in addition to using my Rotovac. I worked on the top of the carpet approximately 4 hours and cleaned the back of the rug using a regular wand and generous amounts of Simple Green. I think I spent about 5 - 6 hours altogether the first time cleaning the rug and probably went through 8 - 10 buckets or so of water, using the 250 psi setting on my Esteam Warrior extractor.
The following day I thoroughly vacuumed the rug.
The rug looked cleaner but still dirty after the vacuum. A week later I looked under the rug and to my horror the laminate floor under the rug looked like a sand box. I thoroughly spent another day vacuuming both under and on top of the rug and deep cleaned it two more times with the Rotovac 360i on the 250 psi setting. I thought for sure the rug was clean now.
Two days later after a routine vacuum I looked under the rug and saw lots of sand. I vacuumed under the rug too. Surely the sand and dirt would be gone now!
A week later more sand appeared under the rug and a friend commented the carpet still looked dirty. I cleaned it by now so much and compared to the first day it actually was starting to look clean to me. I decided to blast the carpet again, with Flex citrus pre-spray and my Rotavac 360i on the 250 psi setting using about 6 buckets of water water over a 2 hour period, then I did a slow dry pass with the Rotovac. I then saturated the rug with Simple Green, let it sit for ten minutes and manually scrubbed the rug with a brush before blasting it with my Rotovac and another 6 buckets or so of water and then another slow dry pass. I then turned the rug over and cleaned every square inch of the back of the rug with my hand tool at a 200 psi setting.
After the carpet dried I vacuumed it thoroughly both front and back.
The carpet looks cleaner for sure, but to my horror and amazement I just lifted the carpet again and the underneath literally still looks like a sandbox. Sweeping it up there is enough sand to fill a large dustpan.
I have many satified customers. In nearly 20 years of carpet cleaning I never have had to clean a carpet more than once, maybe making a couple slow wet passes and then one dry pass at the most.
Has anyone ever encountered a carpet like this?
