How to clean high end wool rug?

[Mr.Steamer]

i have a customer who wants a very high end wool rug cleaned. Only ever cleaned basic synthetic rugs. Would encap be better or hwe? What kind of chems would I use, standard presprays or something gentle for wool? It's 8x10, what kind of charge would you guys put on it?? Thanks for the help guys!!

 

[OldCarpetVet]

You are going to get several different answers to your question, I am sure because there is more than one way to clean....Anything really. But first my question to you is.....Define "High End".

 

[OldCarpetVet]

Some people think a $900. rug is High End. To me a High End 8x10 should cost in the $5,000 range.

 

[Mr.Steamer]

Some people think a $900. rug is High End. To me a High End 8x10 should cost in the $5,000 range.

I would guess its atleast a couple thousand. Their rv costs more than my house and their house had to have cost 700 or 800k...could be a cheap rug but I doubt it.

 

[KeepItCleanCarpets]

1. Pre Vac both sides.
2. Go Heavy on your best. prespray.
3. Encap
4. DRY
5. Deodorize

 

[Mr.Steamer]

1. Pre Vac both sides.
2. Go Heavy on your best. prespray.
3. Encap
4. DRY
5. Deodorize

But not use a encap specific prespray?

 

[justlife]

Just remember to dry it thoroughly

 

[Common janitor]

Following . Just picked one up yesterday and two synthetic rugs plus a runner . Very interested to know Richard Santoros thoughts ( OCV ) on using Bonnet Pro products on one of these .
All the Best, Ed

 

[Sierra Clean Care]

i have a customer who wants a very high end wool rug cleaned. Only ever cleaned basic synthetic rugs. Would encap be better or hwe? What kind of chems would I use, standard presprays or something gentle for wool? It's 8x10, what kind of charge would you guys put on it?? Thanks for the help guys!!

Find a GOOD, local rug shop, take it to them, charge the client double whatever your sqft price is. DON'T FOOK AROUND WITH HIGH END RUGS....... It will bite you in the ass if you do........

 

[OldCarpetVet]

Find a GOOD, local rug shop, take it to them, charge the client double whatever your sqft price is. DON'T FOOK AROUND WITH HIGH END RUGS....... It will bite you in the ass if you do........

ONLY IF you don't know what you are doing will they bite you in the ass. Actually the rug won't bite anyone. Lack of ones knowledge will for sure though.

In the case of Mr. Steamer though....I couldn't agree more with you. GREAT advice for him. He needs more hands on, supervised, experience based on my readings.

 

[OldCarpetVet]

Following . Just picked one up yesterday and two synthetic rugs plus a runner . Very interested to know Richard Santoros thoughts ( OCV ) on using Bonnet Pro products on one of these .
All the Best, Ed

East answer, Ed. Use Surround Free. Of course as always test the colors first, starting with Red. If no transfer continue and test blue....then green. When all colors are tested safe you are GTG. PM me if you need to pal.

 

[OldCarpetVet]

I would guess its atleast a couple thousand. Their rv costs more than my house and their house had to have cost 700 or 800k...could be a cheap rug but I doubt it.

In time and with the right teachings and guidance you will be able to look at a rug from a good distance and be able to tell if it is a high end rug, or a rug from Macy's. Takes time my friend. You'll get there.

 

[Scott W]

The gold standard of wool rug cleaning is submersion washing in a pit or on a wash floor. HWE is a good alternative as long as the customer is not told this is a deep and thorough cleaning.

• Inspect for any pre-existing damage, urine deposits and so forth. You can take a small problem, make it worse and make it your if you don't catch it before you start cleaning.
• Check for potential bleeding
• Vacuum well or both sides.
• Use Dye-Loc if this is a bleeder
• Use Wool Medic to pretreat if any urine or other organic material
• Use a prespray made for wool such as Bridgepoint's Wool Perfect
• Rinse with Wool Zone or other rinse made for wool
• Get it dry as quickly as possible. Extra vacuum strokes, air movers, etc. can help.

Cleaning wool rugs with HWE usually prices out between $1 and $2 per sq. ft. Cleaning with submersion methods will price out at $4 to $6 per sq. ft.

There are a lot of you getting rugs that should seriously be thinking of taking the two 1/2 day hands-on rug classes Doug Heiferman and I will be teaching this fall.

Think of high end rugs as depositing money in your bank account, not biting you in the ass.

 

[OldCarpetVet]

I'm going to tell a little story (and I promise to make as it quick as I can) about in plant rug cleaning. Well....actually about one particular plant in New Rochelle, N.Y. It takes place in 1986. A Service Master that I did work for (and owned by a LEO friend of mine at the time) was in a bind. He asked me to drive his worker, Leroy to this plant to drop off 4 area rugs for cleaning using my van. I told him....."Mike, That's unnecessary as I know how to clean any and all rugs. I'll save you the headache" I told him. But no, Mike insisted and after multiple times of trying to convince him, I gave up, said C'Mon Leroy and took the 4 rugs to this plant.

So we get there, we bring the rugs in and as we're bringing them in I see one of the workers at the plant start to unroll one rug. Perplexed, I say nothing and observe. Then all of a sudden and out of nowhere this guy pulls out a Ninja extractor, flips on the switch and proceeds to "Clean" (actually ruin) this vegetable dyed, persian rug. I turn to Leroy and said.....Watch this idiot bleed the rug and sure as shit the red starts bleeding off onto the off white areas. The guy drops the wand in panic and runs for his boss.

Okay....So what have we learned here?

1)- Just because there is an "Expert" rug cleaning plant in your area, doesn't mean that they know what they're doing. YOU BETTER DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST on how QUALIFIED a rug cleaner is and NOT how Certified they. The difference is HUGE!!

2)- Leroy learned a valuable lesson that day and soon learned the value of proper testing for color bleed and crocking among other tests.

3)- Mike learned a better lesson and trusted me from that day forward.

4)- And though I could have stopped that worker from bleeding that rug by simply stepping in and stopping him, the above lessons would never have been learned by either Mike, Leroy, that worker and the plant owner had I done that.

Long story short- Know Who You Are Dealing With When It Comes To Dropping Off YOUR Customers Rug To Someone Else.

Years ago I coined the phrase..."I Trust Me And Very Few Others" for a reason.

Carry On.

 

[OldCarpetVet]

Thanks Tom.

 

[Jim Davisson]

I'm going to tell a little story (and I promise to make as it quick as I can) about in plant rug cleaning. Well....actually about one particular plant in New Rochelle, N.Y. It takes place in 1986. A Service Master that I did work for (and owned by a LEO friend of mine at the time) was in a bind. He asked me to drive his worker, Leroy to this plant to drop off 4 area rugs for cleaning using my van. I told him....."Mike, That's unnecessary as I know how to clean any and all rugs. I'll save you the headache" I told him. But no, Mike insisted and after multiple times of trying to convince him, I gave up, said C'Mon Leroy and took the 4 rugs to this plant.

So we get there, we bring the rugs in and as we're bringing them in I see one of the workers at the plant start to unroll one rug. Perplexed, I say nothing and observe. Then all of a sudden and out of nowhere this guy pulls out a Ninja extractor, flips on the switch and proceeds to "Clean" (actually ruin) this vegetable dyed, persian rug. I turn to Leroy and said.....Watch this idiot bleed the rug and sure as shit the red starts bleeding off onto the off white areas. The guy drops the wand in panic and runs for his boss.

Okay....So what have we learned here?

1)- Just because there is an "Expert" rug cleaning plant in your area, doesn't mean that they know what they're doing. YOU BETTER DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST on how QUALIFIED a rug cleaner is and NOT how Certified they. The difference is HUGE!!

2)- Leroy learned a valuable lesson that day and soon learned the value of proper testing for color bleed and crocking among other tests.

3)- Mike learned a better lesson and trusted me from that day forward.

4)- And though I could have stopped that worker from bleeding that rug by simply stepping in and stopping him, the above lessons would never have been learned by either Mike, Leroy, that worker and the plant owner had I done that.

Long story short- Know Who You Are Dealing With When It Comes To Dropping Off YOUR Customers Rug To Someone Else.

Years ago I coined the phrase..."I Trust Me And Very Few Others" for a reason.

Carry On.

Great post! Just goes to show that you have to carefully inspect the construction of the rug before getting it wet.

It's amazing what a great vacuuming and an air compressor can do before you even start to clean a rug.

Rugs can be durable as hell or quite fragile, but all can be cleaned and usually pretty easily. By all means take a rug course and learn what not to do first, before you learn what to do. Identification is probably the most important part, care and handling afterwards is predicated on it. Good luck and look into going to Scott's course for sure!

 

[OldCarpetVet]

Great post! Just goes to show that you have to carefully inspect the construction of the rug before getting it wet.

Identification is probably the most important part

BINGO Jim.....In A Nutshell.

Once identified, you take it from there. Rug cleaning is not difficult at all. Some people just make it seem difficult. Same goes for fabrics. Education, as usual, is the key.

 

[Jim Davisson]

BINGO Jim.....In A Nutshell.

Once identified, you take it from there. Rug cleaning is not difficult at all. Some people just make it seem difficult. Same goes for fabrics. Education, as usual, is the key.

Upholstery and rugs are what I like to clean the most, the tougher... the better. You are part cleaner, part detective and then have to work out stain removal based on the above. I like that part!

 

[OldCarpetVet]

Upholstery and rugs are what I like to clean the most, the tougher... the better. You are part cleaner, part detective and then have to work out stain removal based on the above. I like that part!

Same here, Jim. Simply put....I clean what the other guys run away from.

 

[Common janitor]

Agree it's a great thread and just in time for the great advice from more experienced cleaners !! Here's some pictures of my new project . Any feedback / advice is welcome !!
All the Best, Ed