Thick, floppy wool rug help

Russ T.

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Customer has a very furry but floppy wool rug. It doesn't have a nice stiff back where I feel like I can get aggressive at all with it. It's very loose feeling and customer said it sheds like crazy when she vacuums. She understands now that she bought a pretty unpractical rug but wants to see if it can be saved and placed in another, less used area.

Her main concern is urine. There is some minor spotting on the top and quite a bit on the bottom of the rug.

She paid @ $900 for the rug. It sits on a very nice hardwood floor and I will probably be doing the cleaning off site, if at all. I told the customer I'd do some research and would get back to her by Monday. Any help would be great, thanks!

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Pat Muller

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This can be cleaned as with any other wool rug but it will need to be tacked out to hold its shape
Once it is tacked out I wouls shampoo it with Chemspec oriental rug shampoo and rinse it with Chemspec all fiber textile rinse.
The urine is another issue but since this is a very loose weave you should be able to remove most of the odor.
If they are stains from the urine I would tell her the wool has been permanently dis colored
 
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Mr.DonSnider

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Customer has a very furry but floppy wool rug. It doesn't have a nice stiff back where I feel like I can get aggressive at all with it. It's very loose feeling and customer said it sheds like crazy when she vacuums. She understands now that she bought a pretty unpractical rug but wants to see if it can be saved and placed in another, less used area.

Her main concern is urine. There is some minor spotting on the top and quite a bit on the bottom of the rug.

She paid @ $900 for the rug. It sits on a very nice hardwood floor and I will probably be doing the cleaning off site, if at all. I told the customer I'd do some research and would get back to her by Monday. Any help would be great, thanks!

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Pat's cleaning suggestions are spot on. For the stains you might try using stain magic for wool and applying it with an eye dropper . Watch it and then when you have gotten the reaction that you wanted EXTRACT thoroughly. The third bottle in the kit is CSS. But I cant remember if you aplly it before or after the treatment. It's on the directions . Most important is to keep eye contact and extract
 

Papa John

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take it to a Real rug cleaning plant that will give you a discount and then mark it up---- This is best if you don't have the proper equipment and training to do the rugs.

Or Use Left Blower to "Vacuum" the dry soil.---soak the rug in a tub with U-Turn or other Urine treatment for at least 30 minutes to several hours depending on decree of decontamination.== Then Rinse- Extract-rinse extract--Extract-Extract - extract some more, Dry flat in your drying room with Fans Heaters And Must Have- Dehumidifiers. I haven't had to Block/Tack down THAT rug in the past.

Charge $3 per sq ft or More

Then make a commitment to take a Real Rug cleaning class to reduce future financial headaches Later on future jobs.
 

Russ T.

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Thanks guys. No rug cleaning plant near me, wish there was.

Just very busy right now and want to do the right thing for this lady. She knows the ticket will be at least $150.

Surprised no one mentioned VLM but maybe that's because of the urine contamination...
 

Mr.DonSnider

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Thanks guys. No rug cleaning plant near me, wish there was.

Just very busy right now and want to do the right thing for this lady. She knows the ticket will be at least $150.

Surprised no one mentioned VLM but maybe that's because of the urine contamination...
Hi Russ what city are you in? I can get someone out to teach a Free class if you or your distributor can get some cleaners together.
 

Russ T.

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I'm between Des Moines and Ames, IA. Closest distributors are Interlink in Omaha and Full Circle in Kansas City. Almost all cleaners I know are here...
 

Desk Jockey

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Do you have the soft brushes for your Cimex? The soft brushes provide gentle effective agitation. Apply a wool safe precondition, agitate with soft brushes, then rinse acid side. Hand clean the fringe and terry towel blot them. Speed dry.
 
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Russ T.

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Do you have the soft brushes for your Cimex? The soft brushes provide gentle effective agitation. Apply a wool safe precondition, agitate with soft brushes, then rinse acid side. Hand clean the fringe and terry towel blot them. Speed dry.
By George, I think he's got it!
 

Desk Jockey

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As far as the urine since you're not able to submerge it in a bath (the best for urine removal) then pick your favorite poison. Make sure it is safe for wool and saturate and allow it time to digest.

Clean a second time once the odor is corrected. The stain, don't touch the stain without approval. Some clients will want you to attempt it but others want no risk to damage.
 

Mr.DonSnider

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I'm between Des Moines and Ames, IA. Closest distributors are Interlink in Omaha and Full Circle in Kansas City. Almost all cleaners I know are here...
I know the manager of the store in Onaha and he's a great guy. Let me make some calls and see what I can get going
 

Papa John

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Yes u can use your tub. But u will make a mess when u pull out the soaking wet rug.. do this when the wife is not home. - u don't want to be in the dog house..
Or go to Tractor Supply n buy a 6-8 foot galvanized tub/ stock feeder by country line. U won't make any money on THIS rug cleaning but at least you will have it for future jobs
 

The Great Oz

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That's an Indian copy of a Moroccan rug. If the dye in the black squiggles is solid you can immersion wash it or try to clean it with a wand or rotary extractor. Pat's an expert, so unless you have a very soft brush and use a lot of shampoo as a lubricant, use of a rotary brush can do a lot of damage to that loosely twisted yarn. Because it is so sensitive to abrasion, it will be difficult to fully remove a heavy traffic area.

Don't worry about shrinkage. The rug will tighten up, but it will likely dry more square than it is now. SELL HER A BETTER PAD!

The fringes are cotton, and since they're tightly braided they will dry slowly and tend to brown out. don't worry about it, just be prepared to correct it.
 

J Scott W

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The urine deposits can be pretreated with Wool Medic. Then clean with products that are safe for wool.

If urine is everywhere, a bath could help. But if only a couple of spots, I suggest treating just the affected areas, let it dwell for a while. Then use a Spot Claw or Flash Extractor or similar on the back and flush with lots of water from the front to flush and extract the urine that will have been loosened by the Wool medic.
 
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Russ T.

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Springer Home Services near West Des Moines seems to have a decent rug plant setup. Robert Hughes owns the place or works there. I would check in with them about wholesale cleaning. You can still make around $1.50/sq ft. and not have to do any of the work except pickup and delivery.

http://www.trustspringer.com/index.html
Thanks SO MUCH! I'm calling them tomorrow. That rug was the last thing on my mind...

Customer probably knows.....I mean thinks I'm some kind of hack!
 

Goomer

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I say no way you will be able to effectively flush out all the urine by any other means than multiple submersions due to the way the longer shaggy fibers interlock to form a fiber matrix that will act as a physical barrier and resist any attempt at solution penetration from the surface, and at the same time trap any moisture (as it did the piss) that does happen to make it down deeper, and for that same reason, if submersing it, you better have an effective means of drying that thing cause the center will stay damp long after the surface feels dry.

Those things trap EVERYTHING.

Hard enough trying to flush out piss from similar long fiber fag-shag type rugs that are synthetic without submersing it, I can only imagine the nightmare of trying it on such an absorbent fiber as wool.

I'm getting totally fed up with neglected shags and their ignorant owners.
 

Robert Hughes

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Thanks SO MUCH! I'm calling them tomorrow. That rug was the last thing on my mind...

Customer probably knows.....I mean thinks I'm some kind of hack!

Hey Russ,

I just signed up with this board not too long ago and saw this post. Not sure if you brought us this rug or not.
I don't recall meeting you, I would love to take care of some of the rugs that you don't feel comfortable with. I work with
several other cleaners in the area for a discounted rate. Most just drop them off to us, we clean them, and you can deliver
back to your happy customer. If you ever want to swing by or grab some lunch let me know.
 

Russ T.

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Hey Russ,

I just signed up with this board not too long ago and saw this post. Not sure if you brought us this rug or not.
I don't recall meeting you, I would love to take care of some of the rugs that you don't feel comfortable with. I work with
several other cleaners in the area for a discounted rate. Most just drop them off to us, we clean them, and you can deliver
back to your happy customer. If you ever want to swing by or grab some lunch let me know.
Thanks Robert!

It will be after Thanksgiving but I'd love to see the outfit from the inside.
 
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