This is one pissy rug.

[daniel@procarpet]

A lady calls me and says her dog has just about ruined her rug. On the phone she said it was a real expensive wool rug, but it isn't. I told her not to worry that I would make her rug clean and odor free for 140. She asked me about the wood floor and I told her it would likely need to be sanded. She asked me to clean it, and I said I could clean it with no guarantee. Then she points to her upholstery and said Stanley was out and in her words they got water all over the wood floor. She said water was everywhere. I thought they must have had a bad leaky quick connect. I don't get why people are so hung up on them anyways. They do market accordingly though. I saw a sweet F-150 with a cool tailgate that said "Heavy Traffic? Call Stanley Steemer" It had a soiled carpet with a nice clean stripe going through it. The picture sucks but I will post it.

 

[Mikey P]

So was that urine damage or Stanley damage under the rug?

 

[daniel@procarpet]

So was that urine damage or Stanley damage under the rug?

Urine and lots of it.

 

[LisaWagnerCRS]

Wow ... that is disgusting. I assume she was just used to the smell?

How did you come to the $140 for the rug - is that by square foot? We would charge $4 per sq ft for the cleaning, and then an additional $1 (at least) for the urine removal and odor treatment - though after my testing with the Odorox on a urine saturated Iranian woven wool rug, I am going to rethink my billing and create an odor removal room.

Here's a blog post I did awhile back on pets and rugs... I do like pets, just not on my rugs. I enforce the death penalty in my house. http://therugchick.com/2009/07/01/pet-puddles-kitty-catastrophes/

There are times that I will turn away a rug that is so bad I don't even want to touch it ... not because we cant' make it better, but because I don't want to have someone who abuses their textiles so badly as a customer. I have standards.

Lisa

 

[sweendogg]

How did you come to the conclusion that its not wool. That looks an awful lot like: Karastan Woven piece.. Gingham stitch. Could you post a photo of the back?

Thanks!

 

[Mikey P]

Interesting way to store rugs Lisa, I'll assume those are clean?

 

[Harry Myers]

Looks like a Karastan Kara loc to me to 100 wool face pile.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Wow ... that is disgusting. I assume she was just used to the smell?

How did you come to the $140 for the rug - is that by square foot? We would charge $4 per sq ft for the cleaning, and then an additional $1 (at least) for the urine removal and odor treatment - though after my testing with the Odorox on a urine saturated Iranian woven wool rug, I am going to rethink my billing and create an odor removal room.

Here's a blog post I did awhile back on pets and rugs... I do like pets, just not on my rugs. I enforce the death penalty in my house. http://therugchick.com/2009/07/01/pet-puddles-kitty-catastrophes/

There are times that I will turn away a rug that is so bad I don't even want to touch it ... not because we cant' make it better, but because I don't want to have someone who abuses their textiles so badly as a customer. I have standards.

Lisa

You live in California too. It is wool, but looks like a cheap home depot rug. Some people get dupped and overpay for rugs. Wool or not is not going to change how I clean it and it should dry quick. I have another rug I have to clean with no urine damage that has a loose back so I am not going to shampoo it. Doing that just causes shampoo powder to accumulate between the backing and loose cover. I came to 140 by charging my minimum (125) plus 15 dollars to spray a disinfectant after cleaning it.

 

[LisaWagnerCRS]

If the construction is strong, soak that puppy in acetic acid (mix white vinegar and water 50/50 for 3% acetic solution) and you can help remove that urine before you clean it.

I'm with you - whether it's wool or not - I'd clean it the same, and charge the same. We don't change the price if it is synthetic.

Mikey - those rugs are clean and waiting for delivery - so they are short term holding. This makes it easier for us to locate the smaller rugs without them getting crushed.

In the neighboring unit (we have 9500 square feet in our facility) rugs in storage are wrapped in Tyvek paper, photo attached to the outside, and we bill a monthly fee.

Thanks for checking out my blog.
Lisa

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Hey Lisa, I agree with you on the whole pets and rugs thing. My parent's house had some nasty carpet and lots of urine in it. I talked them into getting the hardwood under it refinished and found a guy that did an amazing job. He worked on a 12x16 room for 4 days and even put new quarter round up for 600. I told my parents to let me look for a used rug that I could clean but they just went to Home Depot and picked up a 8x5 wool rug (the same size I am cleaning) for 174 dollars. Charging 4 dollars per sq/ft is not reasonable on a rug like that.

 

[The Great Oz]

I have another rug I have to clean with no urine damage that has a loose back so I am not going to shampoo it. Doing that just causes shampoo powder to accumulate between the backing and loose cover.

The "powder" is dried latex. If an instructor told you it was dried shampoo I'd throw out any of their course materials and take another class.

 

[LisaWagnerCRS]

LOL Bryan! I agree... funny what some guys (and gals) teach.

Daniel - I would still charge the same, but I'd let them know they could purchase a new one for less money than the cleaning/decontamination.

Another idea would of course be to consider keeping the pets OUTSIDE. Who wants to live inside a big livingroom pet toilet?

Lisa

 

[Mikey P]

I'm waiting for a Wood guy to tell us those slats will need replacing.


No sanding is gonna fix that.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

I have another rug I have to clean with no urine damage that has a loose back so I am not going to shampoo it. Doing that just causes shampoo powder to accumulate between the backing and loose cover.

The "powder" is dried latex. If an instructor told you it was dried shampoo I'd throw out any of their course materials and take another class.

No some rugs that have been cleaned and all of the shampoo is not rinsed out will dry and leave a powder residue in the rug. I am sure you can have latex as well. I have shampooed rugs and when they dried I could take my hand and run it down the rug and see a puff of powder come up from dried shampoo. Now I just rinse better. However, you will never rinse all of the shampoo out of a rug with a loose cover. Then when the rug sits for a while and is walked on the floor underneath will have a powder residue on it when the rug is moved or taken up. I am sure latex is a factor as well, but when I see this problem I always ask if the rug was ever cleaned and it almost always was cleaned by a local firm. If it is dried latex then how come it is not like that when the customer buys the rug instead of them noticing it after the rug has been cleaned?

 

[LisaWagnerCRS]

Re: This is one pissy rug. - Latex powdering

Hi Daniel - you bring up some good questions here.

What happens in rugs that are of an inferior quality is that they cut corners, one of which using inferior latex, and adding filler to the mix to extend the product.

You see this often with contemporary hooked rugs like the first one featured in this old post. http://therugchick.com/2009/08/11/how-a-hooked-rug-can-hang-you/

It does in fact become a problem AFTER the wash, when the immersion, the moving of the rug, all loosens the powder up. If the rug has been walked on a bit, you may see the delamination problem before the cleaning - but we usually see the big crumbling after the cleaning. If you have one of these rugs you can peel away the backing material and look for crumbles (this is on the rugs with a LOOSE backing, not the heavily attached ones).

With these pieces (and they are not always CHEAP rugs - Caroline Murray hooked rugs from Vermont, which is a designer line, can be pricey depending on the piece) - we usually have to peel away the backing material, vacuum up that powder, apply a thin layer of better quality latex, and replace the material. All of that of course is billable work.

It also helps to remove that backing to help inspect for stenciling - another problem that creeps up (and wicks up) with some hooked rugs during cleaning (also addressed in that old post).

So I would bet my dollars on the powder being the latex filler. Soap residue usually sticks to the fibers, and does not flake away - unless it's Capture or some other absorbant cleaning compound. In fact, the post I just did today on the Chinese rug with soil embedded in the base of the fibers - that is usually what shampoo residue looks like in oriental rugs cleaned improperly - and it is a beast to get out. (That thread is called Badger, Odorox, and Rugs) http://www.mikeysboard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35206

Lisa

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Lisa that was a good post and I feel enlightened. I will take a pic of the rug before I clean it. It has several unknown stains as well that will likely have to be treated with Stain Magic or similar after cleaning.

 

[joeynbgky]

This ladys good, wish i knew she was gonna be in nashville! I could have gotten my picture taken with her in front of that dryer tree . damn

 

[LisaWagnerCRS]

I'm sure you can photoshop us in front of the tree - LOL!

Last call ... no more posts today!

Lisa

 

[The Great Oz]

Daniel,
Your observation about shampoo/encap residue in the nap is correct. Very often there will be lots of residue left by a dirt hiding method, which you can usually remove with a thorough immersion cleaning.

Dried latex usually doesn't get through to the face, and shampoo doesn't get to the back, so you might be seeing two issues that just look the same.

 

[sweendogg]

I'd really be interested in the back of the rug.. unless it has a tag on it that specifically says homedepot rug. the karastan Karalocs like Harry and I mentioned above when they are included in their custom rug program can cost upwards of 7-800 dollars and then some with size or dealer who specced the rug.

Like Lisa Mentioned, if its a hardy woven rug, you can soak it all day long with either acedic acid or we like Skunk Out and more times than not, you can remove alot of that soil/staining issues with out having to reach for the oxidizer.

 

[Harry Myers]

That material there is between the 80- 100.00 dollar per yd. It is woven Just use caution not to be agressive . You will have excessive shedding.