Cleaned rug now it won’t lay flat

Mikey P

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The edges of some woven rugs can curl or wave due to variations in the construction or weave pattern. Both typically observed after cleaning or when high humidity is present. Rugs that exhibit this tendency would be best cleaned “in-plant” where humidity and other potential issues can be controlled.
Typically, this will self-correct in a few days. If the curling does not relax completely, you can try one of these fixes:
Placing the rug face down, roll the rug up as tight as you can and secure it with rope or tape for a few days.
Use a clothes steamer (not an iron; they’re too hot and can quickly melt synthetic fibers) to relax the edges and place a large heavy object on the raised areas for 24 hours. Use a plastic garbage bag as a barrier between the weighted object and rug to limit damage to the rug by bleeding or rusting.
 
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Desk Jockey

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I thought it was caused by the binding material not being preshrunk. So when it is wet, it draws up causing the rippling.

However I'm not a rug snob. 😉
 

Dolly Llama

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Mr Brightside

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sorry I didn't include much info the rug is 100% polypropylene its inexpensive and was cleaned on site as it dried customer noticed the edges became wavy. We clean our share of rugs every year no issues but this was brought to my attention and I really had no answer. I like the idea of the clothes iron and may give it a try.
Thanks for the info guys ..... correction (mikey)
 

Numero Uno

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Re wet ,extract as much as possible
Stay tack or get a non marring,non dye transferable sheet of plastic tarp.
Then uniformly weigh it down.
Watch how she dries,bear in mind trapped moisture enables odors.
Possibly is small hanging is an option..
Good luck but this is old school type thing...
 

Numero Uno

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There could be cardboard in the bindings also.
Kinda like you see in cheap braids.
I got faith in ya,ya it's a needless pita.
But attach a note on client areas for your office.
Avoid this include picture.
It's a positive bro.
You learn ,cleaners will learn who read your post .
 
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Cleanworks

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sorry I didn't include much info the rug is 100% polypropylene its inexpensive and was cleaned on site as it dried customer noticed the edges became wavy. We clean our share of rugs every year no issues but this was brought to my attention and I really had no answer. I like the idea of the clothes iron and may give it a try.
Thanks for the info guys ..... correction (mikey)
100% polypropylene rugs often have cotton, linen or jute in the backing. This is what causes the buckling. Usually it will go back down as it continues to dry. When we do these in the shop, it's common to have them curl bit as they hang on the drying rack, they straighten out.
 

The Great Oz

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jeeze, whatadick, did a chimp crash a van?
Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings as I was deliberately poking a stick in your eye. I forgot the :icon_twisted:

Would it be better if I'd said that generic answers remind me of the solutions you see on "Tina's tips" websites? :icon_twisted:

Or: More information about the rug is needed for an accurate assessment and answer.

Jay, polyester grows as it gets warm and melts at a very low temperature, so using an iron could be risky. It's possible that it will settle down when cool and dry and it's also possible that nothing short of blocking and adding a backing or sizing will help.

My recommendation would be to refund the cost of cleaning the rug if it doesn't settle down by itself. Just not worth the time involved in trying to solve an inherent problem with this type of rug.
 

BIG WOOD

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My recommendation would be to refund the cost of cleaning the rug if it doesn't settle down by itself. Just not worth the time involved in trying to solve an inherent problem with this type of rug.

Refund? Screw that! It's not his fault they bought a rug that did that when it was professionally cleaned. The customer needs to take that invoice with a picture and send it to the manufacturer on the tag to attempt to get a refund if it doesn't lay flat. I'm tired of the freaking cleaner getting blamed for crap like this. He didn't make that rug. It's way better than the customer throwing that rug over a fence and hosed it down to let it drip dry.

Refund PSffft
 

Desk Jockey

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Refund? Screw that! It's not his fault they bought a rug that did that when it was professionally cleaned. The customer needs to take that invoice with a picture and send it to the manufacturer on the tag to attempt to get a refund if it doesn't lay flat. I'm tired of the freaking cleaner getting blamed for crap like this. He didn't make that rug. It's way better than the customer throwing that rug over a fence and hosed it down to let it drip dry.

Refund PSffft
He did make the rug that way. It wasn't that way before but it is after cleaning.

Any manufacturer would laugh at them and blame the cleaner.

The only way for a cleaner to protect themselves is, don't clean cheap rugs or have a written disclaimer explaining why it happens and that your cleaning may expose these defects.
 

Desk Jockey

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I know he did nothing wrong but it's the same as the dry cleaner. If they damage your garment without pointing out the risk, who is to blame? You for buying it? The store where you bought it? The garment manufacturer?

Ultimately everyone could takes some blame but it was fine (dirty) before it was cleaned, and now the garment is ruined. Who gets the blame? The cleaner if you never explained the potential for damage.
 

The Great Oz

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the rug is 100% polypropylene its inexpensive and was cleaned on site as it dried customer noticed the edges became wavy.
That's the proper way to clean rugs, so it's not the cleaner's fault.
The rug was cleaned "the proper way?"

Sometimes cleaning on site with a wand is fine, sometimes it's asking for trouble. If your business is upmarket, cleaning rugs on site with a wand is asking for bigger trouble and you'll deserve the butt-kicking you'll get for doing it.

A lot of times you're absolutely right about the problem being the manufacturer's fault, and there's no way you could know about a hidden issue. Sometimes we will send the customer back to the retailer to see if they can get a refund.

Most of the time, if you're a pro, you learn enough about what you're cleaning to either clean while avoiding problems, refuse to clean problem rugs, or accept that you should have foreseen the problem and pay when things go wrong.
 

BIG WOOD

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Two real scenarios. The blue rug during cleaning :
“ ma’am,can I show you this? As you know I had to use water to clean up the spots on the rug. This buckling is from the cotton that’s weaved in the backing. It does this when exposed to moisture. Give it a day or two and it’ll relax.”
“Ok, no problem”

Next one:
“From the flushing method I’m using...it’s causing this polypropeline to buckle. It’ll relax back down once it’s fully dried. Just please watch your step when you walk around it.”
She accepted that explanation.

And don’t give me any excuse for saying encapsulation would’ve prevented that. It started buckling almost right after I put a light spray on it.

BS on refunding any money for these rugs buckling

63C9D4F5-7836-403B-8111-9085AB8C034B.jpeg 2500C4FB-C10C-4462-8EB8-6A051BE3AEEA.jpeg C2F74CA7-650C-4DF3-B7A7-9AE79B2DB8E0.jpeg
 

Cleanworks

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Two real scenarios. The blue rug during cleaning :
“ ma’am,can I show you this? As you know I had to use water to clean up the spots on the rug. This buckling is from the cotton that’s weaved in the backing. It does this when exposed to moisture. Give it a day or two and it’ll relax.”
“Ok, no problem”

Next one:
“From the flushing method I’m using...it’s causing this polypropeline to buckle. It’ll relax back down once it’s fully dried. Just please watch your step when you walk around it.”
She accepted that explanation.

And don’t give me any excuse for saying encapsulation would’ve prevented that. It started buckling almost right after I put a light spray on it.

BS on refunding any money for these rugs buckling

View attachment 107039 View attachment 107040 View attachment 107041
Should have hired a professional to clean it.
 

BIG WOOD

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Should have hired a professional to clean it.
OP them fookers for the win, dufus.
Lame!

Using an OP would've put the same amount of moisture on it that caused the buckling. Note that I said it started buckling with just a light spray. The blue and white rug had dog crap on it, which an OP would've been useless to make it clean enough. I know Mikey is just trying to piss me off, but the Canadian above has really pissed me off.

I know some of you guys have a rug shop and push that service to improve your ROI, and I commend you for that. But pushing an expensive rug washing on these types of rugs is just wrong, unless the customer personally requests it, just due to the value of the rug. HWE is the best type of maintenance cleaning that these types of rugs can get for the value.

Once again, DON'T REFUND on these rugs. That's my point
 

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