I sure did. It was my only option.
I get to the job and the customer has a 150 sqft. area rug. She tells me it's silk and it needs to be cleaned. The rug was pretty dirty but I could tell it wasn't silk. I inspected the back for a tag and all I found was an ambiguous tag that was not very helpful. I did a burn test and the fiber ashed. I put a bit of water on the corner and after about 5 minutes it smelled like wet dog. Okay, so I was pretty sure it was wool.
I told the customer I would need to take the rug back to my "shop" to clean it properly. This rug had a lot of reds, blues, and greens. I explained to her that to be safe I would need to use dyloc and a wool safe cleaner. Areas of the rug would also need to be treated for urine (With U-Turn by Centrum Force). Then there was also all the fringe work.
When it was all said and done, my quote for this rug was about $450. I thought the lady was going to have a stroke. She replied, "The last guy cleaned it on the floor right there." Looking at her floor I told her that was a horrible idea. She had Pergo flooring and the joints were not the best. I then pulled back the rug and showed her that because the rug had been cleaned in place her Pergo had swollen. She said she didn't care because the landlord was going to rip out the floor anyway. "Yeah, sure he is" I thought to myself.
After going over all the reasons I couldn't clean her rug in place I finally agreed to encap it for her. Yes, I'm going to hell. While cleaning it I was thinking to myself, "I'm sure glad @T Monahan isn't around to see this."
Anyway, it came out pretty good. There was a noticeable difference in the brightness and odor of the rug. Once again the Orbot Vibe saved me.
Below are some pics, swollen floor included.
I get to the job and the customer has a 150 sqft. area rug. She tells me it's silk and it needs to be cleaned. The rug was pretty dirty but I could tell it wasn't silk. I inspected the back for a tag and all I found was an ambiguous tag that was not very helpful. I did a burn test and the fiber ashed. I put a bit of water on the corner and after about 5 minutes it smelled like wet dog. Okay, so I was pretty sure it was wool.
I told the customer I would need to take the rug back to my "shop" to clean it properly. This rug had a lot of reds, blues, and greens. I explained to her that to be safe I would need to use dyloc and a wool safe cleaner. Areas of the rug would also need to be treated for urine (With U-Turn by Centrum Force). Then there was also all the fringe work.
When it was all said and done, my quote for this rug was about $450. I thought the lady was going to have a stroke. She replied, "The last guy cleaned it on the floor right there." Looking at her floor I told her that was a horrible idea. She had Pergo flooring and the joints were not the best. I then pulled back the rug and showed her that because the rug had been cleaned in place her Pergo had swollen. She said she didn't care because the landlord was going to rip out the floor anyway. "Yeah, sure he is" I thought to myself.
After going over all the reasons I couldn't clean her rug in place I finally agreed to encap it for her. Yes, I'm going to hell. While cleaning it I was thinking to myself, "I'm sure glad @T Monahan isn't around to see this."
Anyway, it came out pretty good. There was a noticeable difference in the brightness and odor of the rug. Once again the Orbot Vibe saved me.
Below are some pics, swollen floor included.
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