cleaning silk rugs from india

[lust1kiddo]

Hey Guys,
I picked up a job cleaning a few rugs and two are silk. Anything I should know besides don't drown them and use a mild PH? I would appreciate any suggestions on how to best clean them. I have a 100 psi porti and normally use my upholstery tool to do rugs. I haven't had a chance to take my RCT class yet so please, don't kick my ass. Thanks for the help. You guys and Gals always save me.
Jarred
2 months away from his first twelve..

 

[Shorty]

ARE they silk ??

Or are they "Art silk" ??

What is the construction on the back ??

Not to kick your ass, BUT, if you go ahead and clean them without proper ID (and many other variables), you may end up owning them.

Take care, be aware, silk rugs are not the rugs to "learn" on. !gotcha!

Ooroo,

:roll:

 

[The Great Oz]

Time to make friends with the nearest in-plant rug cleaner, unless you have really good insurance. Some rugs you can hack out, but not silks.

Ask Mikey about learning to clean rugs from a bulletin board.

 

[rhyde]

i'm gonna pull up a chair and a bag of popcorn and see how this plays out

 

[lust1kiddo]

I will take a look at them and see what I can do. In plant guy that I use sometimes charges too much..i dont have to fully restore them, just clean. maybe foam and vacuum?

 

[Shorty]

Have you cleaned silk before ??

Pass the popcorn please. ;-)

Ooroo,

!gotcha!

 

[Ron K]

Scuttlebutt Amber Ale and some Pretzels.

 

[lust1kiddo]

i have..never had a problem. No one has ever complained..i just kind of mist it a little then suck the water out with my machine..no color runs or anything. I just wanna learn more that's all.

 

[sweendogg]

Welcome to the room of rug snobs 101.. oh yeah and Shorty!!! ooroo mate!

It sounds like you have your plan of attack.. just dry quick quuick quick.. extract in the pile direction ONLY, and groom groom groom.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

The best way to learn more is to get certified. These rugs you picked up can pay for the class itself and elimanate a hugh possible mistake. You owe it to your customers to know what youre doing when dealing with their items.

The best advice you will get with these rugs is take them to someone who *knows* how to clean them. Then get certified for the next rugs that come in.

 

[sweendogg]

Maybe I'm sick and twisted, but I like washing silk rugs more than wool rugs some days.

To be 100% serious, there are alot of silk rugs out there that if you look at them wrong they will eat you alive. It isn't even reccomended that silk rugs be walked on. Rather used in ultra low traffic areas and wang hanings, furniture coverings etc. If your clients rugs are soiled at all, then take them to your in plant guy. I'm sure all of us rug snobs will agree that your in plant guy is not charging too much to do the rugs. To take the time to clean them correclty and make a profit, you have to charge quite a bit. We tend to start our silk cleaning charges at 4.00/sqft and take it up from there.

 

[Shorty]

Welcome to the room of rug snobs 101.. oh yeah and Shorty!!! ooroo mate!
groom groom.

Fair suck of the sav cobber, that should be "G'day mate". shiteatinggrin

Ooroo,

blowme

 

[steve frasier]

In plant guy that I use sometimes charges too much..

Really?

 

[lust1kiddo]

I will check them out and see whats what. The problem is these iicrc cert's for rug cleaning are like 3 times a year and none in ny unless you guys know another way to learn. Maybe online or dvd's or something. I actually really want to learn. The custy is a cheap **** who's nice parents gave them the rugs..and the people are not interested in spending a lot of money to clean their stuff. 4.00/ft would be awesome but they wouldn't pay. They were bitching about 2.00/ft for in house..but I can clean the other ones real good and then just do my best with these two.

 

[Luis Gomez]

I took the IICRC rug course 2 yrs ago, learned *** about cleaning silk. So you, so called experts stop telling us to take stupid *** courses and start inviting us to your shop to learn how to clean them.
R/S Luis

 

[The Great Oz]

If your customers are too cheap to pay for proper cleaning, what makes you think they wouldn't love it if you ruined their stuff? They'll laugh at you all the way to the bank. Sorry for not giving you tips, but I've done it before and had cleaners call and scream at me because they misapplied what I told them and wanted me to pay for their stupidity.

Don't take on jobs you can't do and then hope you can figure it out. Experimentation is by far the most expensive way to learn.

 

[sweendogg]

The iicrc rug courses will teach you the very basics of rug id and a little about not getting in trouble with wool rugs. If you want to learn rug cleaning do what nate did and go visit some plants, then take some good courses like the Master Rug Cleaning Program, or start looking at getting your CRS through the RIA.

 

[lust1kiddo]

thanks Dave. I just didn't know where else to go. YOu have been a great help my friend, if you're ever in ny..I owe you a Luger.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Change in texture alone can cause you problems enough that you'll wish you never touched it.

Sometimes you're better passing on the job, rather that taking on a project that's going to cause you nothing but heartache, even if the customer pays and is satisfied.

 

[lust1kiddo]

I took everyones advice and decided to just bring them to my guy to do for me. I have to eventualy learn how to do this stuff better. I pretty much almost break even with what I have to tack on top when you count the time I spend bringing and taking rugs.
Thanks Guys

 

[lust1kiddo]

the guy said they wereent even silk...he said they were some kind of cotton..he said they were " merconized cotton" i cant tell what he says all the time because of his accent. he just said they were super bleeders and i was smart by bringing them..lol.

 

[sweendogg]

That sounds about par for the course. Understanding what you are cleaning is 60 %of the challenge and also a big reason why people like the great oz, and Hyde only give advice to other seasoned rug cleaners. The risk of giving the wrong information based off of the wrong rug type can get the novice rug cleaner in trouble.

 

[Shorty]

Jarred, I hope I don't come across as a smart arse here, & I ain't even gonna say I told you so, because I didn't.

I did ask in my first post if they were "Art Silk", which is a fancy way of confusing purchasers of rugs.

These "Art Silk" rugs are usually mercerized cotton, which is what your guy has confirmed for you.

One rug course that I did find very beneficial was Lisa Wagners "Rugs to Run From" course.

She shows and discusses how to pick potential problem rugs, or as I like to put it, "Know when to clean 'em, know when to leave 'em".

I believe it has saved my arse many times over.

Good luck in your quest to learn more.

Ooroo,

shiteatinggrin

 

[lust1kiddo]

was that an actual course or was it the stuff she put online?

 

[Shorty]

A course at Jon-Don in Roselle.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Lisa has a lot of good info on her Blog, you might take some time and look at the problem rugs she has there.

http://www.therugchick.com/rugsecrets/

 

[sweendogg]

Jarred, before you spend the big $$ on the courses, might I suggest a book that if you take the time to read and learn from will save you alot of questions, time, and frustration.

The price is definitely high, but its worth every penny.

http://www.chatalbashrug.com/estore/misc.html

Aaron and Ellen have really layed out a great resource for any rug cleaners in how to id the rugs, how to identify potential problems. And helps you start asking the right questions. Then when you run into a rug you can't identify, take a picture of the front and the back corner to show the edge and fringe and backing type and we will help you postively ID the rug. Then you can consult your rug bible about potential problems.

Again if you are serious about rugs, this would definitly be a step in the right direction. Bulletin boards are great, but having a great resource that gives you answers when you need them is invaluable.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

shiteatinggrin

 

[-JB-]

Could be wrong but, do a search for oriental rug glossary on your droid, same book(ish)?

 

[sweendogg]

completely different book

The book I linked to was written just for rug cleaners.

The oriental rug glossary is a rug history app, and really nothing to do about cleaning.