Rug question

[Zee]

What would you guys do with a silk rug:

-Got a purple colored shake drink dropped on it

-customer got the advice from someone to hose it down

-he also used a toothbrush to "get the stain out"

-was hosing it for about an hour completely saturating the rug
And they called us after all that.


Now the once soft silk pile is totally distorted all over and of course it won't brush out (I have never seen a silk rug brush out after it got distorted so I told them we won't be able to restore the nap)

Its still wet.

Should I just drop it in the washpit and give it a rinse again and then dry it or dry it first to see how bad the damage is?
Right now its hard to pinpoint where the accident happened...

I told them we don't like to get silk rugs wet like this so it was not the best idea to hose it down.


How can I convince my stupid photobucket account to post the pictures????????

 

[Ken Snow]

It can likely be corrected, but will require extensive wire brushing possibly with a steamer. May also have dried out the silk quite a bit.

 

[J Scott W]

Pour more purple shake on the unaffected areas. Sell the rug to Ken for his office.

 

[Ken Snow]

LOL- I almost said the same thing Scott

 

[Zee]

And I thought of Ken as I went to look at the rug....thinking PURPLE and RUG that rings Ken Snow..


I just didn't wana derail my own topic with the very first post.

 

[Ken Snow]

Only reason I held back too Zee!

If you can't get it to post, feel free to email me the picture directly at kensnow@originalhagopian.com and I would be happy to give you an opinion and/or post it for you.

 

[Zee]

Thanks Ken!

 

[Ron K]

If it is still wet Wash it as you normally do and set the nap as best as possible. The first thing that is done to silk is it is Boiled so washing should not be an issue. are you sure it is wool? Did you do a bleach test on a fiber?

 

[Zee]

are you sure it is wool? ?

I'm assuming you meant silk.

Well I was pretty sure it was silk...the fibers I took and dropped in bleach had been in there for about 20minutes...mostly intact.

I was under the impression (and I have done it before) where I put the silk in bleach it will dissolve.

So I guess this rug fooled me as Ken was telling me too that it may not be silk.

It sure feels like silk and acts like silk. Other than the dissolving in bleach issue.

 

[Ron K]

Is it "cool" to the touch? Silk usually feels cooler then room temp.

 

[Zee]

It very slowly was dissolving in bleach... after hours of being in there....

It feels cooler than the temperature around. I washed it and squeegeed it out hard.

I will go ahead with the wire brush and steamer to try to fix the remaining distortion of the pile.


I'm just surprized how long it took for the bleach to start dissolving the fiber. Could it be some kind of protector on the fabric not allowing the bleach to do its "thing"?

 

[Zee]

I was even surprized how shiny it came back after all the damage. Washing and laying the nap down and dry it really helped to save it 90%.

It almost has a reflection showing up against the light.

 

[The Great Oz]

Given the choice between a permanent purple stain and hosing it down, the customer did the right thing.

Clorox is only about 5% chlorine these days, so doesn't work so well. Get a USB microscope and you'll never have a problem with fiber ID again.

 

[Zee]

Given the choice between a permanent purple stain and hosing it down, the customer did the right thing.

Clorox is only about 5% chlorine these days, so doesn't work so well. Get a USB microscope and you'll never have a problem with fiber ID again.

It took almost 24 hours to dissolve the fibers in bleach. oh my... but it was silk..now we know.

USB microscope? help me out here...

I have a small pocket style microscope with a small lightbulb on it ...i got it from somewhere not sure where.. could be radioshack. Actually just looked- this is it: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2179604

I went back and forth with Ken Snow via e-mail and he helped me out greatly, with advice about the rug. I thank him again! It turned out great and the customer was thrilled to see it back, in such a good condition.

I did the wirebrushing to try to untangle the pile, after the washing and squeegeeing. It also worked very well.



On a side note: it is possible to get rugs from customers that used to be cleaned by Lisa Wagner's mom's shop

I just picked up two rugs that they used to clean. LISA!!! I'M TAKING OVER!!


















jk

 

[The Great Oz]

I carry one of the Radio Shack ones in an inspection kit; they're handy for certain uses.

Silk, cotton and rayon are easy to ID with magnification

A microscope you can plug into a computer allows you to take digital photos you can e-mail. On-location you can show a customer what you're looking at on a notebook or tablet.

This one is both inexpensive and works very well. AM-2011

You can spend more money if you want. Better lens, features, couple hundred dollars. AM-3013

 

[GeneMiller]

great info in this thread.

thanks gene