When you hear the word "Antique" you know that the item in question is old, but what about just making items look old?
It is done all the time with furniture finishes and clothing and it is also done with area rugs too. It is very easy to make a rug look old and yellowed, but it can be easy to remove with improper cleaning. Back in Sept of 2008 I wrote about a lady who's rug changed from a golden colour to a off white after she had used a carpet shampooer on it. This was because her rug had been "tea washed" to make it look antiqued and when she added warm water and shampoo it removed the tea wash.
Tea wash is done by using any of the following actual tea, herbs, synthetic or chemical wash and is applied to the rug after it has been made. A tea wash can also be applied to the fringes as well.This is done because a white fringe doesn't look good on a golden coloured rug.
The fringes are tea stained after the rug is made. Here is a little video about tea stained fringes.
It doesn't make a difference whether the rug is wool or synthetic, machine woven or hand knotted. If the manufacturer wants a golden fringe they will dye them after a rug is made. Here is another blog post about tea stained fringes on a wool Dhurrie/flatweave rug.
Now not all golden fringes are tea stained. Some are actual dyed cotton that remains golden colour the life of the rug, minus any spills and dirt. It is always best to push back the last row of the rug fibers to see if the fringes are a different colour. Rugs that do have tea stained fringes are not a bad rug to buy, just as long as you are aware that the fringes may faded back to white.
Here is to many beloved tea stained rugs, RugloverMary.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Red Hot Red Wine
My days can seem a bit monotone some days, I come to work, check e-mails, call clients to let them know their rugs are ready for pick up, write a blog or do other online work. It is the variety of phone calls, area rugs and clients that make each day just that much more interesting.
Take today, Sat May 28, at 8am on the dot the phone rings, I think wow we just opened they must have been waiting for the time to be 8am to call.
I was wrong, he needed to know when he could bring in his rug for cleaning today and it was a fluke on the timing.
The guy on the phone said that he woke up this morning to a red wine spill and dog urine on his rug. Not the best things to wake up to, especially when you did not cause either of them to happen.
The arrows show where the red wine mostly is and the darker areas are where the rug is wet.
He said that he took his rug out on the patio and tented it over two chairs and poured a very diluted mix of liquid laundry soap and warm water through the rug to get the wine out.
Not the best recommended red wine treatment. The water is fine, but it should have been cold not warm in case the dye was not stable and the laundry soap if not rinsed completely out would leave a residue and attract dirt.
Blotting the spot with a dry white cotton towel, pouring table salt or dry oats on the spill works better. If you own a wet vac and the spill is wet this works best. When a wet spill or accident occurs you need to get it off the rug. When you scrub or add more moisture to the spill you are pushing the original spill deeper into the fibers making it a more permanent stain.
He just brought the rug in to our office for cleaning and it is an 8x10 wool Chobi rug. It is a beautiful rug that his boss bought in Istanbul and that he just recently inherited from said boss. The wine stain is pretty big and is all the way through the rug. The people who spilled the wine had tried to clean it up themselves and ended up spreading it more. The couple were getting amorous and the wine glass got knocked over. Oops kind of a major mood killer.
I am confident that Luv-A-Rug can remove most of the wine stain. There may still be some pile distortion from the scrubbing done, but that will look like a shadow on the rug.
I couldn't help but smile as the two guys were talking about how the wine spill happened. What a horrible mood breaker- spilling wine on your buddies rug. Wine spills happen no matter how careful you are or how little wine is in the glass.
The urine came from the rug owners girlfriends little Chihuahua. I guess he felt that since the rug already had a spill on it he would just add to it. The urine was recent and it got soaked up quickly and is the least of the rug owners worries. having the rug look new again is his main concern. He did a good thing in keeping the area damp, this helps the wine not completely set into the fibers and bringing in the rug right away for cleaning.
When you have a wet spill happen on your rug, whether it be wine, urine or other liquids, the best thing to do is not panic and grab the nearest spot remover, but to use a white towel and soak up what you can and then take another white towel get it damp and keep the spill moist until you can get it professionally taken care of.
On Vancouver Island and Victoria, BC you can call Luv-A-Rug at 250-590-6210/ 1-800-886-2802 and we can arrange pick up of your rug or you can bring it to us at 445 Beta St, off Alpha St.
Here is to many sober rugs, RugloverMary
I was wrong, he needed to know when he could bring in his rug for cleaning today and it was a fluke on the timing.
The arrows show where the red wine mostly is and the darker areas are where the rug is wet.
He said that he took his rug out on the patio and tented it over two chairs and poured a very diluted mix of liquid laundry soap and warm water through the rug to get the wine out.
Not the best recommended red wine treatment. The water is fine, but it should have been cold not warm in case the dye was not stable and the laundry soap if not rinsed completely out would leave a residue and attract dirt.
Blotting the spot with a dry white cotton towel, pouring table salt or dry oats on the spill works better. If you own a wet vac and the spill is wet this works best. When a wet spill or accident occurs you need to get it off the rug. When you scrub or add more moisture to the spill you are pushing the original spill deeper into the fibers making it a more permanent stain.
He just brought the rug in to our office for cleaning and it is an 8x10 wool Chobi rug. It is a beautiful rug that his boss bought in Istanbul and that he just recently inherited from said boss. The wine stain is pretty big and is all the way through the rug. The people who spilled the wine had tried to clean it up themselves and ended up spreading it more. The couple were getting amorous and the wine glass got knocked over. Oops kind of a major mood killer.
I am confident that Luv-A-Rug can remove most of the wine stain. There may still be some pile distortion from the scrubbing done, but that will look like a shadow on the rug.
I couldn't help but smile as the two guys were talking about how the wine spill happened. What a horrible mood breaker- spilling wine on your buddies rug. Wine spills happen no matter how careful you are or how little wine is in the glass.
The urine came from the rug owners girlfriends little Chihuahua. I guess he felt that since the rug already had a spill on it he would just add to it. The urine was recent and it got soaked up quickly and is the least of the rug owners worries. having the rug look new again is his main concern. He did a good thing in keeping the area damp, this helps the wine not completely set into the fibers and bringing in the rug right away for cleaning.
When you have a wet spill happen on your rug, whether it be wine, urine or other liquids, the best thing to do is not panic and grab the nearest spot remover, but to use a white towel and soak up what you can and then take another white towel get it damp and keep the spill moist until you can get it professionally taken care of.
On Vancouver Island and Victoria, BC you can call Luv-A-Rug at 250-590-6210/ 1-800-886-2802 and we can arrange pick up of your rug or you can bring it to us at 445 Beta St, off Alpha St.
Here is to many sober rugs, RugloverMary
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
ALERT!!! MOTHS ARE ATTACKING VICTORIA'S WOOL RUGS
Just because you aren't using your rug doesn't mean that something isn't. When you roll up your rug and store it away without cleaning it, even for a short time, clothes moth can make it their home.
Clothes moth like the climate in Victoria, BC and have done a lot of damage to many wool rugs. Clothes moths are very small, about an half an inch long, and are a golden colour, but it is their larvae that eats the wool on your rugs and clothing. After the egg hatches into a very tiny worm like larvae they immediately start eating your wool rug and it doesn't take long for them to do a lot of damage.
On May 12, 2011 Luv-A-Rug received 3 phones in a row about moths that have eaten area rugs. The first call came from Duncan, BC about many rugs that had moth damage to them. The rugs were cleaned then rolled up and store in the same room that their pet Parrots slept in. The owner was wondering how the clean rugs got infested since the rugs were not used.
The small feathers and bird droppings would have attracted the moths and then they would have moved onto the rugs for a more undisturbed food source. That is why wrapping your rugs properly after cleaning is so important. Even though the rugs were cleaned if they aren't wrapped up, NEVER IN PLASTIC, they can collect the organic dust from humans and pets in the air and moths will move in on your wool rugs.
Out of sight is not the best when it comes to your wool rugs. It may seem like an hassle or and added expense to get your rugs cleaned, but what is cheaper; getting your rugs cleaned or having to deal with a moth infestation or worse having to replace the rug?
The second call came from a storage facility here in Victoria that had a client who stored a very large rug in one of their units for under a year. The rug was around 15x20 feet and stored standing on one end and when they took it out of the storage unit one end had a lot of moth damage. Chances are that a rug that size had moths present on the rug before storing and it was not cleaned or wrapped prior to storing. The owners of the rug decided to toss the rug and the owners of the storage place called up and wanted to know how much to clean and repair it.
The third call was from a lovely retired lady who lives in Cordova Bay here in Victoria. She had a flood in her home and her British Indian rug got wet, so the rug was rolled up and put away while the flood damage was fixed to the rest of the floor. When she went to put the rug back she discovered that moths had damaged one end of it.
She called to get us to take a look at it, she had done a Google search for moth damage, to see if it could be trimmed back and re edged. The boss is going to go take a look at it on Saturday when he does free pick up and delivery. I can tell you without looking at the rug that we can save her rug and make it usable again.
This rug is a 9x12.8 wool British India (Aubusson)and we are cutting both ends of the rug back to the same point of the pattern to make it symmetrical and serging the ends.
The rug got flooded and had a piece of furniture on it, so along with sever moth damage there is the rust stains as well.
There is also a twist to this story, the owners are moving into a small place and having to trim back the rug to a smaller size means that they can use the rug in their new dining room. It just goes to show that not all rug disasters end with the rug getting thrown out.
Now I bet you are thinking that we always say we can fix any rug no matter what shape it is in, but you would be incorrect. The staff at Luv-A-Rug know how the different types of area rugs are made and the cleaning concerns for each rug and stain.When you have us clean your rug we let you know if it is worth cleaning and what the cleaning results will be.
Before you throw away your old, really dirty, or damaged area rug bring it to us or get us to pick it up first. If you like your rug we will do our best to save it and make it lovable for you.
Here's to less rugs in the landfill, RugloverMary.
Clothes moth like the climate in Victoria, BC and have done a lot of damage to many wool rugs. Clothes moths are very small, about an half an inch long, and are a golden colour, but it is their larvae that eats the wool on your rugs and clothing. After the egg hatches into a very tiny worm like larvae they immediately start eating your wool rug and it doesn't take long for them to do a lot of damage.
On May 12, 2011 Luv-A-Rug received 3 phones in a row about moths that have eaten area rugs. The first call came from Duncan, BC about many rugs that had moth damage to them. The rugs were cleaned then rolled up and store in the same room that their pet Parrots slept in. The owner was wondering how the clean rugs got infested since the rugs were not used.
The small feathers and bird droppings would have attracted the moths and then they would have moved onto the rugs for a more undisturbed food source. That is why wrapping your rugs properly after cleaning is so important. Even though the rugs were cleaned if they aren't wrapped up, NEVER IN PLASTIC, they can collect the organic dust from humans and pets in the air and moths will move in on your wool rugs.
Out of sight is not the best when it comes to your wool rugs. It may seem like an hassle or and added expense to get your rugs cleaned, but what is cheaper; getting your rugs cleaned or having to deal with a moth infestation or worse having to replace the rug?
The second call came from a storage facility here in Victoria that had a client who stored a very large rug in one of their units for under a year. The rug was around 15x20 feet and stored standing on one end and when they took it out of the storage unit one end had a lot of moth damage. Chances are that a rug that size had moths present on the rug before storing and it was not cleaned or wrapped prior to storing. The owners of the rug decided to toss the rug and the owners of the storage place called up and wanted to know how much to clean and repair it.
The third call was from a lovely retired lady who lives in Cordova Bay here in Victoria. She had a flood in her home and her British Indian rug got wet, so the rug was rolled up and put away while the flood damage was fixed to the rest of the floor. When she went to put the rug back she discovered that moths had damaged one end of it.
She called to get us to take a look at it, she had done a Google search for moth damage, to see if it could be trimmed back and re edged. The boss is going to go take a look at it on Saturday when he does free pick up and delivery. I can tell you without looking at the rug that we can save her rug and make it usable again.
The rug got flooded and had a piece of furniture on it, so along with sever moth damage there is the rust stains as well.
There is also a twist to this story, the owners are moving into a small place and having to trim back the rug to a smaller size means that they can use the rug in their new dining room. It just goes to show that not all rug disasters end with the rug getting thrown out.
Now I bet you are thinking that we always say we can fix any rug no matter what shape it is in, but you would be incorrect. The staff at Luv-A-Rug know how the different types of area rugs are made and the cleaning concerns for each rug and stain.When you have us clean your rug we let you know if it is worth cleaning and what the cleaning results will be.
Before you throw away your old, really dirty, or damaged area rug bring it to us or get us to pick it up first. If you like your rug we will do our best to save it and make it lovable for you.
Here's to less rugs in the landfill, RugloverMary.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
What is The Best Rugs for Your Home
When buying an area rug:- You want the most for your money.
- You need a rug to add colour, texture and function to your home.
- You want a rug to last for years.
How you choice a rug that fits all your needs? I have written an article to help you choose the right rug for every room in your home.
I outlined the pros and cons of most types of rugs I see for cleaning. Having knowledge before going shopping for rugs saves you a lot of headaches and money. This applies to new and second hand rugs. Not all great deals are good when it comes to area rugs.
If you have any questions about the different types of rugs, call or drop by Luv-A-Rug in Victoria, BC at 445 Beta St, off Alpha St..
Here's to the perfect rug for you, RugloverMary-area rug guru
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Do You Send Thank You Cards?
An Appreciative Client
I don't know about you, but I am really bad about sending thank you cards and not just for the big things. In our technology driven lives it is easy to over look the small things. When someone gives us great service we forget to let the person know some of the time.
I find it kinda sad that getting great, let alone good, service is an exception and not the norm. When we do find a person or business that gives great service we don't usually thank them for it. Since they give good service they should just know that we appreciate and then we tell our friends and family about it and that is it.
At Luv-A-Rug we do make people happy with our cleaning results all the time and our clients thank us for our good work and service, but some clients go beyond just telling us. This was waiting for us this morning at our office:
The story behind this thank you card is:
This rug was bought at an estate sale and the couple didn't get to see all of the rug before purchasing it. The rug had a musty smell to it from being rolled up in a basement. Luckily though there wasn't any new damage on it, just missing fibers from years past.
The new owners spent a couple of days literally beating the rug trying to get all the dust and dirt out of the rug. The rug was 8x10 wool rug, so trying to beat the rug was a huge job, especially since the wife is expecting their third child. They called Luv-A-Rug to find out about cleaning cost and what they could do to make their rug clean and fresh.
We discussed all their options:
- Have us do our deep cleaning
- Have us do our rugbadgering service only
- Have them rent our dry carpet cleaning system (Host Sponges)
They had decided to get us to badger the rug and then they would use the dry carpet cleaning Host sponges to freshen it up. Partly because of the cost and partly because they wanted it in a few days due to the soon to arrive baby.
The wife came and picked up the rug and I had some good news for her. Shane, our rug cleaners, had given her rug an initial cleaning. He didn't see that it was for badgering only until after he had started cleaning it. She was very happy that her rug got an accidental cleaning.
Her rug really needed to be professionally cleaned anyway. With a good cleaning it is healthier, brighter and softer for her family. She thanked us for our accident and said she was going to recommend us to any one who needed area rug cleaning. It was very nice to receive the thank you card from the family, especially since her little ones helped decorate it.
A card is a small piece of paper, but it delivers a lot of happiness. We all need to celebrate the little things in life and let people know that we appreciate what they do because we only this small window of life to do everything we can. All it takes to brighten someone's day is a smile, a thank you, or a small card.
So thank you for all the small things you do, RugloverMary and thanks for reading my blog.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Evening Purse Became a Napkin
Cat vomit is NOT an Accessory!
No matter how much we love our cats, they don't seem to have the same appreciation for our things as we do.
This was the case for a small evening purse. It was the day after graduation for one lucky lady and when it came time to clean out the purse she found that the cat had left her a present. An unwanted present, but the cat didn't know that.
The father of the graduate took it to their dry cleaners to see if they could clean it. Unfortunately it was not an item that dry cleaners will clean anymore.The materials used to make purses cannot handle getting cleaned by immersion.
The dry cleaners recommend that he bring it to us, Luv-A-Rug to see if we could clean it. We can clean handbags and purses because we can them by hand. Since there wasn't a lot of cat vomit on the purse, you may be wondering why would they pay to get it cleaned. Wouldn't it be easy to clean the spots themselves?
Sure they could have cleaned the purse themselves, but the bigger question is what would the results have been? The material of the evening purse has a silky/satiny finish and if you took a wet towel or paper towel to it you would be left with less cat vomit, but lots of white bits. The slight texture of the purse would grab the lint from the towel and that is hard to remove. Plus if they rubbed in a circular motion that will cause the texture to distort and that is permanent as well.
Yes do-it-yourself is cheaper, but not if you cannot use the item afterward. As ladies know evening purses are not cheap and can last many years, so why chance having to replace your purse because of a spill or cat vomit?
The cleaning cost to remove the cat vomit was very low compared to having to buy a new one and after cleaning it looks new again ready for the next big night out.
When something gets spilled on your purse or handbag, don't throw it out bring it to Luv-A-Rug on 445 Beta St, off Alpha St. We can clean the unclean-able items for you. 250-590-6210.
Here's to many more evenings out looking fabulous, RugloverMary-accessory lover
This was the case for a small evening purse. It was the day after graduation for one lucky lady and when it came time to clean out the purse she found that the cat had left her a present. An unwanted present, but the cat didn't know that.
 |
| Evening purse before and after cleaning |
The dry cleaners recommend that he bring it to us, Luv-A-Rug to see if we could clean it. We can clean handbags and purses because we can them by hand. Since there wasn't a lot of cat vomit on the purse, you may be wondering why would they pay to get it cleaned. Wouldn't it be easy to clean the spots themselves?
Sure they could have cleaned the purse themselves, but the bigger question is what would the results have been? The material of the evening purse has a silky/satiny finish and if you took a wet towel or paper towel to it you would be left with less cat vomit, but lots of white bits. The slight texture of the purse would grab the lint from the towel and that is hard to remove. Plus if they rubbed in a circular motion that will cause the texture to distort and that is permanent as well.
Yes do-it-yourself is cheaper, but not if you cannot use the item afterward. As ladies know evening purses are not cheap and can last many years, so why chance having to replace your purse because of a spill or cat vomit?
The cleaning cost to remove the cat vomit was very low compared to having to buy a new one and after cleaning it looks new again ready for the next big night out.
When something gets spilled on your purse or handbag, don't throw it out bring it to Luv-A-Rug on 445 Beta St, off Alpha St. We can clean the unclean-able items for you. 250-590-6210.
Here's to many more evenings out looking fabulous, RugloverMary-accessory lover
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Heater floors and Area Rugs-Not a match made in Heaven
It is wonderful to have heated floors. No more cold toes first thing in the morning, but what are they doing to your area rugs?
After a Google search I found no evidence of anyone writing about damage to rugs by heated floors, except one sentence by a home improvement company "Because the floor-heating system radiates heat, it is strongly recommended that you avoid laying a rug or installing any piece of furniture that might prevent proper air circulation. Trapped heat may cause damage to the rug, piece of furniture or even the floor covering. This does not apply to temporary bathroom rugs as long as they are removed after a bath or shower."
Here is a wool braided rug that came in for cleaning, the rug is folded in half to show the two sides. At first glance you would just think that the sun had faded the rug, but the owner of the rug thinks it was the heated floor that caused the fading.
Many floor companies may not know of the damage rugs can cause to heated floors and vice versa because heated floors are a relatively new thing.
Having your rug fade from a heated floor is not a big deal, but the damage to your flooring can be very costly.
The purpose of heating your floors is so you don't have to have carpet or rugs. This seems to be a case of one or the other, rugs or heated floors. You cannot have both and not have damage happen.
It is hard to not want an area rug to add colour and texture to your rooms, but with heated floors that is not an option. When you have heated floors installed it is best to use different colours of tile, stone, or wood to make a design that way.
With a little planning and designing you can add the look of an area rug within your floor. An old technique that is making a comeback, Inlay flooring.
Here are some grand examples of the design possibilities for inlay flooring.
Usually the only floors most people get heated are the kitchen and bathroom, leaving the living, dining and bed rooms free to be adorned with area rugs.
Here's to damage free area rugs, RugloverMary- area rug protector.
After a Google search I found no evidence of anyone writing about damage to rugs by heated floors, except one sentence by a home improvement company "Because the floor-heating system radiates heat, it is strongly recommended that you avoid laying a rug or installing any piece of furniture that might prevent proper air circulation. Trapped heat may cause damage to the rug, piece of furniture or even the floor covering. This does not apply to temporary bathroom rugs as long as they are removed after a bath or shower."
Many floor companies may not know of the damage rugs can cause to heated floors and vice versa because heated floors are a relatively new thing.
Having your rug fade from a heated floor is not a big deal, but the damage to your flooring can be very costly.
The purpose of heating your floors is so you don't have to have carpet or rugs. This seems to be a case of one or the other, rugs or heated floors. You cannot have both and not have damage happen.
It is hard to not want an area rug to add colour and texture to your rooms, but with heated floors that is not an option. When you have heated floors installed it is best to use different colours of tile, stone, or wood to make a design that way.
With a little planning and designing you can add the look of an area rug within your floor. An old technique that is making a comeback, Inlay flooring.
Here are some grand examples of the design possibilities for inlay flooring.
Usually the only floors most people get heated are the kitchen and bathroom, leaving the living, dining and bed rooms free to be adorned with area rugs.
Here's to damage free area rugs, RugloverMary- area rug protector.
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