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A Comprehensive Guide to

Oriental & SpecialtyRug Cleaning

Ellen AmirkhanAaron Groseclose

Third Edition

Master Rug Cleaner, LLC g Dallas

A Comprehensive Guide to Oriental & Specialty Rug Cleaning ii

About the AuthorsAaron Groseclose is a graduate of Woodbury University with a B.S. in

International Business and Golden Gate University, Los Angeles, with an M.B.A. He is a past owner of California Carpet Care, Woodland Hills, Cali-fornia. He is President of MasterBlend, a Colorado-based manufacturer of rug and carpet cleaning chemicals and equipment. Aaron is a Senior Carpet Inspector, Master Textile Cleaner, and Certified Rug Specialist (CRS) from the Association of Rug Care Specialists (ARCS), and develops and instructs carpet, upholstery, and oriental rug cleaning seminars in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He is also a regular columnist for Installation and Cleaning Specialist magazine and co-developer of the Master Rug Cleaner Program. He has five adult children and resides with his wife in Southern California.

Ellen Amirkhan is a graduate of Texas Woman’s University with a Bachelor of Science degree and Southern Methodist University with a Master of Liberal Arts degree. She is President of Oriental Rug Cleaning Co., Inc., in Dallas, Texas, a business started by her grandfather in 1911 that specializes in cleaning, repairing, appraising, and selling oriental rugs. A past president of the Association of Specialists in Cleaning and Resto-ration (ASCR)—now the Restoration Industry Association (RIA)—Ellen develops and teaches oriental rug schools for the International Society of Appraisers (ISA), and other recognized groups across the United States England, and Australia, and is a co-developer of the Master Rug Cleaner Program. Ellen is a founding member of the Association of Rug Care Specialists (ARCS). In addition to appraising, she consults and serves as

an expert witness for the legal profes-sion. Ellen holds the designations of Certified Rug Specialist (CRS) from the Association of Rug Care Special-ists (ARCS), Certified Appraiser of Personal Property with a specialty in oriental rugs from the International Society of Appraisers (ISA), and Certified Rug Appraiser from the Oriental Rug Retailers of America (ORRA).

A Comprehensive Guide to Oriental and Specialty Rug Cleaning iii

PrefaceThough many books have been written on oriental rugs, the emphasis is

usually on history, structure, culture, and identification with cleaning and its associated topics as an afterthought. Many of these authors are experts in the aforementioned subject matter but have limited firsthand experience with the challenges of day-to day commercial rug cleaning and repair. We do not consider ourselves the final authority in this field; however, we want to share what we have learned over the past 30 years in such depth and detail as has never before been done. There are cleaning/repair experts in the industry who have differing methods, opinions, experiences and philosophies, but as we have said many times to our students, rug cleaning is both art and science. Our goal is for this book to be a reliable source of information for the professional oriental and specialty rug cleaner.

AcknowledgementsThis book would not have been possible without the encouragement,

expertise and friendship of the following people:

Inez and Mirza Amirkhan, Drs. Nelson and Robin Amirkhan, Valentina Arbab, Tom and Leslie Atiyeh, Paul Bakker (WoolSafe), Michael Bradford, David Brasure (Brasure’s Carpet Care), Dr. Bill Brown, Dr. Eric Brown (Cleaning Research International), Joan Cabellero, Wes Connelly (Wools of New Zealand), Armen “Buzz” and Louise Dohanian (Bon Ton Rug Cleansers), David and Soloman Bassalely (Eliko Antique Oriental Rugs), Barbara Groseclose, Paul Iskyan (Rug Renovating), Jeff Jones (Sani-Sheen Systems), Brant Laird, Dr. Doug Lay, John Lumpp (Windgate Design), Robert Mann (Robert Mann Oriental Rugs), Brian Marantette (Atiyeh Bros.), Morning Star Galleries, Lucy Neiman, Susan Nelson (editor), the staff of Oriental Rug Cleaning Co., Holman Padgett (Advance Cleaning and Restoration), Linda Colby, Price-Dewey-Galleries, Sotheby’s, Dr. Steven Spivak, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, David Zahirpour, Cliff Zlotnik (Unsmoke), International Society of Appraisers.

All photographs are by the authors except those used with permission from other sources. Maps, illustrations and cover design are by John Lumpp, Windgate Design. Technical review by Dr. Steven Spivak, Dr. Eric Brown, Valentina Arbab ISA CAPP, ASA, and Cliff Zlotnik CR, CMH, WLI.

We especially want to thank our editor, Susan Nelson, and our guru of layout and design, Linda Colby (Real Images), for their patience and their tireless efforts in seeing us to the finish line.

Table of Contents v

Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 g History of Oriental Rugs 3Rugs Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 2 g Fibers and Dyes 7Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Wool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Other Hair Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Silk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Cotton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Bast Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Leaf Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Fruit Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Regenerated Fiber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Synthetic Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Fiber Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Dyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Color and Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Natural Dye vs. Synthetic Dye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Rug Dyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Dyeing Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Chapter 3 g Construction: Machine-Made Rugs 33Tufted Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Machine-Woven Rugs and Carpet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

History of Machine-Woven Rugs and Carpet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Types of Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Notable U.S. Manufacturers of 20th Century Woven Wool Area Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Chapter 4 g Specialty Rugs 55Animal Skins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Pre-cleaning Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Cleaning Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Braided Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Pre-Cleaning Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56


Carousel® Carpet Mills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57


A Comprehensive Guide to Oriental & Specialty Rug Cleaning vi s


Flatweaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Dhurries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Kilims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Cotton Chenille Flatweaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Chinese Aubusson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Soumak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Flokati Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65



German or European Hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Hand-Hooked Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67



Hand-Tufted Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Edward Fields, V’Soske, Scott Group, Hokanson, Stark Carpet, Tai-Ping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Karastan® Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74



Kashmir Chainstitch Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78



La Montage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79



Navajo Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

The Weaving Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Contemporary Regional Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83



Needlepoint Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Portugal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Greece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Table of Contents vii

Rag Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90



Sisal/Coir/Sea Grass And Other Plant Based Fiber Rugs . . . . . . . 91



Spanish Wilton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93



Chapter 5 g Hand-Knotted Rugs: Classification, Construction and Design 95Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Looms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Warps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Wefts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Cartoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Knots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Rug Pile Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Knot Count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Knot Count/Quality Grading Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

End Finishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Side Finishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Finishing Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Chemical Washing Of Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Oriental Rug Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Medallion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Repeating Motifs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

All-Over Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Open Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Pictorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Directional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Saph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Wagireh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Individual Design Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Border Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

A Comprehensive Guide to Oriental & Specialty Rug Cleaning viii s

Chapter 6 g Persian Rugs 123Persian Curvilinear Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Ahar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Bijar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Hamadan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Isfahan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Kashan Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Kerman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Lillihan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Mahal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Malayer, Southeastern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Meshed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Nain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Qum/Ghoum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Sarouk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Senneh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Tabriz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Veramin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Persian Rectilinear Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Ardabil/Meshkin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Bijar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Hamadan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Heriz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Joshaghan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Karaja . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Malayer, Northwestern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Senneh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Serab Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Tabriz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Chapter 7 g Tribal Rugs 169Bakhtiari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Baluchi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Turkoman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Shiraz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Afshar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Gabbeh Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Chapter 8 g Other Countries Producing Hand-Knotted Rugs 179Afghanistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Table of Contents ix

Caucasian Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Peking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Tientsin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Modern Wool Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Modern Silk Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Egyptian Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Savonnerie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Aubusson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Moroccan Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Moroccan and Tunisian Flatweaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Mori Weave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Pakistan Persian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Peshawar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Pakistan Kazak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Romania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Tibetan Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Turkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

City Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Village Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Why Rug Identification Is Important to the Rug Cleaner . . . . . . . 229

Why Cleaners May be Afraid of Rug Identification . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Chapter 9 g Road Map to Rug Identification 229Road Map to Rug Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Differences Between Hand-Knotted and Machine-Made Oriental Design Rugs: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Components of Identification for Hand-Knotted Rugs . . . . . . . . . 232

Technical Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Chapter 10 g Chemistry of Rug Cleaning 235Rug Soil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

The Makeup of Rug Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Cleaning Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Cleaning Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Polarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Solvency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

A Comprehensive Guide to Oriental & Specialty Rug Cleaning x s

Surface Tension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Detergents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Emulsification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

pH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Cleaning Guidelines by WoolSafe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Chemical Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Hazard Communication Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Information contained in a Material Safety Data Sheet . . . . . 247

Chapter 11 g Pre-Cleaning Inspection 249Classifying Area Rugs Before Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Pre-Cleaning Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Abrash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Animal hair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Animal stains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Bleach stains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Blood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Bordered rug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Browning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Buckles, puckers, out of square . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Burns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Cat scratches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Chemical wash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Color bleeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Creases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Crocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Crush marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Curled sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Detached side selvage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Detergent residue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Discolored, oxidized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Dry rot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Dye stains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Faded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Felting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Fiber content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Filtration lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Fold wear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Fringe worn/rotten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Furniture stains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Table of Contents xi

Gum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Irregular shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Lazy lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Mildew/Mold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Moth and insect damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Odor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Over-dyed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Painted foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Photobleaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Pot plant damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Previous repairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Pulled tufts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Rug reduced in size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Rust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Shading, pooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Shrinkage/potential shrinkage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Slits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Smoke/fire damage/nicotine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Spots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Sprouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Stains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Stencil marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Tea wash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Test for colorfastness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Texture distortion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Traffic lane soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Urine stain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Water damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Water stains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Wax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Weak places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Wear: ends, sides, interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Wet rot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

White knots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Yellowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Chapter 12 g Rug Cleaning 267Introduction to Rug Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Pre-Cleaning Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

A Comprehensive Guide to Oriental & Specialty Rug Cleaning xii s

Determine the fiber content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Identify the rug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Inspect rug for pre-existing conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Check for colorfastness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Determine the cleaning method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Dry Soil Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Vacuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Portable Rug Duster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Dusting Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Compressed Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Pre-treatments of the rug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Fringe Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Rug Cleaning Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Absorbent Compound Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Absorbent Pad Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Dry Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Mist and Brush Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Rotary Shampoo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Hot Water Extraction Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

In-plant Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Combination Cleaning Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Rinsing the rug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Grooming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

The Dry Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Dry Room Techniques — Air Engineering for Rug Cleaners . 285

Fundamental Factors of Rug Drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Five Steps to Increase Rug Drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Good Air Contact with Rug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Drip Dry Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

How to Set Up a Mini-Plant Dry Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Quality control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Fringe Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Roll, Tie and Place in Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Sample Cleaning Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Cleaning Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Chapter 13 g Plant Operations And Procedures 303General Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Example Of Operations Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Table of Contents xiii

Pick-up and Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Cash and Carry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Plant Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Consumer Care Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Chapter 14 g Rug Spotting 309Principles of Spot Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

When to Spot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

General Chemical Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Types of Spots and Stains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Actions Used in Spot Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

General Spotting Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Testing for Colorfastness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Unknown Spot Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Heat Transfer Dye Stain Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Specific Spotting Procedures and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Solvent Soluble Spots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Synthetic Resins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Urine Stains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Wax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Chewing Gum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Tannin Stains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Protein Stains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Dye Stains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Rust Stains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Mildew Stains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Bleaches and Reducing Agents/Strippers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Bleaches and Strippers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Oxidizing Bleaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Reducing Bleaches and Strippers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

Spotting Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Mystery Spots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Chapter 15 g Problems and Solutions 329Cellulosic Browning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Crocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

A Comprehensive Guide to Oriental & Specialty Rug Cleaning xiv s

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Dry Rot/Mildew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Dye Bleed Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Fringe Cleaning/Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Insect Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Pile Stiffness After Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Powdered Carpet Deodorizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Problem – Impacted Powder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Rug Discoloration/Color Changes/Yellowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Problem – Discoloration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Problem – Fume/Light Fading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Problem – Yellowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Shading/Pooling/Pile Reversal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Cause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Shrinkage of Custom Bordered Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Texture Distortion from Cleaning Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Chapter 16 g Additional Services 343Blocking Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Steps in Blocking a Rug, the Bon Ton Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

Table of Contents xv

Deodorizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

Real Odor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

Psychological Odor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Influencing Factors of Real Odor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Products Used in Deodorizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

Animal Odors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

Other Odors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

Disaster Restoration and Damage Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Handling a Fire or Water Damaged Rug Prior to Cleaning . . 353

The Cleaning and Restoration of Oriental Rugs Exposed to Smoke Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

The Cleaning and Restoration of Oriental Rugs Exposed to Sew-age Intrusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Mold Remediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Tracking Rugs in a Restoration Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Clean It Yourself Or Sub It Out? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Fabric Protectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Silicones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Fluorochemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Insect Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Rug Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Rug Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Rug Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Materials and Tools You Will Need: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Wrapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

Chapter 17 g Oriental And Specialty Rug Appraisals 371Determining The Value Of An Oriental Rug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

Determining Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Factors Affecting Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Determining Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

How much is it worth? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Investigating and Documenting an Area Rug Claim . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Initial Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Questions for the Insured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Chapter 18 g Resources 381Absorbent Compound Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Chemicals/Supplies and Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

Dye Bleed Correction Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

A Comprehensive Guide to Oriental & Specialty Rug Cleaning xvi s

Marketing Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

Non-Immersion Dry Cleaning Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Oriental Rug Book Suppliers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Oriental Rug Repair Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Periodicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

Retailers of Oriental Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

Rug Cleaning Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

Rug Padding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

Rug Storage Tubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Rug Washing/Dry Room Systems/Centrifuge/Rug Dusting Equip-ment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Rug Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Specialty Matting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Spotter and Grooming Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Supplies/Equipment/Brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Trade Associations and Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Wholesaler of Oriental Rugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

Wrapping Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

Glossary 393

Recommended Reading 417

Chapter 1 g History of Oriental Rugs 3

The origins of rug weaving are literally “lost in antiquity” and cause for much speculation. Because the materials used in weaving are not as durable as materials used in other art forms, such as buildings or paint-ings, and the function of rugs subjects them to harsher wear, the number of extremely old pieces that have survived is very limited.

The oldest, nearly complete hand-knotted rug dates from the 4th or 5th century B.C. and is known as the Pazyryk rug. This rug was discovered in 1949 by Soviet archaeologists inside the burial tomb of a nomadic tribal chief near Pazyryk in southern Siberia. The rug was protected from disin-tegration in the permafrost. The rug’s design and construction is relatively sophisticated indicating that rug weaving had been developing for hundreds or even thousands of years. This rug measures 6 feet x 6 feet 6 inches (180 cm x 195 cm) with a wool pile/foundation and has 225 symmetrical knots per square inch. The Pazyryk rug is currently housed at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Caucasus Mountains

Caucasus Mountains Morocco

Algeria Libya

Egypt

Turkey

Black Sea

Romania

India

France

Spain

Port

ugal

Iraq Iran

(Persia)

Syria

Russia Kazakstan

Tunisia

Greece

Bulgaria

Armenia

Georgia

Azerbaijan Turkmenistan

UzbekistanKyrgystan

Tajikistan

Tunisia

Greece

Bulgaria

Armenia

Georgia


UzbekistanKirghizstan

Tajikistan

Afghanistan

PakistanNepal

China

Tibet

Arabian Sea

Caspian Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Rug BeltThe Rug Belt

Pazyryk rug, detail

Chapter 1

History of Oriental Rugs

Chapter 2 g Fibers and Dyes 7

Chapter 2

Fibers and Dyes

FibersRugs can be made from most any fiber; however, the primary face yarn

is wool with cotton being the common foundation fiber. Because some specialty rugs are made from synthetic fibers, we will look at both natural and man-made fibers and will be addressing cleaning considerations of both types throughout this book.

Natural rug fibers come from animal hair, such as wool; plants such as flax and the cocoon of the silk worm. Synthetic rug fibers are derived from chemical solutions that are formed into fiber.

Wool

General InformationThe type of wool selected is critical in a rug or carpet. The

quality of wool determines the rug’s appearance as well as its resiliency and ability of the pile to withstand abrasion through-out its life. The subtle beauty of the wool’s luster and how it absorbs and displays dye colors depends solely on the qualities of the wool used. The importance of the quality of the wool used in making a rug could be compared to the importance of the quality of wood used in making furniture.

Traditionally, carpet wool comes from mountain sheep with coarse, heavily medullated (medulla is a hollow, core-like structure within the fibers) wools such as those found in India, China, Spain and Wales. Today, New Zealand wool is generally considered the best for general carpet manufacturing. Special genetic characteristics of different sheep have been developed through breeding specifically to meet the demands of the textile industry.

Wool and silk are both protein fibers. Wool is comprised of 19 amino acids, forming the protein keratin, and grows from follicles in the sheep’s skin, like hair which grows from human skin. Sheep are a 24-hour a day fiber factory, each fiber growing 0.008 inches per day. A merino sheep has


fibers range in length from 50–75 mm (2–3 inches) up to 150 mm (6 inches). Grading of fibers also takes into account the strength which must be con-sidered in relation to fiber length. Wool fibers used in the woolen spinning system for carpets should be no longer than 170 mm (7 inches) with the mean length after carding being at least 60 mm (2.4 inches).

One of the positive characteristics of wool fiber is its resilience or re-covery from deformation. This permits each fiber to return instantly to its natural position. Wool can be stretched up to 30% of its original length without breaking. The fiber strength is evident as it can be flexed 20,000 times without breaking. Silk breaks after 1,800 bends, rayon after only 75.

Bulk

Fiber crimp is the major factor affecting yarn bulk — crimpy wools produce more bulky yarns and is a result of sheep breeding. High and low bulk fibers can be blended to give the desired bulk of the yarn.

Wool grows permanently crimped and this natural crimp gives the fiber bulk and allows it to absorb noise. The air trapped between the fibers pro-vides natural insulation and gives good resiliency. Wool also has a moderate resistance to abrasion and wears well in high traffic areas. Synthetic fiber manufacturers have attempted to simulate these natural characteristics through mechanical processing with satisfactory results.

Fiber Structure

Looking at a cross-section, each wool fiber consists of a three-part outer layer and an absorbent core. The outer layer has a thin protective membrane called the epicuticle which gives wool its ability to shed liquids

Fiber cross-section


light as they do not mellow and age like natural dyes. The dye system used is determined by the color desired, its intensity and the fiber’s ability to accept dye. The class of the dye (molecular structure) and the dye methods has more to do with colorfastness than anything.

Frequently, the colors in a hand-made rug may vary in tone or hue within one color area. These horizontal variations in shade of the same color are called abrash and may be an unintentional result of dyeing yarn in small batches. It gives many subtle differences in color intensity that add to the rug’s appeal.

Rug DyesA wide variety of dyes are used in the manufacturing of rugs today.

For the most part, wool rugs made after World War II have been dyed with synthetic acid dyes. In 1980, the Turkish government was the first to reintroduce natural dyes to the rug weaving industry with the DOBAG project. Other countries have followed suit with output still being relatively small.Textile dyeing is a very precise science, and the textile chemist and colorist must match the physical properties of the fiber to the appropriate dye. The end result must be a colorfast fiber that will hold up to all types of environments. Dyes must possess an affinity or chemical attraction to the fiber to which it is applied and form a chemical bond with that fiber.

Acid (Anionic) DyesAcid dyes are used extensively for dyeing wool, silk and nylon. The

dyes are anionic (negatively charged) and are dissolved in hot water. The fiber becomes swollen in the hot solution thus opening its pores so the dye molecules can enter the pore openings. Sometimes the penetration is quite rapid and the dyes combine with the wool fiber unevenly. This effect can be retarded by adding a neutral salt which causes the acid dyestuff to strike evenly. This is called a leveling action.

Natural dye vats in Turkey Dyed yarn drying in the sun

Abrash

Chapter 3 g Construction: Machine-Made Rugs 33

Machine-made rugs can be produced using a variety of methods. We will start with the most common method use for rugs made in the United States.

Tufted RugsA tufted rug is constructed much like a sandwich consisting of face yarns

that are stitched into a primary backing with adhesive and a secondary backing. It can be loop or cut-pile construction.

• Face Yarns — consist of a broad range of fibers, e.g., nylon, wool, olefin, etc., in various pile constructions. Undyed tufted face yarns are called greige goods.

• Primary backings — usually woven or non-woven polypropylene; sometimes woven jute is used.

• Adhesive — a layer of latex holds the primary and secondary back-ings together.

• Secondary backings — applied to give a carpet dimensional stabil-ity, which refers to the capability of the carpet to retain its size and shape.

Face Yarns

PrimaryBacking

Latex

SecondaryBackingMachine-tufted

Chapter 3

Construction: Machine-Made Rugs

Chapter 4 g Specialty Rugs 55

Chapter 4

Specialty Rugs

In the first half of the 20th century, rug cleaners worked with a limited variety of rugs such as orientals, Axminsters, Wiltons, hooks, and braids. In the last fifty years, things have changed. There has been an explosion of new types of specialty and decorative rugs. The materials and the combi-nations of constructions used in these specialty rugs can present problems for the modern rug cleaner. The following list is not comprehensive, but a representation of popular specialty rugs.

Animal SkinsThere are many different types of animal skins that are brought in for

cleaning. These include sheepskin, alpaca, zebra, cowhide, bear and other exotic animals.

Pre-cleaning Inspection1. Is the animal hair rotten? If the hair is rotten, will it

come off the skin with any type of agitation?2. Is the skin stiff, dry, stained, rotten, and/or cracked?3. Is the fur oxidized (yellowed)?4. Is the fur matted?

Cleaning ConsiderationsIf the skin is structurally sound, the safest method to use

is a Lieb Non-Immersion Process machine. This machine is a tumbler that uses dry absorbent compound as the cleaning agent. This machine is also used to clean fur coats. The longer-haired skins such as sheep and alpaca do best in this machine. Exotic skins or any skin with a fully intact head should not be cleaned in a Lieb machine.

Most skins can be wet cleaned with an upholstery tool. The same prin-ciples apply as those used for cleaning Navajo rugs. Do not over wet as the skin can become stiff and brittle.

Sheepskin

Zebra skin

Lieb Non-Immersion Machine

Chapter 4 g Specialty Rugs 69

Sequence of Production of Hand-Tufted Rugs

Illustration courtesy of Hofmann Handtuft-Technik

1. Primary backing fabric stretched over frame.

2. Design drawn on backing

3. Tufting

4. Checking before latexing

5. Latexing (no picture)

6. Finishing

7. Finishing

Chapter 5 g Hand-Knotted Rugs: Classification, Construction and Design 95

Traditionally, an oriental rug was defined as any hand-knotted pile rug made in the Near East and Asia. Today, the term oriental rug is used for any hand-knotted rug, regardless of origin, and flatweaves from the Near East and Asia. Flatweaves refer to hand-woven rugs from any country that have no pile. Flatweaves include, but are not limited to, Navajos, dhurries, kilims, and soumak rugs.

Oriental rugs can be classified as:1. Court Rugs: These are very old rugs that were commissioned by a

royal Persian, Chinese, Turkish or Mughal (India) court. An example is the Ardabil Carpet, which is on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and is approximately the size of a tennis court. These pieces, which can be large, are considered major works of art. Rugs on this scale, with a few exceptions, have not been produced for more than 200 years and will not be encountered for service by commercial cleaners.

2. Workshop/City Rugs: Workshop rugs are the most commonly encountered hand-knotted rug. Most were made from the 1920s to the present. These rugs are woven on permanent looms in large factory environments with a design style that is generally curvilinear with floral patterns. These factories can produce large numbers of rugs in many sizes with similar designs and color palette. Today, most commercial rugs are produced in these factories. Examples of Persian city rugs would be Sarouk and Kerman.

3. Village: Village rugs are woven on vertical looms with no cartoon to guide their design. These designs tend to be more geometric and less sophisticated. An example is Persian Hamadan.

4. Tribal: Tribal rugs are woven by nomadic or settled tribes, often on horizontal looms. These rugs are generally characterized by a wool foundation, small sizes and lower knot density. Only recently have some of these rugs been made on a cotton foundation. In addition to rugs, these tribal weavers also make utilitarian pieces such as saddlebags, storage bags, quiver bags and other items for personal use or barter.

Chapter 5

Hand-Knotted Rugs: Classification, Construction and Design

A Comprehensive Guide to Oriental & Specialty Rug Cleaning 100

Symmetrical knot Asymmetrical knot, open left

TurkishKnot

PersianKnot

CaspianSea

PersianGulf

IRAQ IRAN

KUWAIT

SAUDI ARABIA

TURKMENISTAN

AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

TURK

EYThe Caucasus

BALUCHISTAN

Turkomans

Shahse

van

Khamseh

Baluchis

Afshari

Kurds

Lurs

Bakhtiari

Qashgai

Maku KarajaMeskin

HerizAhar

Veramin

Tabriz ArdabilSerab

Sauj-Bulak

Tehran

Turbat-iHaidari

Kashmar

Abadeh

Nain

Bushire

Isfahan

Abadan

Kermanshah SerabandMalayer

NatanzJoshaghan

KashanLillihanArak Qum

SaroukHamadan

Senneh

Bidjar

Sarakhs

Merv

MeshedNishapur

Quchon

Sabsawar

Bujnurd

KazvinZenjan

Rasht

Shiraz

Turbat-i-Shaikh JamTurbat-i-Shaikh Jam

Firdaus Gonabad

Qain

Herat

Tabas

Birjand

Yazd

Ravar

Kerman

Map of Iran: With a few exceptions, left of the dashed line uses symmetrical knots and right of the dashed line uses asymmetrical knots

Chapter 5 g Hand-Knotted Rugs: Classification, Construction and Design 101

WARP

Wo

ol Pile

Wo

ol P

ile

WARPWARPWARPWARP

Warp

Wa

rp

War

p

War

p

Wa

rpWool Wool

Width of Carpet

Length

of Ca

rpet

WARP

Weft

Symmetrical Knot, Non-depressed

Wool Pile

WARP WARPWARPWARPWARP WARP

Warp

Warp

Warp

Warp

Warp

Warp

Wool Wool

Woo

l Pile

Width of Carpet

Leng

th o

f Car

pet

Weft

Non-Depressed Aymmetrical Knot

Open Right

Asymmetrical Knot, Non-depressed, Open Right

Chapter 6 g Persian Rugs Curvilinear 139

Qum/GhoumThe city of Qum is 90 miles south of Teheran and is one of

Iran’s holiest cities. The weaving tradition in Qum is relatively new, only dating back to the early 1930s. The weave is similar to Kashan but more irregular on the back. Qum also produces more all- silk rugs than any other city in Iran.

CharacteristicsKnot: asymmetricalWarp: cotton or silk; depressedWeft: cotton or silk, two shoots; cotton may be dyed

blue or light grayPile: wool or silkEnds: bottom of rug has twisted uncut loops; top end

has kilim with knotted fringe.Sides: single cord; overcast in wool or silkDesign: floral; garden panel; repeating boteh; central

medallion with or without corners; prayer; hunting

Colors: red, medium blue, ivory, gold, brownSizes: 4 x 6 feet (122 cm x 183 cm) and smaller; oc-

casionally 8 x 10 feet (244 cm x 305 cm)

Pre-Cleaning Inspection1. The black, blue and red dyes are usually not colorfast on

silk rugs.

2. The dyes are not always lightfast on both wool and silk rugs. Check for fading.

Cleaning Considerations1. If the black, blue and red dye are not stable, clean with

low moisture procedure in Chapter 12 Rug Cleaning.

Silk Qum

Back, Silk Qum

Qum, garden panel designBack, Qum

Chapter 8 g Other Countries Producing Hand-Knotted Rugs 179

AfghanistanThe majority of Afghan rugs brought to a cleaning plant were made

after World War II. Most are made on a wool warp and weft with tradi-tional Turkoman guls on a red field. The wool warps are either cream or dark gray in color. Some have an all-cotton foundation and occasionally a linen warp.

CharacteristicsKnot: asymmetrical

Warp: wool; occasionally cotton or linen

Weft: two shoots; cotton or wool

Pile: wool

Ends: plain kilim with knotted fringe

Sides: two or more cords wrapped in dark brown or dark blue wool or goat hair.

Design: repeating guls

Chapter 8

Other Countries Producing Hand-Knotted Rugs

Caucasus Mountains

Caucasus Mountains

Morocco

Algeria Libya

Egypt

Turkey

Black Sea

Romania

India

France

Spain

Port

ugal

Iraq Iran

(Persia)

Syria

Russia Kazakstan

Tunisia

Greece

Bulgaria

Armenia

Georgia


UzbekistanKyrgystan

Tajikistan

Tunisia

Greece

Bulgaria

Armenia

Georgia


UzbekistanKirghizstan

Tajikistan

Afghanistan

PakistanNepal

China

Tibet

Arabian Sea

Caspian Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Rug BeltThe Rug Belt

Chapter 9 g Road Map to Rug Identification 231

Hand-made ormachine-made?

Look at back of rug to determine construction

Machine-made

Hand-made

Axminster Wilton

Tufted(by hand or machine)

Other specialtyconstruction

Aubusson

Dhurrie

Kilim

Navajo Soumak

Navajo look-alikesuch as

Zapotec or Chimayo

India

China

Pakistan

Turkey

Afghanistan Ireland

France

North Africa

Egypt

*Bijar

Ahar

Kashan

Isfahan

Kerman

Southeast Malayer

Mahal

*Bijar

Ardabil

Heriz

*Joshaghan

Serab

*Tabriz

Meshkin

*Mahal

Qum

Meshed

Nain

*Tabriz

Sarouk(American or Ferahan)

Nepal(made in Nepal by

Tibetan refugees butreferred to in the trade

as Tibetan rugs)

Spain

Romania

Derbend Kazak

Kuba

Shirvan

TalishGendje

MoghanKarabagh

Turkoman(Iran,

Afghanistan, orTurkmenistan)

Baluch(Iran or

Afghanistan)

Shiraz(Iran)

Quashqai(Iran)

Afshar(Iran)

Bakhtiari(Iran)

Kamseh(Iran)

Hand-knotted orhand-woven?

Persia (Iran) oranother country?

Single Wefted?

Hand-woven

Hand-knotted

Other country

Iran

Curvilinear orrectilineardesign?*

Curvilinear

Rectilinear

Persia (Iran),Tribal or Caucasian Persia (Iran)

**Caucasian (mostly rectiliniear)Tribal

(mostly rectilinear)

Bakhtiari (not all) Karaja

Lillihan

NW Malayer

SennehHamadan

*Veramin

*Veramin

Note: Lists of rugs/countries are not all-inclusive.

Road Map To Rug Identification

* Some rugs are made in both curvilinear and rectilinear designs or may incorporate both designs in the same rug.** Caucasian rugs are not made in Iran, but in the Caucasus Mountain region, north of Tabriz, Iran.

Chapter 11 g Pre-Cleaning Inspection 249

Classifying Area Rugs Before Cleaning The first principle of area rug cleaning is it should not be done on-

location in the customer’s home. Because rug cleaning can include the occasional surprise, it is best to do the work in a controlled environment. It is understood that sometimes circumstances dictate cleaning a rug “on-location,” but it should be the exception rather than the rule.

The first step in the pre-cleaning inspection is to determine the construc-tion of the rug. See Chapters 3, 4 and 5 for details on rug construction.

Machine-made rugs are usually woven on a Wilton or Axminster loom or are tufted. Woven rugs can usually be identified by looking at the back for visible white warp yarns running the length of the rug. On hand-knotted rugs, the weft yarns running the width of the rug are often visible from the back.

Machine-made rugs can range in value from very inexpensive or as costly as some oriental rugs. Tufted rugs manufactured by Edward Fields, Lacey Champion, the Scott Group and others can be expensive. A good habit for any rug cleaner to develop is reading labels on the backs of rugs.

Chapter 11

Pre-Cleaning Inspection

Hand-knotted rug back Machine-woven rug back

Chapter 12 g Rug Cleaning Methods 267

Chapter 12

Rug Cleaning

Introduction to Rug CleaningThe Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification

(IICRC) Standard S-100 states that, “When practical, the preferred system for cleaning rugs is to remove them from the customer’s home or business and clean them in a controlled ‘in-plant’ environment.” This could be anywhere from a garage to a large cleaning plant where a variety of cleaning meth-ods, or combination thereof, may be used. It is understood that sometimes circumstances dictate cleaning a rug “on-location” in the customer’s home or business. Under these conditions, it is important that the technicians are trained in techniques for inspecting, testing, evaluating and selecting the proper cleaning method.

Standard S-100 continues, “Failure to perform specialized proce-dures may result in permanent damage to the rug and/or flooring under and around the rug. Incomplete soil removal may occur due to the inability to vacuum both sides of the rug adequately. Improper wet cleaning causes prolonged drying, texture change, cellulosic browning, dye migration, mildew, and/or dry rot.” Fringe cleaning is nearly impossible in an on-location environment. Cleaning a rug in the cus-tomer’s home is the exception rather than the rule.

This chapter presents the principles of the clean-ing process that should be used on all rugs in con-juction with the appropriate cleaning method(s). These basic principles are common to all the methods available to the professional rug cleaner. Four sample cleaning procedures utilizing these principles will also be examined.

The Professional Rug Cleaner’s Checklist

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