Bright white BIG fringe!

On some rugs, it’s short, so it’s not a bother.

Older rugs tend to have short fringe because it’s worn off.

On others it’s L-O-N-G, and drives some rug owners nuts. (I’ve had more than one take scissors to them in frustration… and then discovered the costly error of their ways, which we will get to later in this blog. Just HIDE the scissors for now please.)

And for rug cleaners, fringe is the part of the rug they hate the most.

It’s the part that gets the filthiest, requires the most labor to clean, and makes a rug owner not happy with the cleaning job if it’s not perfectly white.

So let’s talk about fringe. What you need to know about those tassels, and the solutions to the most common fringe frustrations.

WHAT IS FRINGE?

On hand woven rugs, the fringe tassels are the WARPS of the rug. These are the strands that wool (or silk) pile knots are twisted and tied around to create that rug.

This means each single tassel strand (usually cotton) runs from one end  all the way through the middle of the rug to the opposite side. It is the skeleton of that rug.

Cotton warps strung on a Turkish loom are what the wool knots are tied around. The warps will end up as the cotton fringe tassels of this rug.

Fringe in most cases has little or no significant impact on the value of a rug, because it is a byproduct of the weaving process. But if the fringe tassels untie, are torn, or wear off, the knots of the rug can begin to pull away and unravel, and this ABSOLUTELY has an impact on the value of the rug.

The decorative braid is sliding away from this Persian rug, the fringe is unraveling and wool knots are sliding away from the rug. This impacts the value if it continues to lose knots from the outer borders of the design..

If the rug is a machine woven rug, then the fringe will be added on after the fact, usually machine sewed on or glued on. So when the fringe on these rugs gets filthy, or damaged, it’s an easy choice – tear off the old and add on some new.

With hand woven rugs, where the fringe tassels are the foundation that the rug knots are tied around, it’s not that easy.  Fringe that gets torn by the vacuum cleaner, chewed off by the dog, or worn off from foot traffic, needs to be handled right away… and in the right way.

What does the owner of a “real” woven rug do when their fringe gets filthy and damaged?

Here are your options.

CLEAN THEM

Most rugs today are woven on a cotton foundation.  This is usually the part of the rug that spurs someone to get their rug cleaned, because it begins to look dingy on the fringe.

Filthy fringe. What are the realistic expectations?

Wool is the best fiber for use in a rug because it “hides” dirt amazingly well. The fibers have layers of cuticles to hide dust and grit, and as it gets dirty it just begins to look dull.

But the COTTON is another story. Cotton has no place to hide soil, so it gets embedded, and ground into the strands.

Filthy fringe. What is a rug cleaner to do?

I liken cleaning cotton fringe tassels to trying to clean heavily soiled shoelaces. There is no way to just spray on a solution that magically makes the soil disappear. You have to scrub, and scrub, and scrub it clean.

If a rug begins with super white fringe when it’s new, this means that fringe was strongly bleached white BEFORE it went to market for sale.

This whitening process makes the fringe look great at that time, but it comes at a cost. Bleaches and oxidizers (like hydrogen peroxide) do create chemical damage to the cotton fibers to create that “white” look, and it weakens them.

That damage may be slight, or may be severe, based on the strength of the solution – and whether there was already past damage that this is deteriorating even further.

When you have cotton fringes that easily break off when you tug a strand, this is a BIG warning sign of past chemical use.

These tassels tear away with a gentle tug. That is a sure sign of deteriorated fringe. You cannot reverse this damage.

If tassels are tearing away when they are walked on, this is also a sign of either very old/worn fringe, or chemically damaged fringe.

Severe fringe damage. This cotton is rotten from past bleaching and the tassels have torn away as a result.

The problem for rug cleaners when they are given fringe in this condition is they can’t really scrub them without the fibers breaking.

Even the gentlest of cleaning methods can be too much for already damaged cotton fringe.

Even with a gentle cleaning, fibers are going to break off, and you will not get those fringes looking fantastic without a thorough scrubbing. They cannot expect their rug cleaner to get that fringe clean when it is too fragile to do the job right.

So rug owners with this type of damage to their fringe may need to look at the other options to help clean up the look of worn/torn/weak fringe, while also ensuring that the base of those tassels do not tear away and result in their rug unraveling and coming apart.

Here are some options for your “Fringe Frustrations” when cleaning just is not enough:

FRINGE: CUT THEM SHORTER!

When fringe tassels are extremely long, sometimes they can simply be trimmed shorter to be less “in the way.” This makes them less likely to be grabbed by a vacuum cleaner, or snagged by shoes.

The problem with just cutting them as short as possible is that when these tassels are the warp foundation threads of the rug, this will lead to unraveling of the rug knots – and the loss of value. You want to cut them shorter, but not too short.

This fringe was cut shorter by the client, but the knots of the rug are now sliding away.

If the fringe is KNOTTED, this tying off helps to hold the end of the rug together. When you cut the tassel strands shorter, do not cut them so short that the fringe knots untie.

Sometimes, it is the fringe tassel knots that are the problem.  Because the knots can be higher than the rest of the tassels, shoes can press and pull at these knotted points and the cotton fringe (if it is weakened from past chemical whitening) can literally tear off at those knots, and then the rug unravels.

Some of the tassels have torn at the knots. This can happen with high traffic on rugs with knotted fringe.

A frequent repair when torn knotted fringe is the problem, is for our shop to untie the fringe, secure the end by hand (with an overcast, or “end stop,” stitch), and then trim the tassels shorter. This removes the problem of fringe tassel knots being torn away.

Fringe has torn at the knotted cotton tassel points due to foot traffic. Sometimes it is better to have unknotted fringe on rugs with foot traffic.

If the tassels are unknotted to begin with, the same step applies. Make sure the end is secured by a rug repair specialist, and then trim the fringe appropriately. If this type of repair (overcast or endstop) is done properly, it should not have to be done again. In our rug shop we guarantee our end overcast work for the life of the rug, because once it is done properly, it should be anchored in for life.

Unraveling rug is secured using an end overcast stitch. The common stitch is a button hole stitch, and on this piece it is angled to try to save as much of the original knots as possible.

A poorly executed overcast/endstop (usually by someone who saw the stitch in a book but never went to a weaving workshop to learn it) can end up creating more damage than the original damage.  The bad approach is to anchor those stitches to the same common weft thread (the foundation threads running the width of a rug are the WEFTS), and this repeated stitching to the same weft can pull away the end of the rug and result in the loss of several rows of knots.

A proper stitch will have at least every few stitches anchored to different wefts to avoid that problem.

Strong end overcast stitch with varying stitch lengths every few stitches to allow for a long lasting result.

The purpose in all of these cases is to make the fringe “look” better, but most importantly to protect the integrity of the weave to prevent it from unraveling.

FRINGE: HIDE THEM!

If you want to remove the risk of fringe being torn away entirely, then you can “hide” the fringe. One way is to first properly secure the end so the rug is in tact, and then to hide those tassels (if they are short) by wrapping the end in the same way the sides are over-wrapped with wool.

This round rug is owned by someone who does not want fringe. The tassels are shortened and the edges are wrapped in wool to “hide” the tassels.

When rug owners get frustrated with their fringe and take scissors to them, the rug will come apart. By hiding the fringe you get the same look you want but without the structural damage to the rug.

If wrapping the edge is not an option because the tassels are too long, you can also simply fold the tassels behind the rug and cover them with material.

A Tibetan/Nepalese rug is having its fringe hidden. Binding material is placed over the top of it, and it is folded back to hide and protect the fringe UNDER the rug.

This is a solution you see on a number of newer Tibetan/Nepalese rugs. These rugs tend to have fantastic quality wool, in great natural tones or with splashes of color, and sometimes the very white fringe just does not frame it quite right so some retailers have the fringe hidden with material. This keeps the rug entirely in tact, but gives consumers the look they want.

Another rug with hidden fringe.

The “poor man’s” version of hiding fringe is often done by taping the fringe to the back side of the rug. If you choose this option I would recommend you use masking tape because it leaves much less adhesive residue than clear packing tape or other options. Just be careful because when you remove stronger tape from whitened/weakened fringe, you will be tearing away the tassels you were trying to protect.

Clear packing tape was used to hide/protect this Nain rug’s fringe, but pulling the tape off in order to wash the rug resulted in it losing many tassels because the fringe had been weakened by past chemical whitening in Iran.

FRINGE: REPLACE THEM!

Most of my peers who “know” rugs hate fake fringe. And I believe that is because most rugs that have had new prefabricated fringe put on them have been done using surging or sewing machines, and this ALWAYS creates damage to a hand woven rug.

Hand woven rugs must always be repaired by hand, not machine. Because a skilled hand can slide needles AROUND warps and wefts, causing no foundation damage, while a sewing machine will repetitively power THROUGH warps and wefts with no mercy.

Here is a beautiful Senneh rug that has been massacred by a surging machine, sewing on prefabricated side-cords and prefabricated fringe.

Senneh rug that has been attacked by a sewing machine to add side-cords and fake fringe. This machine work always devalues collectible rugs.

To the untrained eye this type of work may look perfectly fine. But the skilled eye will recognize that eventually this rug will tear along the sides and ends exactly where those machine stitch lines are. That type of work “perforates” the rug and makes it tear away.

This rug will eventually tear away at the point where the arrows show the innermost stitching from the sewing machine.

This type of damage impacts the value of this rug, because it cannot be undone. Even if you took off the machine stitching along both sides and ends, which would take countless hours to do, the damage is done. Those wefts and warps are already torn.

Companies who do this type of machine work to hand woven rugs need to be driven out of business, in my opinion.

This is the same type of operation that would grab duct tape or glue to “fix” holes or unraveling rugs. Their work makes the problem worse, and destroys pieces of textile art in the process.

So, regarding “fake fringe” – I am NOT referring to the fringe that is applied by machine. We are talking about prefabricated fringe, which comes in many styles and colors, and is applied to the rug BY HAND.

Why I like this as an option is because true restoration of the fringe tassels can be costly, and sometimes can create more damage than good in the quest to make those fringes look as if they were never damaged.

Trying to anchor in new warps several inches into the base of a rug to try to tie new, undamaged, tassels creates strain on the structure of that rug.

Think about it… you have a rug that is tightly woven knots wrapped around a certain number of warps, and you are going to try to shove in and insert MORE warps into the middle of that rug in order to try to make that rug look undamaged.

If you ever see a rug that has had that type of “restoration,” you can FEEL the work. Of course you do, because it’s stiffer along the ends because it now has DOUBLE the foundation threads along the end than it had before.

I personally believe that causes more harm than good over time. I’d rather see you cover up the old fringe with a prefabricated one, and keep the integrity of the original weave in tact.

Yes, it is fake fringe, but the original white tassels are torn/worn away, and the beige looked much more attractive. It protects the original tassels from future foot traffic and made it much more attractive with the new color. What’s the harm in that? =)

A prefabricated fringe can be any style or color you want, and it can be threaded and knotted in a way to make it look as natural to the rug as you need it to be.

By being placed on the rug by hand (NOT with glue or a sewing machine), you are causing NO damage to the rug, and you are also covering up and protecting the original fringe that is weak. So you get the “look” of even fringe – if that is what you want – without having to worry about babying it. You can walk freely without worrying about torn tassels anymore.

Some rug owners like the look of knotted fringe when theirs has worn away. This gives them the look they want, and protects the original, and is much more affordable then trying to reweave the tassels.

And when it gets dirty – it’s easy to remove and replace, if need be.

If prefab is not your choice, then it is possible (usually at 2 or 3 times the linear foot cost) to restring the tassels. Many companies will do this by anchoring those tassel strands into a proper overcast stitch – this way they are not causing damage to the foundation of the rug.

However, this can sometimes lead to more damage than good, as in this photo of a repair I was observing at a large rug facility.

The arrows note where the original warps have been cut off to nothing. This end-stop stitch is NOT going to hold over time. Once it slips loose in one area, it will pull away the wool knots it was meant to protect. It looks good, but it’s a bad repair.

Though the tassel strands being added looked perfect, can you see how short the original warps were cut off. They are barely under that overcast stitching.

This is being done to “hide” the fact that the original fringe was being cut off, but what will happen once this rug is placed on the floor is that overcast stitch will NOT hold. It will slide and lose its tension because there are no warps to hold it in place.

A proper overcast needs at least a good ½ inch of warp strands to hold it in place if it is to last a lifetime.

Why would they put so much time into this level of repair and not do it so it is structurally sound? Usually it is to hide that there has been damage and a repair necessary, so that they can sell the rug at a higher price as “undamaged.”

There are two schools of thought on repairs – those who repair to “hide” damage in order to get higher prices on rugs for sale to uneducated consumers, and those who repair in order to make the rugs as sound as possible so they can be enjoyed for decades to come.

But that discussion about repairs will need to happen another time. =)

And with that, we will end this post on what you need to know about “fringe.”

I hope it gives you a clearer picture of what to do when you are experiencing any fringe frustrations with your rugs. If you are a rug owner looking for a local rug cleaning company to use and having trouble finding one, then some of the rug cleaners I know – and would use – can be found on my FIND A RUG CLEANER tab at the top of the website.

(By the way, I am still in the process of uploading company details on that page because I know MANY cleaners. If you do not see one in your area feel free to email me for a referral from my printed directory I have in my office, pop to the CONTACT form on the rug cleaner directory site to reach me.)

Happy Rug Cleaning!

Lisa

P.S. Those of you who are professional rug cleaners, my next online rug cleaning course opens up this week for enrollment. Find the details over on the RUG TRAINING TAB. I also have posted a free, short webinar on some of the most common Rug Disasters over there if you would like some more free educational tips on rug care.

P.P.S. Those of you shopping for rugs today (I received a TON of email questions about what to look for when buying rugs from readers of the New York Times article on our rug business last week) – here is my post on what to look for when rug shopping => Rug Buying Tips For The Nervous Rug Shopper. Enjoy!

My mom Kate, our team, and I are super excited that our company (K. Blatchford’s Rug Cleaning in San Diego) made today’s Home section of the New York Times (4/4/13). Columnist Linda Lee wanted advice on the proper care for rugs, and what rugs are worth buying today.

Me and my mom Kate.

New York Times article => A Rug Expert Keeps Her Eyes On The Floor

Any of you who are looking for a local rug cleaner to use for your rugs, please visit my directory of rug cleaners I know and trust. These are peers I’ve known for decades, or companies who I have trained personally.

Our first of four Textile Pro teams. There are 100 companies who have graduated this advanced program.

If you know of fantastic rug cleaners in your area that I should know about – feel free to email me their details. Everyone on my list I have either been to their shops myself to “see” what they do, or I’ve worked with them through training programs. There are many “hacks” in our industry ruining rugs, especially those who clean rugs in the home instead of taking them out to properly wash them, so this is my way to try to connect rug owners in need with good cleaners.

Lisa’s List of Rug Cleaners => Find A Rug Cleaner

Hand woven rugs take months, sometimes years, to weave. They are a piece of a weaver’s heart and soul, and they need to be cared for accordingly. Great wool rugs last centuries. We tell our clients that we are a part of that rug’s life, because it will outlast us many times.

Hopefully this information, and this blog, will help keep more of these pieces of art to have a longer, cleaner, and happier life. =)

Happy Rug Cleaning!

Lisa

P.S. If you are a professional rug cleaner and are interested in taking my next course, which is on Rug Identification Basics, the details for that course (a combination of online lessons and in-person instruction in San Diego) can be found at www.rugclass.com. It’s always a great idea to have a “business” excuse to come to San Diego… and bring the family!

Three Turkish weavers at their rug loom.
(Courtesy of Tempe Rugs & Cultural Tours www.TempleRugs.com.au.)

Many rug cleaners, and rug owners for that matter, do not know that the “100% WOOL RUG” in front of them (that is what the label says) often has a very large amount of COTTON in it.

In the loom photo to the right, Turkish weavers are weaving a wool rug. You can see very clearly that cotton has been strung up on the loom as the warps (fibers running the LENGTH of the rug) and that cotton is also being used as the wefts (fibers running the WIDTH of the rug in between the rows of knots to hold them in place).

If the hand woven rug you are looking at has white cotton fringe, those tassels are the warps that run from that end all the way through to the opposite side. It is literally what the wool pile strands are twisted around to create that rug’s pile.

Rug weaving structure diagram. Warps run vertically and are the fringe tassels. Wefts run horizontally (“weft” to “wight”). The wool knots are twisted around the warps and packed into place by the wefts.

Weavers, especially of larger size rugs, do not have an endless spool of cotton thread to use. They are limited lengths. So when the strand is done, they are tied to another strand so that they can continue to wrap the warps around the loom bars.

This is similarly done with the weft strands that run the width of the rug in between the rows of wool knots.

Wefts are run in front and behind each warp strand, from left to right (or right to left) to help hold the wool knots firmly in place. In this rug the wefts are brown  and the warps are grey.

Sometimes the warps or wefts, as a result of the constant packing of the knots into place with often metal weaving tools, can break during the weaving process. When this happens, two ends are tied together so that the weaving can continue.

This means that there are quite a number of FOUNDATION FIBER KNOTS in every single hand woven rug.

I refer to white knots as “rug freckles.” Every hand woven rug has them. Some only a few. Some many more.

There are either a small number of them, or a large number of them, depending on the availability of long, strong cotton strands, and depending on the weaver doing the work’s skill level and how often they break strands.

I call these foundation knots “RUG FRECKLES“, and just as with real freckles, everyone has them. Either just a few, or more than a few.

WHAT WHITE KNOTS ARE:

Rug white knots are foundation fiber tie off points. These are either warps, or wefts. They are a by-product of the weaving process.

It is just not possible to tie tens of thousands (sometimes hundreds of thousands) of knots to create a rug and not have the foundation strands not break now and then.

A few white cotton foundation strands peek through on this Chinese rug.

These “rug freckles” exist in every hand woven rug. The majority of the freckles will be white, but you do sometimes see other colors if the cotton is dyed (sometimes wefts are a variety of colors) or if wool is being used as the warps or wefts (sometimes in tribal rugs) then you may see brown or gray knots.

Back view of a Gabbeh rug with RED weft threads.

Pakistan rug is unraveling along the end and side which is exposing its PINK weft threads. This means this rug may have white knots (from the white warp threads that are the tassels of this rug) OR pink knots (from the weft threads that may have broken and been tied during the weaving process).

Instead of “white” knots, this rug has “pink” knots.

Weavers will do one of three things with these “RUG FRECKLES”: 1) they will either push the knot toward the back side of the rug with a needle to help make it less noticeable; 2) clip down the loose strands to make the knots shorter than the wool pile (so they are hidden); or 3) blend them away with dye after the weaving is completed (RUG MAKE-UP!!!).

HOW WHITE KNOTS BECOME MORE VISIBLE:

There are two ways that white knots become more visible – age and a really good washing.

With age what happens is that the wool pile begins to wear from foot traffic, and the white knots that used to be shorter than the wool pile, begin to be revealed. (By the way, one of the primary reasons to have a pad under hand woven rugs is to help dramatically lessen the friction from foot traffic.)

With newer rugs that are sheared with a very low nap (which is quite fashionable with today’s rugs), this can make the white knots more visible in even a relatively new rug. In fact, this is one of the more common reasons we are asked out into the field to inspect new rugs for “damage” – they see white knots popping up in their “new” rug. Normally these would be hidden by the longer wool pile, but the very short shearing has made that more difficult to do.

With washing what happens is that soiled rugs make the white cotton knots grey and not very noticeable. A really good bath will make these cotton knots pristine white again (especially if you have a skilled rug specialist doing the work), and they suddenly “appear” when before you may not have seen them.

White knots visible in the field of this hand woven rug after a really good bath.

Because every hand woven rug has these foundation knot “freckles,” it is important as a rug cleaner to point them out BEFORE the wash rather than after.

When it is done before the wash it is educating the rug owner about the characteristics of their rug, and when it is done after the wash it is sometimes seen as an excuse.

When a rug is dirty you may not easily find the “white knots” because they are not white, they are gray from soil. But you will be able to find them on the BACK SIDE of the rug. When you see larger white knot areas on the back side, you should be able to find the matching knot on the opposite front side.

White knots are visible on the back side of this rug.

The back side of a Pakistan Bokhara rug, you can see the side cord pulling away (a common problem with this type of rug) but you also can see several white knots visible from the back that the wool pile on the front side is completely hiding. They will not be more visible on the front until the rug is older with a little more wear.

WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH WHITE KNOTS:

There are four possible choices when dealing with “rug freckles.”

The first is to just leave them alone. A number of rug owners do not mind a few freckles in their rugs.

White knots and a little bit of field wear on this Sarouk rug may be left alone because it is expected in a rug of this age, and is not very noticeable at all.

The second is to, if the weave of the rug is loose enough, to push the knots more toward the back side of the rug so they are less visible. You have to be careful though, because if these knots untie, you can create a hole in the rug that may not be correctable.

The third is to clip the strands of the knot lower than the wool pile if they are more “white strands” instead of “white knots.” Again, you want to take care to not create a hole you cannot fix.

The fourth is to dye away the knots with textile dye or ink. This is purely cosmetic, but it holds no risk to the structure of the rug in terms of potentially creating a hole. This is the most common choice for tackling a small number of rug freckles.

Age and foot wear have exposed a large number of white knots on this Persian rug. Trying to dye this many “freckles” may not be possible, attractive, or affordable. It may be a better choice to rotate the rug so that this more worn area is under furniture instead.

WHITE KNOT WRAP-UP:

White knots are present in every hand woven rug. They are a characteristic of the weaving process and are not rug damage.

After washing these “freckles” may become more noticeable because they are no longer covered up with soil. They also pop up more in areas where there is more wearing down of the wool pile due to foot traffic and age.

The goal as a rug cleaner is to find the white knots BEFORE the cleaning, and to offer repair options at that time so that there are no surprises after the wash reveals them to their owner again.

Happy Rug Cleaning!

- Lisa

P.S. Those of you who are professional rug cleaners, if you are interested in on-line, or in-person rug care training, visit my training page for more details on my upcoming calendar.

Water damaged Navajo rug has mildew growing on it.

…and there is nothing “fun” about it.

One of the worst conditions that can befall a rug is DRY ROT.

Mold, mildew, and dry rot are various types and stages of particular fungi. Where you can sometimes kill and remove the first two groups without much evidence left behind in a rug (if you get to it relatively early), when you get to the dry rot stage in a rug, there is no turning back.

Dry rot in a rug is the deterioration of the foundation fibers, usually cotton but sometimes wool, jute, or silk. In the extreme it is a total lack of structural integrity and to a rug this means it can simply fall apart.

Dry rot of this rug has led to total destruction of the textile.

There is no fixing this.

The problem with dry rot is that it is usually discovered too late to undo the damage, so let’s talk about what creates this condition, what to be on the look out for, and what to do when you discover a rug has a mildew, mold, or dry rot issue.

DRY ROT: What Causes It?

The cause of fiber deterioration is the extremes of too much moisture, or too little of it.

You can see damage set in from moisture due to floods, leaks (from plants), or high humidity with a lack of evaporation due to a barrier such as plastic mat covering a wool rug or a rug wrapped in plastic wrap.

(By the way, those plastic covers used to roll your chair on top of are HORRIBLE for being placed over wool rugs, you will have a mildew problem over time, and little holes etched into the fibers from the underside of those protective mats. Also, wool rugs should be wrapped in paper, not in plastic, as this also can lead to a musty/mildew odor over time.)

Pets are also a cause of dry rot, as pet urine salts can keep those innermost cotton foundation fibers moist for a much longer time than plain water can, and there is a tendency to create stiff, rotten areas as a result.

You also see damage set in from age, or a build up of cleaning residue that is drying to the fibers. We see this especially in rugs that are not rinsed properly, and it is a primary reason why rugs are not to be cleaned in the home. You can see brittleness due to high heat or direct sunlight conditions over time as well (similar to how your drapes can sometimes shred apart from sun exposure).

A final cause of fiber deterioration is the use of whitening chemicals (such as bleaches and peroxides). We especially see this in cotton fringes that become easy to tear away the tassels due to a lack of fiber strength from this chemical damage.

DRY ROT: What To Look Out For.

One of the first things to be on the look out for is any discoloration on a rug, especially moldy looking areas.

Mold and dry rot activity is usually more noticeable on the back side of the rug than the front.

If there is any type of water source near a rug you want to look for evidence of any problems. Potted plants, water coolers, pet water dishes, or any slab leaks over time can contribute to the growth of mildew and eventually dry rot.

Wool rug with cotton foundation fibers. A potted plant created this ring of mold and dry rot visible on the back of the rug. This area will feel VERY stiff to the touch.

Once mold root systems get into the inner foundation fibers it is next to impossible to strip those away to remove these black/dark discolorations. If the area is stiff to the touch and cracks when you slowly bend it, or it sounds like wood when you knock on the area with your knuckles, then dry rot has set in and you have to be incredibly careful so that you do not create a hole like this:

A hole is what eventually happens when dry rot is left alone to do its dirty work.

Though this is usually a problem we see with rugs that have a cotton foundation, it is possible for dry rot to deteriorate wool rugs woven on wool warps and wefts if it is left wet for months.

Wool on wool Turkoman rug with potted plant damage. Dry rot is so black that it looks as if the rug has been burned.

You also want to be on the look out for pet urine damaged areas. These will likely be yellow discolorations on the top side of the rug, like this:

Pet urine activity over months and months has completely discolored the side of this Nichols Chinese rug. This area is very brittle and stiff to the touch, indicating that the cotton foundation fibers that the wool knots are tied around are rotten.

Pet activity over time can be devastating to a rug, not only in terms of dye damage and discoloration, but also in weakening the foundation fibers. The “skeleton” of the rug essentially crumbles apart.

Pet urine damaged Kerman rug has torn.

Without the more obvious visual signs of dark discolorations, or pet damage, you sometimes have to rely on your hands to find the warning signs.

With semi-antique and antique rugs, fibers can become weaker and brittle due to age. You do not want to haphazardly bend areas of an old rug to see if the foundation fibers crack. Instead you want to look for signs of splits in rugs that can give you clues about possible signs of dry rot or brittleness preceding the most devastating phase of widespread deterioration.

Jute and burlap becomes exceptionally brittle with age. This rug is from the 1940′s, and the jute foundation has split in the middle.

Because the sides and ends often get a bit more wear and tear than the middle of a rug, you can usually find splits and cracks to serve as your warning signs.

Wefts have split on this Persian rug, creating a tear along the end.

Wefts have split on this Caucasian rug also, creating a tear.

Aggressive chemical use, or build up of chemical residue, can dry out foundation fibers and make them brittle and eventually rotten. We especially see this on cotton fringe that has been made super white by the rug manufacturers.

White cotton tassels have gotten so weak they have torn away completely from the end of this rug.

Just like when you bleach cotton t-shirts too many times and they begin to shred apart, this also happens with cotton fringes. Rugs from China, India, Pakistan, and Iran all can have this type of damage.

Too much hydrogen peroxide use on this rug over the years to keep the fringes white. Chlorine bleach, oxygen bleach, and other whitening solutions all cause different levels of damage to cotton fringe fibers.

When you are inspecting the rug, tug on the cotton tassels and see if they break away easily. The cotton should be strong enough to not break, but if it pulls away like hair, or snaps off easily, then you know you have weakened cotton to deal with in your cleaning process.

Many newer rugs have this problem (because people like WHITE fringe), and many older rugs have little or no fringe because their tassels have already broken away after 75+ years on the floor.

DRY ROT: What To Do When You Find It.

1) DOCUMENT

The first thing you do when you discover signs of mildew, mold, or dry rot is document it. Take photos and indicate the condition on your invoice or pre-wash inspection sheet.

2) COMMUNICATE

The next step is to share the condition with the owner of the rug. If the problem is due to isolated water exposure, such as a plant or pet, make them aware of the damage caused and that this has already devalued the rug as a result.

If dry rot has set in, you need to explain that this is permanent damage that is not reversible, and that you cannot be held liable if the worst areas become splits or holes during the cleaning process. Lay out realistic expectations. Secure weak areas if necessary for the wash process.

3) HELP IF YOU CAN

If the rug has mildew/mold you can use sanitizing or disinfecting solutions to stop this damage from continuing. Check your cleaning suppliers for approved solutions in your state.

With dry rot, the deterioration “disease” itself is not reversible, but the symptoms of stiffness and cracking can be lessened. Petroleum based products can help soften rugs that have become brittle with age, some rug cleaning plants use denatured alcohol to help soften rugs and fabrics that have become stiff.

There is a new host of keratin products that also can add sheen and suppleness to rug fibers, not just to the cotton fibers, but also to wool and silk.

If you are familiar with women’s hair products being used today to help soften and strengthen chemically damaged or “more mature” hair, then you will understand how these products work with chemically damaged wool rugs, or those textiles with brittleness due to age.

As with the hair treatments, you cannot regenerate what has already been lost, but you can help the conditions be more friendly – and stronger – to everyday use. It is temporary help that requires continual treatments for upkeep, which can be costly but if you love your rugs as you love your hair, you might be willing to invest in this to help enjoy the textile longer.

One danger is that these solutions may give the impression that a rug is in much better condition than it truly is, just as great colored and conditioned hair can make someone look younger than they are, so if you are looking to invest money in an antique rug and it looks too good to be true – and has a high price tag on it – you should have a licensed appraiser inspect and evaluate the textile to verify that you are indeed acquiring a rug that will have longevity and retain its value.

If you are paying less than $30 per sq. ft. for a wool woven rug, and you really like it, there is no need for the second opinion. Once you hit about $30 and head up to hundreds per sq. ft., then it never hurts to seek out the licensed appraisers in the rug field. Just make sure you have one recommended to you because for every outstanding appraiser I know in the rug world, there are three others that are full of malarkey.

If you would like some basic tips on what to look for when buying rugs, I have a very detailed post on Rug Tips For The Nervous Rug Shopper – print that out and take it on your next rug shopping spree. =)

What about rotten fringe?

If the dry rot you find is not on an older rug, but on a newer one, and particularly on the fringe, then you have to explain to the owner why this is happening.

Cotton fringe is tearing off of this Chinese wool rug due to past chemical whitening.

You have to be careful when cleaning these tassels, because even the most gentle scrubbing will tear away fibers. Often the best solution is to place a new fringe over the top of the original damaged tassels.

On contemporary rugs, which rarely have fringe that adds any value to the rug itself (it is just a structural byproduct), it is not uncommon for prefabricated fringe to be tacked to the top side of the damaged fringe in order to cover it up and give the look of undamaged fringe.

There are ways to do this so that it does not look like brand new fringe on a not-brand-new rug. What is nice is that it is covering – and protecting – the weaker tassels from additional damage. Because these tassels are the warps that the wool knots are tied around, this keeps the rug from unraveling due to the continuing loss of its tassels.

If the “new” fringe is sewn to the rug by hand, as opposed to doing so by machine (or worse, with glue!), it is not creating anything that cannot be undone in the future. This is the least invasive way to solve the problem of bad looking fringe.

So, inform the rug owner about the weakness of the fringe, take care in getting it cleaner, and offer new fringe if that seems like the best option.

* *

I hope you have enjoyed this post on dry rot, and that it helps you educate your clients to keep them from having to deal with this type of damage to their rugs.

Happy Rug Cleaning!

- Lisa

P.S. I am currently accepting applications for our next team of Textile Pros, which will be chosen by August 20th. Jim Pemberton and I train with 20 companies over 6 months on rug and fine fabric care in a combination of on-line and in-person instruction. This is an advanced course for those who want to become specialists in this field. If you would like more information about the Textile Pro program, and an application to be considered, please email my team at TextilePros at gmail.com.

“Design Without Thought.”

Paper rugs are one of these DWT rugs, because obviously not much attention was put into the practicality of paper as a floor covering.

I had heard of “paper” rugs in the past, but only as a novelty, like this rug made entirely from cigarettes:

Rug made out of cigarettes.

Yes… I said cigarettes…

Up close.

Now, as a novelty item, that rug is amusing. And with the price of cigarettes these days, probably also quite expensive. This one was made in South America, but to not be outdone, a Chinese “cigarette artist” made a Tiger Skin rug design out of 500,000 cigarettes.

Tiger skin cigarette rug

Art is in the eye of the beholder, right?

I didn’t give “paper rugs” much thought again until after a client called us to see if we could clean her paper rug. I asked if she was sure it was paper, and she read me the label, and I did the research and discovered that yes, there is a new “Design Without Thought” rug on the market – and they are not cheap, and can end up being quite costly to those who do not know what they have on their hands. Here is a rug that is a wool and paper blend from Merida Home, which actually has a nice selection of rugs besides these paper ones:

Paper and wool blend rug by Merida. Wide selection of different products at www.meridahome.com

The look is like sisal weaves up close, and it is attractive at first glance:

Up close paper weave.

But is it PRACTICAL?

I mean… it is paper. So I took a look at the “care” instructions because I told the customer who called me that rugs are meant to be WASHED, and I was fairly certain that you cannot wash paper. =)

And I was right.

Here are some paper rug care comments from Coastal Style Paper rugs:

Regular vacuuming is the best method for keeping its appearance fresh. We do recommend daily, or at least weekly, vacuuming with a good quality vacuum.

Clean-up of spills is dependant on the type of spill, and we recommend you follow our stain specific recommendations.

The important thing is to try to clean the spill without the use of liquids.

Dry spills are easiest cleaned by scraping the material with a blunt blade (such as a teaspoon or butter knife), gently scooping up the material from the edge towards the center.

Liquid spills should be immediately blotted or patted dry with a clean absorbent cloth. Do not rub the spill area as this can force the liquid further into the fiber.

Interesting.

Would you enjoy living with a rug that requires DAILY vacuuming? And how exactly would you tackle a juice spill on your paper rug if you cannot use liquid to help clean up a spot?

Do you receive a special paper spill remover?

Paper rug protection!

And if you are too aggressive, perhaps you could use some White-Out to fix it up.

Seriously though, I am sensitive to the idea of crafting rugs that are considered eco-friendly, but is this actually meeting that purpose? And more importantly, is it contributing to the better health of your indoor environment?

One of the many benefits of wool rugs, besides the fact that it is a completely renewable resource, is that it “grabs” contaminants and dust from the air like an air filter. It helps keep the air in a room naturally cleaner, and has many pockets in the fibers to hide that grit, and vacuuming every few weeks keeps it nice and clean.

No daily vacuuming needed for wool rugs.

Here are some things that bother me about the idea of this particular “Design Without Thought” area rug:

1) Paper is absorbent.

Every rug we get in for cleaning at our rug plant in San Diego has some type of spill on it. How in the world could you tackle this with a “paper” rug?

The care instructions say to clean without liquids. When was the last time you tried to clean a spill without a liquid? You might be able to pack the area with salt to help absorb away the spill element, but you will not get it all, which means there will be residue left behind.

Have you ever spilled on a page of a notebook and blotted it up right away? Can’t you still see that spot years later?

If that residue is sugary (if you have kids) this will end up being a meal for insects, and if that residue is a little smelly (if you have pets), that will be odor that you may only be able to remove with scissors.

Can you imagine a spill on this paper shag rug?

Paper shag rug. Will you roll around on this?

(I guess with that paper shag rug when you are done with it you can use it as packing material for any shipments you have with FedEx. But, at just under a thousand dollar for that rug in a 8×10… that would be some pricey packing material.)

One of the benefits of “rugs” in general is that they can be removed from the home to be properly and thoroughly washed, because rugs should never be cleaned in the home.

With a paper rug, you are removing the possibility of washing your rug clean. Could you imagine if for several years instead of being allowed to take a shower and wash your hair, you could only use a slightly damp microfiber cloth, or pack your skin and your hair with a dry compound to try to “clean” yourself?

How many weeks of that until you could not stand yourself anymore?

How effective would that process be on removing oil, sweat, grime, and dirt… not to mention fungus, bacteria, or other germs?

So with a floorcovering that will have countless feet, shoes, and paws on it – just how clean do you think you can keep that rug in your home?

2) Paper is a foodstuff for mold.

Mold feeds on many things, paper being one of them.

With paper being absorbent, even without a direct spill, I would be wary of possible mildew issues if these rugs are in a high humidity environment, or were to have several spills over time, because it would be difficult to get the twisted fibers completely dry if they ever get wet.

3) Paper BURNS.

One element that frightens me the most is having items in the home that are highly flammable, and there is no way around this one – paper burns.

Every holiday season we see items that ignite from a candle tipped over, or an electrical spark, and it only takes one drape, or a sofa, or a rug to ignite and make a small problem a horrible tragedy. This is another reason to have wool on the floor because wool does not carry a flame, it self-extinguishes. This is why airplanes have their fabric and carpet made from wool.

People do not realize how many of their blankets, cushion, furnishings, or floor-coverings are flammable until after a tragedy hits. That super great price you got might be for a reason.

4) Paper is not something you roll around on… it’s something you shred or flush.

These rugs may be pretty, but are they practical?

A rug is on the floor to add to the “look” of a room, but also to feel good to walk on, or sit on. Does paper meet that need?

They give these rugs the “look” of sisal, and though sisal, jute, and hemp fibers are not the easiest to maintain and care for, they are all VERY strong. Paper is not. They add some chemicals (waxes) to try to build up the strength and moisture repellency, but you will not be able to abuse these rugs like you can sisal. And nothing outlasts a fiber like wool.

Dangers For Rug Cleaners

The big danger for cleaners here is if the label on the rug comes off and they happen to think the rug is sisal or jute or hemp, and they wash or steam clean them. You ever soak a cardboard box? Then you know where this is going.

They call these rugs “eco-friendly” when they need to be called DISPOSABLE, because owners will be replacing these every few years (or sooner if they have a major spill, or a pet accident).

What is more eco-friendly, a rug that gets sent to the landfill after a few years, or a wool rug that will last decades and can be given to family generation after generation?

In an industry where the recommended method for cleaning hand woven rugs has always been to give them a bath…

Washing rugs in the river.

… what in the world were these designers thinking?

And that is the problem, because they weren’t. Design Without Thought.

If you are a rug shopper, there are many things that you need to consider when purchasing a new rug. I have a list of tips and recommendations on exactly this subject.

I am not saying buying a Paper Rug is the worst decision you could make, but I am saying that this will be a short term addition to your home. Do not expect it to last, to look fantastic after a “dry compound” cleaning, or to not have contaminants inside the fibers over time as the result of it not being cleanable.

If you know that, and you still like the look and idea anyway, go ahead and buy it. My goal here is only to put out the complete picture on rugs, so that rug cleaners and rug buyers know exactly what they are getting themselves into, so they can make educated decisions.

Happy Rug Cleaning!

- Lisa

P.S. My next online course for professional cleaners is open for enrollment right now. Details are on my Rug Care Training page. The next class will be closed once we have 50 companies signed up. And for those of you coming to the Reno Cleaning College June 27-29, I will be making a presentation on some of the best – and most affordable – rug shop systems for cleaners who do not have the resources to open a large full surface plant yet. Hope to see you there, it will be a great line-up of education, and some VERY valuable content to walk away with.