I received this comment on my “Viscose Rugs are Garbage” post from a reader who was advised by her interior decorator to have a custom rug designed using “faux silk” (aka viscose or rayon or mercerized cotton): “Unfortunately I had an area rug made that has large off-white parts made of faux silk, and the [...]
Viscose, rayon, faux silk, art silk rugs = PROBLEMS
Filed Under: Professional Rug Cleaners, Rug Cleaning, Rug Owners, Rug Shoppers Tagged With: Area rugs, Fake silk rugs, Faux silk rugs, Hand woven rugs, Oriental rugs, Rayon rugs, Rug buying, Rug dye migration, Rug Fading, Rug washing, Rugs, Tufted rugs, Viscose rugs
Weird rugs…revisited!
How many drinks do you need to decide to create this out of an old Tabriz rug? How many drinks do you need to pay $1,800 for it? Actually…if a rug is damaged, has little resale value, and cannot be safely used in its current condition, it is nice to be able to give it [...]
Filed Under: Professional Rug Cleaners, Rug Cleaning, Rug Owners Tagged With: Antique rugs, Area rugs, Oriental rugs, Rug buying, Rug repair, Rugs
A silk tufted rug – now what?
I was sent some photos of a relatively “new” type of product hitting the market – a tufted rug using silk as highlights. Now…tufted rugs are of course not new to retail shops. I’m sure you’ve seen them, rugs with a material backing, like this: Tufted rugs are what I refer to as FAKE rugs, [...]
Filed Under: Professional Rug Cleaners, Rug Cleaning, Rug Owners Tagged With: Area rugs, Artificial silk rugs, Fake silk rugs, Hand woven rugs, Oriental rugs, Rayon rugs, Rug bleeding, Rug buying, Rug Cleaning, Rug Dyes, Rug odors, Rug washing, Rugs, Silk rugs, Tufted rugs, Viscose rugs, Wool rugs
Rug Reminder: Viscose rugs are garbage.
I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about viscose (aka rayon, faux silk, or Art Silk) rugs from rug cleaners, and also consumers looking to buy some new rugs. Yes viscose is MUCH cheaper than silk – that’s because you are getting what you pay for. I’ve made posts before about the negatives of [...]
Filed Under: Professional Rug Cleaners, Rug Cleaning, Rug Owners, Rug Shoppers Tagged With: Area rugs, Art Silk rugs, Hand woven rugs, Oriental rugs, Rayon rugs, Rug buying, Rug Cleaning, Rugs, Silk rugs, Viscose rugs, Wool rugs
Frankensteined Custom Rugs.
That’s what I call rugs that are haphazardly designed using very different fibers or construction types in order to make a “custom” rug. Just like Frankenstein, they grab random pieces to put together the resulting monster. Some look attractive. The question though is – can you safely clean it? Because in many cases, you can’t. [...]
Filed Under: Professional Rug Cleaners, Rug Cleaning, Rug Owners, Rug Shoppers Tagged With: Area rugs, Custom rugs, fabric border rugs, Rug buying, Rug pre-inspection, Rugs, Tufted rugs
Rug To Run From: Viscose Rugs!
Real rugs (hand woven oriental and occidental rugs) are truly pieces of hand craftsmanship to showcase in your home. They are a piece of a weaver’s life that you get to enjoy. A piece of art that will live centuries (if it is properly cared for). Commodity rugs are mass produced today to feed a [...]
Filed Under: Professional Rug Cleaners, Rug Cleaning, Rug Owners, Rug Shoppers Tagged With: Area rugs, Hand woven rugs, Oriental rugs, Rayon rugs, Rug buying, Rug Cleaning, Rug dye migration, Rug Dyes, Rug to run from, Rugs, Viscose rugs
Tibetan rugs…
Tibetan rugs today are woven in India and Nepal because Tibetans no longer have their home in China. They have a very distinct weaving style, and very vibrant colors, as well as fabulous quality wool. These are some of our favorite “new” rugs to wash because they have so much character and seem so ALIVE. [...]
Filed Under: Professional Rug Cleaners, Rug Cleaning, Rug Owners, Rug Shoppers Tagged With: Hand woven rugs, Nepal rugs, Oriental rugs, Rug buying, Tibetan rugs
New Oriental Rugs – Protecting Your Investment
I use the term “oriental rug” to mean a hand-woven rug (as opposed to an “area rug” which is a machine made rug). Technically “oriental” refers to “the East” (the Orient) and rugs woven over on the other side of this great planet of ours. Academics use “occidental rug” to refer to those rugs woven [...]
Filed Under: Professional Rug Cleaners, Rug Cleaning, Rug Owners, Rug Shoppers Tagged With: Area rugs, Excess dye, Hand woven rugs, New rugs, Occidental rugs, Oriental rugs, Rug bleeding, Rug buying, Rug Cleaning, Rug dye migration, Rug Dyes, Rug loom, Rug washing, Rug weaving, Rugs
This Rug Stinks.
I am not the biggest fan of TUFTED rugs. Simply because I appreciate the art of a woven rug crafted by hand,versus the mass-market production of tufts of wool held together by latex and covered up on the back with material. It’s cheaper to buy a tufted rug than woven, because of course the labor [...]
Filed Under: Professional Rug Cleaners, Rug Cleaning, Rug Owners, Rug Shoppers Tagged With: Area rugs, India rugs, Rug buying, Rug Cleaning, Rug odors, Smelly rugs, Tufted rugs
That Rug LIES! (Or it is lays…?) :)
Just like Tammy Faye used a lot of makeup to cover up her “real” look to try to appear younger … certain rug dealers can use some “tricky” cover-ups to make a rug look OLDER. (Interesting, huh?) Tea wash, henna wash, antiqued wash – these are the culprits. It is a brown or gold dye, applied [...]
Filed Under: Professional Rug Cleaners, Rug Cleaning, Rug Owners, Rug Shoppers Tagged With: Area rugs, Hennah washed rugs, Rug buying, Rug Cleaning, Rug dealers, Rug Dyes, Rug pre-inspection, Rug washing, Rugs, Tea wash rugs, Tea washed rugs