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Oriental Chinese Rug From Star Valley, WY Restored to Original Beauty!

3/6/2015

Oriental Chinese rug with many years of pets and traffic cleansed away!

Oriental area rugs are different from Persian rugs in many ways. One characteristic of many Oriental Chinese rugs is the wool texture feels almost silky and looks more shiny. This post is about a wool Chinese area rug that had experienced years of traffic and pet damage until it was completely cleansed at Revive-A-Rug Cleansing & Repair in western Wyoming.

Oriental Chinese area rugs like the one pictured above are very popular in our area. The carved, textured floral patterns feel nice to the hand, and are luxurious to walk on(especially with bare feet). Normally, these rugs do not have color bleed issues unless there is a greater than moderate urine contamination or a presence of alkaline carpet cleaning chemical residue from an improper cleaning from a steam cleaning company. We cannot stress enough that run of the mill carpet cleaning is NOT the method of choice for natural fiber area rugs, EVER! It may look acceptable at first, but the foundation fibers(which are impossible to steam clean thoroughly) only soak up the cleaning chemical and this causes permanent damage to the wool fibers. Wool prefers to be in an acid state. There are certain instances when alkalinity CAN be used, but only for short periods of time and in a controlled environment. Most carpet cleaning chemicals are alkaline based cleaning solutions. This is another reason that we do not offer in-home cleaning of wool area rugs. They simply cannot be properly cared for in a clients home. If you have a local carpet cleaning company that offers to give your area rugs the 'once over,' do not pay more per square foot than you are paying for your wall-to-wall carpets to be cleaned. If the equipment and chemicals are the same, what is the difference?

Another issue with carpet cleaning companies that clean area rugs in your home is the heat of the rinse water. Wool can/will shrink if it is exposed to greater than lukewarm water. Also, the dyes can be caused to be unstable if introduced to liquid that is too hot. I know there are carpet cleaners out there that have done it this way for years and they claim to not have any issues with their process, and I would rebut this with the facts that are easily proven; in that you may have improved that face of the rug, but the alkaline residues that are left behind cause damage to the fibers and dyes many years after you have provided the 'once over.' Working with natural fibers over the years comes with its lessons and learning that you just cannot receive when you are simply truck-mount cleaning synthetic carpets all day long. The risks taken to clean wool/silk/cotton rugs are not worth the small amount that can ethically be charged to clean them in a clients home. If you are a local carpet cleaning company reading this post, do the right thing and either educate yourself as to 'how' to properly care for natural fiber area rugs, or sub-contract the work out to someone that does it everyday. We offer wholesale pricing to local carpet cleaning companies for area rug cleansing & repairs so that they can keep and service their own clientele and offer the best product in the area.

Results like the Oriental Chinese rug at the top of this post are typical for rugs that are extremely soiled when given our 'Revival Process.' Ours is a multi-step process that properly and thoroughly cleanses each area rug individually according to what the fibers and dyes can safely experience in a controlled environment. We guarantee our work. We carefully inspect each rug and textile before and after the cleansing process to be sure that the client is receiving the highest quality product available. From the pile side, to the node side to each yarn of the fringe, we offer the safest, most thorough cleansing process possible. We service all of western Wyoming and even offer free pick up and delivery to much of our service areas. If you have lost hope in your Oriental, Persian, Navajo, Tribal or other kind of area rugs and are considering throwing them out or donating them, give us a call first, we are happy to consult with you on the potential for what your rug CAN be. We will help you fall in love with your rugs again. That is our guarantee!

-Rug Reviver
(307)774-RUGS(7847)

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Hand-Hooked Rug Re-weave Repair in Jackson, WY

3/5/2015

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This 'hand-hook' made wool rug had special meaning to our client in downtown Jackson, WY. Although the rug was not a valuable piece, our in-house artisan was able to re-weave new life into this seemingly impossible task.

I almost titled this blog post, "Leave no rug behind..." This is an example of how a seemingly inexpensive little rug can have more value to the client than one might expect. People value their rugs for different reasons. It may have been purchased while abroad, it may be a family heirloom, it may have been made by a family member, or even may have been purchased as an investment grade textile. The reasons are many, but the service is the same at Revive-A-Rug Cleansing & Repair in Jackson, WY.

Many of these hand-hooked type rugs are made by our clients themselves, or by a family member. Which means that they carry more than just a market value to them. This rug had particular importance to our client in downtown Jackson, WY. She was surprised to learn that there was a local rug cleaning/repair company that was able to take on the job of properly cleaning and even repairing her little textile. I am always impressed with the level of concern that our clients have for their rugs and textiles. Many of our new clients are full of questions when first calling in to our rug boutique business. Our task is to handle each rug and textile that we receive into our care as though it were our own. We appreciate that our clients seek us out to have their work performed locally in Wyoming from among the local dealers that send their cleaning and repair work out of state to be handled.

You can see the old jute foundation that has been removed, secured and rebuilt with a cotton foundation.

The unraveled yarns have been removed from the rug and the existing foundation(being made from jute) has been reconstructed from cotton. This hand-hooked rug is ready to receive a newly woven pile.

After a few hours of carefully weaving new yarns into the newly rebuilt foundation, this little hand-hooked rug has received a new lease on life. We could not wait to hand this back over to our client for her continued use of this piece. Weaving new life into area rugs is a common practice at our company. We offer many different types of repair work options for area rugs. No job is too small, and conversely, no job is too large for us to handle. We are happy to provide any kind of a quotation for any repairs that your area rugs need. We even offer out of the area services for clients that are outside of our pick-up/delivery areas. Basically, if you are within an hour or two of Jackson Wyoming, we are readily available to come to you, otherwise, after phone or electronic communication, you may ship the rug to us for cleaning or repairs. Our local number is listed below. Cheers!

-Rug Reviver
(307)774-RUGS(7847)

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Custom Area Rug Re-sizing Services in Jackson Wyoming...

3/4/2015

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This wool/cotton/silk blended area rug received a hand customization in our western Wyoming facility at the hands of our in house rug repair artisan!

Many of the area rugs that we receive into our care are not in need of a washing. We offer rug customization services for all types of area rugs, textiles and carpets. Basically if it can be thought of, we can probably make it happen. This blog post is about a rug that was purchased for a room that logistically just did not fit the layout with the color scheme that was desired; while also allowing for the proper heating/ventilation ports in the room to function properly. Since the most cost effective component of the room to modify was the area rug, enter Revive-A-Rug and our in-house rug repair artisan!

Area rugs that are hand knotted, rely on their surrounding construction components for their longevity and dimensional stability. Say what? basically in English, this means that you cannot just cut a hole in a rug and glue it together hoping that it will stay together. While this is possible with carpeting and some tufted area rugs, hand-knotted area rugs are a different story. There is a grid that is built as the foundation of a hand-knotted area rug. The foundation threads that run the length of the rug are the 'warp' yarns. The side-to-side yarns are the 'weft' yarns. These yarns are intertwined and woven together along with what makes up the pile of the rug(the knotted yarns). There are two sides to an area rug, the pile side and the node side. Since we have already covered the pile side, the node side is the bottom(so called because the 'nodes' of the knots are rounded and visible/exposed). Hand-knotted area rugs will unravel and fall apart if the warp, weft and/or the knots are removed or cut, etc. Now that we are semi-oriented with the construction of the rug, we can go through some more pictures of the process that this rug experienced.

Each warp thread is re-knotted with the adjacent thread around the weft yarn in order to keep this rug from unraveling.

You can see the base of each knot in the picture above as it butts up against the weft yarn. If this weft yarn were removed, the knots themselves would fall out and reveal the next weft yarn. Once we reached the pre-measured size of the heat ports, these warps were tied off and ready for the next step.

All four sides of this hole we made in this rug require new knots to hold the rug together.

The newly exposed warp and weft yarns were left in tact in case this rug is to be made whole again. The new hand overcasting is starting to take shape around the interior of the removed pile area.

I showed these pictures to another colleague of mine in the rug industry. The comment was made that we inadvertently left the yarns too long. The reason we did so was just in case this rug goes out of style in its lifetime and there is a desire to re-weave the holes back in. We feel that preserving the integrity of the value of the rug is important. This rug can have the overcast edges removed and be re-woven. If it is done properly by someone with enough skill and experience, this can be returned to near un-noticeably repaired if so desired.

The finished product before delivery. Two heater vent ports and a door stopper port.

In conclusion, this project was fairly elementary. There are many different ways to perform these types of repairs. We feel that the most important element of custom area rug services like this hand-knotted rug are to preserve the rug in all aspects: value, construction and the ability to undo the customization and allow the textile to be returned to its original condition. I know that there are cheaper, quicker ways to perform this task, but that is just not how we do business at Revive-A-Rug Cleansing & Repair. We take pride in what we do, and so do our clients. If you are interested in custom area rug services, give us a call.

-Rug Reviver
(307)774-RUGS(7847)

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Persian Area Rug Side Cord Repair.

3/3/2015

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Area rug edge finishes like this Persian runner take a beating over time from foot traffic, vacuuming, pets, etc. This 22' long Persian runner has a new, hand-wrapped edge finish from Revive-A-Rug Cleansing & Repair.

Area rug repairs are something that most people would not think that they could get done by a local artisan in the greater Jackson Hole, WY area. If you visit a local rug dealer, your rug will most certainly be sent out of state for a few weeks at least, in order to be repaired. At Revive-A-Rug Cleansing & Repair, we offer ALL types of repair services for our clients' area rugs, from simple end/edge finish repairs, to re-weaving of rips, cuts, holes, etc. We have woven corners, field/pile designs and woven in new fringes and face fibers. If your rugs are in need of repair and you are interested in the highest quality, consider Revive-A-Rug in western Wyoming.

The rug pictured above is a 22' long Persian runner. The rugs side cord has been through vacuuming, foot traffic, pets, all of the above. After performing a thorough pre-wash inspection of this rug for our client in Wilson, WY, we offered this service in order to preserve the value and enhance the beauty of this textile that belongs in a long, rustic hallway in our clients home. You can see the right hand side of the rugs edge finish and how the left hand side has seen better days. This hand repair work was performed in our washing and repair facility by a highly talented young lady that has been working with textiles for over 25 years! Her intricate level of skill has garnered national attention from area rug experts who have examined and admired her work. Revive-A-Rug even occasionally hosts other area rug professionals from all corners of the US for one-on-one workshops to teach the skills and steps necessary to re-construct and repair these knotted/woven treasures.

Repairs such as this edge cord wrapping are essential to the longevity of any area rug that you may want preserved. Many of the rugs we service here at our rug washing and repair facility are 2nd generation or older. We hope to help our clients pass along their treasured textiles to further generations by offering only the highest quality repair work. Simple repairs like this can be performed when the rug is in for an annual cleaning. Generally, we prefer to repair a clean rug that is odor free, so if your rug is sent in to our shop for repairs, and it has been a while since the rug has been cleaned, we may offer a wash be performed first, especially if there are pets in the home.

We will be posting more repairs to this blog soon. We have some really fun projects that have come through our doors over the last few years that we would like to share with you. If you have an area rug that may be in disrepair, do not hesitate to call us or even email us some pictures of the rug(we service all area rugs and textile types: Persians, Orientals, Tribal, Navajo, etc). We are happy to give a no-cost opinion/quote on what it would take to get your rugs back into service so that you can enjoy the textile.

-Rug Reviver
(307)774-RUGS(7847)

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The Most Thorough Rug Cleansing Possible!

3/2/2015

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Example of the emulsified 'rug beer' that we cleanse out of each rug that we wash. The crystal clear rinse water that we seek is clean enough to drink!

We have discussed the importance of area rug dusting(dry soil removal) in a previous post. A good, thorough dusting is just the first step in a complete process for artisan quality area rug cleansing. Facilities & equipment selection play a large role in the quality of product that one can produce in regards to proper rinsing. At Revive-A-Rug Cleansing & Repair, our rinsing process has evolved through the years into what we believe to be the safest, most thorough rinsing process possible. Due to the microscopic complexities of natural fibers, we utilize a higher volume of water rather than a high pressure approach. High pressure rinsing can cause irreparable damage to staple fiber yarns that are found in the textiles that we clean and repair. Staple fibers are small filaments of wool, cotton, silk, etc. that are twisted together and spun into yarn. High pressure can dislodge, and rip apart these delicate fibers if one is not careful. In order to provide all of our clients with consistent services and quality of work, we have decided after much testing and rigorous trials of differing methods that more water=less damage potential AND cleaner, softer and healthier area rugs and textiles.

There are many methods available to area rug cleaning companies. We have attended countless workshops and trade shows which showcase the diversity of our industry. We have seen artisans from all over the world preach their own ideas; from a 5 gallon bucket with a scrub brush, to multiple hundred thousand dollar, high volume/processing equipment. What we have noticed through all these differing methods is that each one of them has their own advantages/drawbacks. For one, the single man operation with a scrub brush cannot work enough hours in the day to provide a reputable enough quality of work or volume to make a viable business model. On the other hand, the higher volume processing equipment requires a high volume of rugs coming in everyday to keep the equipment from draining the initial costs and upkeep expenses of the rug cleaning company. Also with the high volume processing equipment, the individual attention that each rug gets at Revive-A-Rug is lost. We have seen systems where rugs are processed in groups into large tumbling devices and then all take a community bath together in a bleach-type solution, then spun out in large washing machine type centrifuges to remove the water/detergents. This method seems very impersonal to us in comparison to where we have settled into our own method. The processing equipment looks cool, fun to operate and certainly comes with it's own set of bragging rights, however we feel that there is a way that rugs can still be treated individually and efficiently taken care of without the need for big/bad processing equipment.

What we have found in our own testing of our rug cleansing/washing process is that not only do dry soils release from the rug fibers in layers, but also the same is true of the oily contaminants that are stuck on the fibers and even some that penetrate the fibers themselves. Pet urine contaminated area rugs require a soaking in a neutralizing solution in order to dissolve the salty urine deposits. At Revive-A-Rug, we feel that as rugs differ in construction, they too differ in the process in how contaminants are removed properly. A community bath in a urine dissolving solution attempts to emulsify and sanitize the rugs as a group(do you really want your rugs in a bath with other peoples rugs and pet issues?). Our process treats each rug individually and caters to the unique characteristics of each textile. I have personally seen these systems in action, considered their merits and have opted to find a better way. Rug cleaning is nothing more than physics and chemistry combined with human labor and thought. Experience has taught us that there CAN be a uniform approach to 'vat-type' rug cleaning, but our opinion is that the quality of the product to the client suffers in the end. Sure there are area rug cleaning companies out there that can 'process' more rugs in a day than we can and probably for a lower price too. However, we are more concerned with offering an unbeatable quality of product that clients cannot receive anywhere else. We have a passion for 'quality of work.' We view this as more than a craft, we consider ourselves to be artisans and students of textiles. There are so many aspects to textile cleaning and repair, how can one expect to learn the intricate details of each different type of area rug or textile if their view is a processing-type of method?

The picture that headlines this post is a great example of how a rug can go from a dirty/contaminated state, to a fully cleansed/healthy state. We feel that we have found/developed the safest method for evacuating contaminant from rug and textile fibers. We also feel that we can prove the level of cleanliness that each rug we clean leaves our shop possesses. Our rinsing process not only removes emulsified contaminant from area rugs and textiles, it also leaves the fibers in a residue free, non-sticky and completely pristine state. The top right photo displays what we call 'rug beer.' It consists of fermented foot oils, pet dander/urine, spills, stains, spots, etc. I would not recommend drinking it though. We capture the rinse water from each rug throughout our cleansing process and analyze it and adjust the next step in order to achieve crystal clear water from the rug. If the water is not clear, the rug is not clean! Some rugs with thicker piles/naps take more time and steps than others. This is why we offer different prices for different rugs. If we were to just toss the rugs into a bath together with other rugs, or just clean it with a truckmount and a wand, we would offer flat rate, per square foot pricing. While we do charge by the square foot, the levels of service depend on what each rug requires and what the client has set for a budget. After we have thoroughly inspected each rug, we send each client a detailed report of the current condition of each rug and the recommended level of service for each piece in our care. Regardless of the level of service that the client chooses, the wash/cleanse process is applied to all rugs and textiles. This is what our clients have come to expect from us, and this is what we are happiest providing. This is a rewarding process for us. It is a labor of love. We hope to meet you and your rugs soon. Give us a call sometime. We service all of western Wyoming.

-Rug Reviver
(307)774-RUGS(7847)

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Oriental Chinese Rug From Star Valley, WY Restored to Original Beauty!

Hand-Hooked Rug Re-weave Repair in Jackson, WY

Custom Area Rug Re-sizing Services in Jackson Wyoming...

Persian Area Rug Side Cord Repair.

The Most Thorough Rug Cleansing Possible!

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