Oatmeal and the Area Rug Disasters

We all know kids love breakfast cereal. especially the sweet stuff.
Adults aren’t much different – they love those kinds with honey whether it’s in clusters, O’s or granola.

Now if you pursue a healthy lifestyle you know most of those breakfast cereals are not as healthy as they claim. They’re full of sugar, high fructose corn syrup and artificial ingredients. 

You know what’s healthier?

Good old fashioned oatmeal.

It doesn’t have any artificial this, that or the other. It’s got real nutrients that nature provided instead of a chemical factory.

Plus you can dress it up with real honey, real fruit, real nuts, real cinnamon and real maple syrup.

And since oatmeal has got real sticking power, you don’t need to eat again for hours.

I know, I know, those packaged cereals have statements about how it’s fortified with iron and contains vitamin this, that and the other.

But those are just statements.

They talk about the vitamins but avoid mentioning they’re synthetic. They boast their cereal has a “touch of honey” but won’t say anything about the high sugar content or artificial ingredients.

It’s all cleverly designed to make you think their product is better than it really is.

The same thing happens in the loose carpet cleaning industry (aka area rug cleaning).

There are people who claim they can clean your area rug in your home but in actual fact they can’t.
And in some cases these cleaners can do more damage than anything else.

I’m not talking just about damaging the area rug (though that happens a lot). I’m also talking about the flooring underneath the rug.

You won’t believe how many times I’ve heard how disappointed a home owner was with an in-home area rug cleaning.

Or how many horror stories.

Like the one where a homeowner had her hard wood floors ruined because her “cleaned” but wet rug sat on top of them. It wasn’t until the rug was moved weeks later did she see the extent of the water damage to her wood flooring.

At Luv-A-Rug we love you AND your rugs.

We know there is no way anyone could ever get your rug cleaned properly with a carpet cleaning tool.

Every area rug is unique and requires specialized attention. There is no such thing as a “one size fits all” cleaning method for area rugs.

We match the proper cleaning method to your type of rug. That way…

• the colors will never bleed
• your fringes come out beautiful
• all the damaging dirt at the base of the rug is taken out
• your rug is dry before you put it back on your floor
• it feels soft and fluffy like the day you bought it

So next time you need your area rugs cleaned don’t risk having anyone clean an area rug inside your home.

Give your rugs the care they deserve and bring them to Luv-A-Rug.

It would be like choosing nutritious oatmeal with fruit, berries and nuts over synthetically enhanced boxed cereal.

They are located at…
445 Beta St (off Alpha St)
Victoria, BC, V8Z 1A9
(250) 590-6210
www.luvarug.com

The Evils of Tufted Rugs

When you go out to buy a rug these days, you have lots of choices.

Which comes with quite a range in pricing.

That means you are going to come across really well made rugs.

And rugs that are made cheaply.

Of all the cheaply made rugs the one to watch out for is the "tufted rug".

Why?

Well because of how the rug has been manufactured.

Basically a tufted rug is one that has rug fibres glued to a backing.

Yes glued. Not woven. Not hand knotted. Glued.

Now there are some advantages to making a tufted rug.

They are fast and easy to manufacture.

They can easily be made with the latest design trends.

So finding one that matches your décor can be easy.

But tufted rugs have a dark side.

Because of the way they are manufactured they do not last very long.

Like 5 - 10 years at the most.

Why?

Well because of the fact they are pieces of fibres glued to a fabric backing.

The glue only last for a few years before it breaks down.

Not only that - the glue some companies use are NOTORIOUS for having a bad odour.

An odour that never seems to leave.

An odour that has been described by people as a combination of burnt rubber and dirty sweaty socks.

You would think you could wash that odour out right?

Unfortunately, rugs that smell bad to begin with tend to be worse after being cleaned.

It has to do with the glue and filler they use.

(Filler is whatever they put in the glue to make it go farther - everything from water to marble dust to who knows what!)

Speaking of getting cleaned, tufted rugs need to cared for in a special way.

And many times they can never be thoroughly cleaned at all.

Why?

Because if the glue has begun to break down any kind of washing will pull the fibers right off the backing.

Leaving you with a "holes" in your rug.

So if you have kids, animals, or teenagers who tend to be slobs a tufted rug is going to be a problem.

Unless it is fairly new, any kind of messy sticky food or pet stains may never be thoroughly removed.

Other problem these rugs run into are...

• Delamination (where the glue separates from the rug)

• Backing discolouration
• Colour bleeding

How can you tell a tufted rug from all other kinds of rugs?

Easy.

If the back of the rug is piece of fabric and you cannot see the same pattern on the back as you do on the front...

...that's a tufted rug.

A rug that's made of fibres glued to a fabric backing.

If you happen to own one of these bad boys never have them cleaned in your home. 

Even though you may not see any warning signs in the rug itself, you run the risk of potential damage to your floors (yellowing, dye transfer, latex powder residue) or a damaged rug if it gets cleaned by a ordinary carpet cleaner.

Instead bring it to a professional rug cleaner like Luv-A-Rug.

• They know exactly what can go wrong with tufted rugs.
• They know what potential hazards to look out for and how to handle them.
• They know the exact cleaning procedures to use for your particular rug.
• They also know what you can expect for results depending how well your rug is holding up.

Now here's the thing.

You may have a tufted rug.

It may be the perfect piece for your décor.

It also may be irreplaceable because you decorated around it.

The people at Luv-a-Rug understand that.

And will do everything in their power to make your tufted rug look as new as possible.

No matter how fragile it's become.

That's why real master rug cleaners like you find at Luv-A-Rug is your only choice for tufted rugs.

They have the training, knowledge and expertise to handle them so you never have to worry about losing an important piece of your decor.

And of course...Luv-A-Rug are also Masters at caring for every other kinds of rugs - especially ones worth tens of thousands of dollars or more.

Why You Should Never Let Just Any Company Clean Your Handknotted Area Rugs

There are many, many reasons why you shouldn’t let anyone like a mere carpet cleaner with a machine wash your fine handmade rug.

You see a rug that has been handknotted deserves to cared for by someone who understands how to handle such a fine piece of art.

Yes I said art.

Even though it was designed to be placed on the floor and walked upon does not take away any of the beauty it holds for us.

So only a dedicated expert will know how to clean such a rug in a way that increases it's value.

So before you make a decision on who to choose to clean your fine rug, keep these points in mind...

1. Does the company have reviews from satisfied customers? Not just on their own website but rather on review sites like Google reviews.
   
   Why is this so important? Reliability!  Google reviews are posted by the customer and cannot be altered by the company being reviewed. Reading those ones will help you to decide if you are dealing with a company worthy of your rugs.
   
   No (or very few) Google reviews? It might be best to look elsewhere because they obviously haven't impressed their customers enough to have them become inspired to leave a review.
   
   (Check out the Google reviews for Luv-A-Rug to see what to look for)
    
2. Can you see their facility?  Can you? Reputable cleaners who you trust your rugs to will let you tour their facility. They are proud of how they do their job. The folks at Luv-a–Rug for example LOVE to show you where they do their wonderful work!
    
3. What kind of guarantee do they offer? Will the cleaner you're thinking of choosing guarantee you'll love your rug? They should. Luv-A-Rug certainly does and if you don't like what they did they'll give you your money back.
    
4.  Is your rug cleaner insured? Even more important, do they carry the proper type of insurance? The more valuable your rug is the more important it is that they have the right type of insurance - otherwise if they damage it you may have no recourse other than an expensive court action (if they don't skip town that is).
    
5.  Last but not least, are they truly fine rug cleaners? Or are they actually a carpet cleaner, a dry cleaners or an industrial carpet cleaner pretending they know how to care for expensive textiles just to get your money? 
   
   A true fine rug cleaning business only focuses on one thing - cleaning your rugs. But the really exceptional ones not only clean them well but are also able to identify your rug, tell you where it came from, how it was made and even a little interesting history about it.
   
   You know, the kind of thing Luv-A-Rug does everyday...

Go check them out now at www.luvarug.com

3 Things You Need to Know About Choosing An Area Rug Cleaner

We hear the question from home owners & business professionals all the time:

Why does my handwoven Persian rug need a rug cleaning expert? Why can’t I just use a dry cleaner or carpet cleaner to clean my rug?

The short answer: It’s all about the process and the level of care.

Let’s start with the Dry Cleaner.

Dry cleaners take the utmost care with your clothes, curtains and even your tablecloths. So why wouldn’t you trust them with your handmade textile?

Most dry cleaners are not rug experts – especially with fine handwoven natural fiber ones.

Which means one of two things.

They either do it in-house or they farm the job out.

If they do it in-house you’re looking at your rug going into a solvent bath maybe with or without other dirty articles (we hope without).

The problem with this method is that the chemicals used to clean clothing are typically too harsh for rugs and will severely reduce the life of the rug. And their method does not the rug really be clean that well – especially with heavy sediment removal.

If they farm it out instead you have no control over who they send it to which could lead to all kinds of trouble including…

•    The rug being physically damaged
•    The rug being lost
•    The colors of the rug bleeding
•    The companies not having the proper insurance to cover the rug.

Quick story.

There was an owner of a fairly valuable rug who trusted a local cleaner to clean his rug. The cleaner subcontracted the work to another company better suited to clean it than they were.

So far so good. The first company did the right thing in getting someone more competent than themselves to handle the cleaning.

But here is where things started to go south.

The owner goes back to the first company to pick up his rug only it’s not there. The second company was not releasing it until they got paid by the first company.

You see, company #1 had not paid his previous subcontracting bills to company #2 and now they’re holding this particular rug as ransom.

The rug owner was not pleased especially when company #1 would not tell him who company #2 was.

After a bit of sleuthing, the owner tracked down the rug but had to pay to get his rug back. Not only for his own cleaning, but for the debt incurred by company #1 to the tune of several thousands of dollars.

Company #1 of course disappeared.

Major lesson learned? Stay tuned…we’ll get back to that in a moment.

Let’s talk about carpet cleaners now.

Carpet Cleaners are great for those wall to wall carpets.

Since they generally only have one kind of cleaning equipment, all the carpets get the same kind of treatment. 

It’s kind of like the old saying if the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Take a look this typical description of how their hammer, er….ahem, I mean their cleaning equipment works:

“We inject hot, soft water and our proprietary cleaning solution into your carpet. Then our magic wand loosens and lifts the dirt and soil from the carpet, without the abrasive brushing of other cleaning methods. And, drying time is faster since 95 percent of the moisture is suctioned out of the carpet. That means no leftover soapy residue. You say goodbye to dirt, allergens, dust mites and other microscopic pollutants that collect in your carpet.”

Sounds pretty good right?

Sure, as long as you are a synthetic wall to wall carpet.

But what if you are a natural fiber (i.e.wool, silk, etc) handwoven rug?

• Is the proprietary cleaning solution actually suited to this type of rug or will it be too harsh (hint: it’s waaaay to harsh)
• Do they do any testing to see if the dyes in the rug will run and bleed? (many carpet cleaners are not trained for this kind of thing)
• What precautions do they take to prevent the rug from shrinking after their hot water extraction cleaning method? (natural fibers can do some funny things if you don’t know how to deal with them properly)

Do you see the kind of problems you can run into with those who are not real experts who only clean area rugs?

The lesson learned in all of this is if you have an area rug that needs to be cleaned, take it to professional area rug cleaning company.

• A company that has an actual facility you can walk into where your rugs get cleaned on-site.
• A company that has a highly trained and skilled group of people who care for rugs like it was their own.
• A company that has a passion for rugs and it shows in the way they decorate their reception area and talk about your rug.
• A company that loves rugs so much that they only ever clean them one at a time and would NEVER put them into a bath with other dirty and contaminated rugs. 
   

A company like Luv-A-Rug Services Inc. in Victoria BC.

The Stupendous Shag Area Rugs

The stupendous shag! 

Ok so you know in the 70’s "shag" was the word.

Long wool fibers high pile and that had become woven into wall to wall carpet.

Colors?

Post 60’s brought the wave of psychedelia: orange, pink, green.

Avocado and harvest gold were so incredibly popular there was a “revolution” in terms of the creation of new piles and textures.

There were highly creative shags which mirrored the people’s excitement about change during that era.

“Consumers liked anything hip and new.”

Tastes in decor were changing as consumers’ and reflected everywhere including tv shows like The Brady Bunch.

Shag became all the rage.

But once it made into virtually every home every home, the truth was discovered...
...shag rugs became the perfect bottomless pit of trapped dirt.

The dirt embedded itself deep into the rug and became nearly impossible to get out with standard carpet cleaning.

That reign of Shag rugs came to an abrupt end and was destined to be relegated to the dustbin of history.

Until recently that is.

When three decades later Shag rugs have made a bit of a comeback as throw rugs and not wall to wall carpet.

If you have bought one of these new popular shags at a Costco or other store, the new woven kind can now be cleaned from the front, the back and deep down at the base of the rug.

The ones that have been constructed using glue (if you cannot see the rug pattern on the back of the rug - the rug fibers have been glued to the backing) need to be carefully cleaned.

No matter how your new shag area rug has been constructed, Luv-A-Rug has the equipment to totally eliminate ALL the dirt that gets trapped in there and make it feel soft and fluffy again.

Visit them at 445 Beta Street Victoria BC. 250-590-6210
http://luvarug.com 

Where has RugloverMary been hiding?

Hello, I am still here I just started another blog, you can read it here. I also have been doing videos on Youtube, check them out.
I look forward to you reading my blog posts and hearing from you. Thanks RugloverMary

Hand Repair on a Persian Carpet

It is heartbreaking when you see your precious area rug slowly get eaten away by the vacuum cleaner and every day use. The first thing to go is usually the fringes and then the corners start to unravel. When you love your rug you want to keep using it for many more years.

When we, Luv-A-Rug, see rugs that can benefit from repairs we let you know what options are available for your rug. For hand knotted rugs we like to do an authentic hand repair on them. Hand repairs look original, when done right, and are a great investment to preserve your beloved rugs.

On May 18th a lady from Nanaimo BC brought in her 2.4x3.3 foot Persian area carpet for cleaning and repair. All four corners of her little Persian were fraying to a point where soon she would start to lose some of the pattern.

After we cleaned her rug with wool safe shampoo and clean water our Armenian hand repair expert re-weaved the corners seamlessly. If you didn't know that the corners were fraying you would have hard time seeing the repairs. The only real way to tell is the fringes on the corners are brighter than the rest.

When I take before and after pictures it is hard to get the same lighting even with photo tweaking that is why the rug looks yellower in the after pictures.

Here is too many happy repaired rugs, RugloverMary