I noticed a thread below about encapping wool rugs.

Do you have any problems grooming the rug smooth after using a rotary machine? Any pile distortion problems?

Thanks,
John L.

John,

The amount of pile distortion depends on the style of carpet construction. Some carpets show it more than others. In all cases, the distortion will walk off and vacuum out in a few days.

I once had a large retail customer schedule a last minute cleaning the night before the vice president of the company was planning a visit. I suggested letting us come in a couple of days earlier so that the swirls in the carpet would go away. They said NOPE, we like the swirls. Go figure. So we cleaned it as they requested, the VP came, and all was well. Lesson learned. The swirls may not be as much of an objection as one might imagine. In fact after cleaning literally millions of square feet I can honestly say it has NEVER been a problem for us.



Rick Gelinas
encapman

We've had similar results as Rick. Some make an issue out of swirl marks, but only minor. Never had a real problem.

If you are talking about true damage to the carpet, it could be that you mean the way wool carpet is built. As I understand it, wool woven goods have one direction of inherent strength and at a 90 degree angle to that direction, there is inherent weakness. Manufacturers of wool carpeting therefore have not endorsed rotary motion on carpet cleaning machinery, since by it's nature it has to pull the carpet the strong way as much as the weak way.

Not sure if they have any actual evidence that it does truly damage carpet, but it may be about fighting City Hall....If they believe it, it may as well be true.

same here.

thanx --- Derek.

My particular interest is wool area rugs and orientals, as we get a lot of them in our shop, and I have seen where people are having good success with encapping them, and even cleaning them in a pit with a rotary.

Haven't done much with rotary on them. One in particular was yellowed by one of my techs, and I used an acid product and bonnet to correct it. Worked fine, but trying to keep the pile looking smooth was a real bear.

Any suggestions on my technique. I can't help but think that cleaning with a neutral detergent with good physical action like a rotary or Cimex would improve cleaning results on these rugs.

Thanks,
John L.

The Cimex will do a great job on wool area rugs. I just use a carpet brush like the Grandi Brush immediately after cleaning to set the pile and get the swirls out. The Cimex will do a better job than a regular rotary machine in my opinion. It seems to me that grooming the carpet after cleaning with the Cimex is easier than with a rotary.