I'm at my wits end. After years of carpet and rug cleaning, I have encountered something that I have no answer for.

Got a call a few of weeks ago from a lady that wanted me to pick up an area rug and clean it for her. I was excited because this was a first time customer in a very "well to do" part of town. A rich doctor that I have done a lot of work for over the years referred us.

Went and got the rug, 8 X 11, 100% olefin. Had a hint of a dog smell from her 2 shar pei dogs, but no big deal because the rug had not been cleaned in several years.

Picked it up, cleaned it, deodorized and returned it after a few days.

The next day our phone rang. The woman informed me that the rug smelled so bad that she was getting sick. I went to her home that evening to find that she was telling the truth. PEEEWWW!!!
I apologized and explained that I must have awakened some type of dormant bacteria. She told me that her 2 dogs had a oozing joint disease. Yuck, never heard of that. Maybe that is the problem. I loaded the rug up and took it back to the shop.

I cleaned the rug again and used Odorcide according to directions. Dried the rug. Didn't work.

Then I mixed a heavy treatment of Odorcide and sprayed the rug liberally and let it set until dry. Did not change a thing.

Decided to steam clean again. Didn't work.

Steam cleaned with Odoricide added to solution tank. Dried with fans. Didn't work.

Built a small plastic enclosure and used ozone machine for 4 hours. Didn't work.


Dry cleaned with Capture (what the hell). Got some better, but still did not work.

Cleaned again using Kill Odor from Chemspec. Didn't work.

(By the way, I was allowing 2 to 3 days between cleanings).

Finally put rug in direct sunlight outside for 8 hours. Didn't work.

I gave up making a profit on this rug long ago, but I wanted to find the answer. I have failed. Guess I will have to refund the money that I charged initially and hope that maybe the lady will give me another chance sometime on another job.

Anybody experienced anything like this?

pictures please,will be easier to diagnose

Joe-

Is it a woven rug? Have you immersion washed it? If it is a woven olefin, you could soak the entire rug in your deo overnight, then rinse like crazy the next day. Agitation will help. We have found that the olefin rugs sometimes are harder to deo than wool. It's my opinion that the odor bonds to the fibers, so it needs a longer time in the wash pit. We've run into smilar situations that you describe, and the extended treatment is the only thing that works for us.

Kevin Kluth
Pinnacle Cleaning
www.rochestercarpetcare.com
www.rochesterrugcleaning.com
Cleaning carpets and rugs in the Rochester, NY area since 1980

As Kevin asked....How are you cleaning the rug? Do you have a rug plant or are you cleaning it on a concrete slab?

I don't have a rug pit. I use a Cimex and then HWE with a TM.

I would find someone who specializes in rug cleaning only, see if they can work something out with you. This way you establish a new relationship with a local company, and don't have to go thru this again. All the time you spent trying to figure out what you could've done, all you had to worry about it pick up and deliver the rug. I had a major odor/cat urine rug from a client that 3 cats were peeing on it for several years, the rug was immersed for 24 hours, the water went from clear to dark red like red wine. You can make money with these rugs charge accordingly. The going sub rate is 20-50% off the price the company charges, some might give you a flat rate.

If it was my client i'd do the above, pay for the rug out of pocked to the rug company, if you think it's worth keeping that client.

If it's 100% olefin then you should be able to get aggressive with it with out worry. Assuming you already vac'd it and dusted as best you could - First, hose it off in your drive way to get it wet. Then take a five gallon bucket of hot water and detergent (tide) and dump in on the rug. completely saturate it with detergent and then scrub it in with a deck brush or push broom. Really work it in. Let it set for a few hours. Hose it off again. You'll probably be surprised on how much soil runs out. Keep hosing until nothing comes out. For good measure you could repeat or just extract it with your cleaning wand (no steam necessary). Hang it to dry on a hand rail or in your garage some where. Once it dries the fringe will probably have to be re-cleaned.

I had your problem once. It was very embarrassing. Steam cleaning, encapping and odorcide failed. The above procedure worked.

You say it is an Olefin rug.

Is it a Chinese Olefin ??

Does it have scrim on the backing that may hide latex that the Olefin could be bonded to ?

It may be the latex off-gassing.

Just a guess from a not so-smart downunderer.

Ooroo,

Shorty.

I've seen the light, and changed my wicked ways.
www.get.shorty.com.au

Do not "wash" the rug if it has a scrim on the back of it. It will probably fall apart when you try to move it.

If it does have a scrim and you can't get rid of the odor, likely it is the latex backing decomposing. There isn't a thing you can do about it.

I agree with the above guys that said if there is no scrim backing glued to the rug then wash it. It is 100% olefin and you shouldn't be able to hurt it unless it has that scrim backing. You could build yourself a small pit in your garage out of 4 x 4's and lay some plastic over it then scrub your detergent in. We usually use Releasit DS and the Cimex and then flood the rug. It would be best to build your pit where a little water can get out and this way you could keep fresh water flowing over the rug at all times. Like it was said above you will be surprised at all the stuff that is still left in the rug even though you cleaned it many times. Feel free to call me if you need more advice.

Kevin Pearson
281-548-7200