04-10-2013, 03:13 PM
I agree with Don's comments above. I would add that no matter where the rug is from there are some things to know that will make your life easier. Here's the way I look at it. You basically have two types of rugs. Synthetic rugs and Natural Fiber rugs. The synthetic rugs you can pretty much clean them without any worries of something bad happening. However, I have had several synthetic rugs bleed due to urine but it is not generally a problem. Then you have natural fibers. Wool being the most popular but you also have cotton, silk, sisal, etc. The easiest of these to clean is wool rugs. Test the colors before washing or cleaning and you will start to learn that a lot of wool rugs bleed when you wash them but there are ways to control it. If you are going to clean rugs in a customers home, don't get into the business. If you are going to wash and clean them properly in a rug cleaning facility then go take a couple of classes and learn what you can safely do and what to stay away from.
If you do clean them make sure to have a signed release from the customer. We put our little legal jargon on the bottom of our invoices and then make the customer sign the invoice.
Lastly, take photos of the rugs when you pick them up or when the customer is dropping them off at you shop. Try to get the customer in one photo with their rugs and make sure the photos are time and date stamped. Many people will try to tell you that you snag a rug or ripped it, or that the fringe wasn't like that originally, etc. If you have pictures with a date and time stamp and with the customer in the picture at the time you picked them up then you can prove to them that the damage was there and that they just didn't notice before hand. These photos have saved my butt many times.
If you do clean them make sure to have a signed release from the customer. We put our little legal jargon on the bottom of our invoices and then make the customer sign the invoice.
Lastly, take photos of the rugs when you pick them up or when the customer is dropping them off at you shop. Try to get the customer in one photo with their rugs and make sure the photos are time and date stamped. Many people will try to tell you that you snag a rug or ripped it, or that the fringe wasn't like that originally, etc. If you have pictures with a date and time stamp and with the customer in the picture at the time you picked them up then you can prove to them that the damage was there and that they just didn't notice before hand. These photos have saved my butt many times.