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Cleaning & Daily Care of Rugs & kilims
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Cleaniness is the first and major step towards the preservation
of a hand-made carpet and it is the best care of to damage. There
are no hard or fast rules to stipulate when and how often to clean a
carpet since every had-made carpet is different and every hosehold
exposes a carpet to different amounts of wear and dirt. There are
many professional books on the care and cleaning of carpets that one
may consult if one is interested in doing a professional cleaning.
However, the following advice and information are basic general
instructions that the average home owner may exercise in the care
and cleaning of an Oriented carpet. The best recommendation is
regular brushing with an old fashioned handbroom with natural
bristles or the use of an electric carpet sweeper. Remember that it
is just as important to brush the underlay of the carpet and floor
beneath. One caution, the regular use of a vacuum cleaner will
eventually start to loosen the knots andpull the fibers out of the
pile, also never use the revolving brush attachment on a carpet for
it will actually pull the fibers apart. The nozzle attachment is the
best and may be used once a month. |
Hand Cleaning at Home
| Prepare
a mixture of the following proportions; half a cup of carpet shampoo
to four and a half cups of warm water and add one tablespoon of
vinegar to prevent the colour from running. Lay the carpet with the
pile up on a hard flat surface. Dip the brush in the liquid and
apply it in gentle even vertical strokes. Vigorous brushing or
scrubbing will not clean throughly and is likely to damage the
carpet in its wet vulnerable state. Start in one corner, brushing up
and down, with and against the pile with even overlapping movements.
The amount of shampoo applied and the pressure of the bruh should be
as constant as possible over the entire carpet surface. Once the
carpet is brushed vertically (lengthvise) then brush horizontally or
from side to side across the pile, with the same gentle overlapping
strokes. The pile should be throughly cleaned by now. Finally, brush
gently in the direction of the pile as the carpet dries, so that the
pile is lying in the right direction. |
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Drying
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Preferably use a room where there is a warm air current heating
system. Do not drape the carpet, it must be allowed to dry flat, and
don't walk, or place anything on it until it is completely dry. The
warp, weft and pile of a completely dried carpet should feel soft
and pliable. Remove the dried dirt and shampoo powder by gently
brushing with a soft dry brushing. |
Things to Avoid
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Washing
machines and spin dryers should never be used for any delicate
hand-made item. With carpets the vibration, water temperature and
harsh detergents will cause irreparable damage; posibble colour-run
from the hot water and the detergents and a cement-like wool once
dry. It may even reduce the carpet to shreads. Again dry cleaners
sometimes advertise themselves as carpet cleaners. Their services
may be useful for machine-made carpets, but an Orientel Hand-made
masterpiece should never be subjected to the strong chemicals that
these firms use. The damage may become apparant only after several
months and the damage is irreparable. |
Moth Damage
| Wool
carpets and kilims are subject to moth damage. The dark areas of the
carpet should be inspected for signs of moth damage, which will
result in a weakened foundation or in the knots eventually pulling
out where the nap has been eaten away. New carpet and kilims are
treated with insecticides before exportations and onces in a
dealer's shop they are frequently moved about to avoid this problem.
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