Multi Generational Rugs in Seattle

We had a lot of fun here today. An old time client and her husband are moving into a smaller home so it's time to bring the rugs in for cleaning before they go to her daughters house. We've seen these rugs regularly over the years and watched the kids grow up.

She was telling her daughter how they had first purchased the rugs with their first joint income tax refund after they were married for their first home. The daughter was remembering how the rugs were just older than she was and how they had always been the focal point of her parents home and how excited she was that they would continue to be so in hers.

We are cutting new pads as well so they can keep looking their best.

Would the "green cleaning" of area rugs still smell as sweet?

One of the most frequently asked questions that I get is " Do you use chemicals to clean rugs?". I'm assuming that this is because, in an effort to make their cleaning system "special" more cleaners advertise that they use "no chemicals" or "green cleaning" and the public is misinformed and confused. As usual, let me throw some things at the wall and see if they stick.....

Everything in the world as we know it, natural or manmade is created from chemicals. Wikipedia states Chemical substances (also sometimes referred to as a pure substances) are often defined as "any material with a definite chemical composition" in most introductory general chemistry textbooks. According to this definition a chemical substance can either be a pure chemical element or a pure chemical compound. That makes water (H20) and air (02, hydrogen + other elements), wool and cotton chemicals in a literal sense. Water made in a lab is identical in every way to water that comes from a river (except for the silt and debris).

So YES in a real technical sense that when we use soap and water to clean rugs, we do use chemicals. Even natural fiber rugs are made from chemicals.

The confusion lies in the fact that the word chemical also applies to the products (and by-products) of the chemical industry in a broad chemical category including polymers, bulk petrochemicals and intermediates, other derivatives and basic industrials, inorganic chemicals, and fertilizers.

Occasionally we use solvents to remove oil and grease based spots and residue from rugs but typically NO, we don't use those chemicals to clean rugs. In many cases any latex in the backing would dissolve and this kind of cleaning would create other problems. Even after spotting with solvent (which evaporates) the rugs are usually wet cleaned anyway.

The amount of solvent used to spot is so small that there's a very low chance of it affecting your carbon footprint AND if everyone cleaned their things more regularly AND was more careful about what got dropped on the floor, we could use less.

We have our water quality checked yearly by the city of Seattle to see exactly what the heck is going down our drain. We use a good old fashioned washfloor, not an automated cleaning system so the water runs into a drain and screen along the side to collect the solid material that washes off of and out of the rugs (pet hair, lint, gravel, etc.). The remaining water always passes inspection as safe to enter the sanitary sewer system. We did look at a water recycling system a few years ago but it was SOOOOO bulky and expensive not to mention having to retrofit our building to take the system, the city mavens of recycling threw up their hands and told us not to bother.

The soap we use is formulated for wool rugs, about a ph7 which is neutral and is about as mild as a hair shampoo. It has no appreciable odor or fragrance. We use cold water to wash and rinse with unless we're correcting fringes or sanitizing a synthetic urine filled rug.

The rugs are air dried.

What could be greener? Soap, water and air. Clean rugs keep your home healthier, keeps dirty old rugs out of landfills and is economically efficient. Regular cleaning makes them easier to maintain.

Back to "green cleaning" rugs in Seattle......

IT'S BAAAACK!

No that's not just SNOW on the TV screen, guess what little weather surprise came back this afternoon? You guessed it, SNOW. It's coming down right now like a fiend with up to six inch accumulations expected, POSSIBLY turning to rain by tomorrow (that also menas possibly NOT!). Ummmmmm. We're still digging out in our neighborhood, with lots of trees the old snow has been lingering.

Too bad, work had finally started get back to normal after New Years.

Friday and Saturday saw a steady stream of things coming in for cleaning, which is good.

If the bad weather keeps you inside, brighten your day by cruising the Iran National Carpet Center's pages.

Seattle rug cleaner in Iran

After cleaning rugs for a long time, I decided to take a vacation to the homeland of - you guessed it - Oriental Rugs. This is the exhibition of Handknotted Oriental Rugs in Kish, Iran held in April/ May 2008. While I had a wonderful time
and the people were very warm and hospitable I was glad to get back to cleaning rugs in Seattle at Emmanuel's.

Thea

Cleaning oriental rugs in Seattle

These are the musings of a fourth generation, woman rug cleaner in the scenic Pacific Northwest.
Our business has been in Seattle since 1907 and we specialize in the cleaning and restoration of handmade oriental rugs but clean and repair all kinds of rugs and carpets. I'm the current President of Emmanuel's Rug and Upholstery Cleaners at 1105 Rainier Ave So, Seattle WA 98144 Call us at 206-322-2200 or check out our webpage at www.emmanuelsrug.com
Since I spend so much time at work and see lots of interesting rugs and people I thought I'd share some of our experiences.

Check back for updates!

Thea