Two issues that often come up in carpet cleaning are the issue of “carpet shading” also known as “pile reversal”, and cleaning sisal carpets (see images below).
I had an interesting experience today when asked to clean some carpets in a lovely home in Rush, Co. Dublin. Although this lady is a long-time customer of ours, I had not cleaned carpets in her home before, it had always been another technician.
Her mother let me in, and told me to pull the door after me when finished. That kind of trust is very nice to have between customer and carpet cleaning company.
The carpets were a very good quality cream 80% 20% wool mix. Although all the carpets were the same quality, the only one that showed shading or pile reversal (see image) was the one in the landing. You will see from the picture a great example of what shading or pile reversal looks like:
Carpet shading also known as pile reversal
Some people get upset when this appears in their carpets because they think this is a flaw in their carpet. Actually it is a phenomenon which the carpet manufacturing industry cannot explain. If you check the labels in your carpet retailers you will read that this condition is not a manufacturing fault. Unfortunately, shading is not something that can be eliminated or reduced by cleaning the carpet.
As I was finishing the carpet cleaning job, I noticed a couple of small mats, made of sisal at the bottom of the stairs and at the doorway. I have seen these carpets in many homes and even in large commercial properties.
Although this type of carpeting looks great when just installed, unfortunately it lets you down badly when it needs cleaning. Two major problems with sisal carpeting are:
a) They watermark very badly
b) They are very prone to shrinkage when wet
This makes them impossible to clean by hot water extraction. Our experience is that dry cleaning these types of carpet is a waste of time.
If you have any inquiries about carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning or rug cleaning in the home or commercial property email us at info@aqua-dry.com or call 01-8400799. We’ll be happy to assist.
Read more: Tom’s previous blog on how important customer service is to us as consumers as well as service providers: “If you’ve never been to Tullow, this might be a good reason to go”
