Do You Have to Clean Rugs?

Do you have to clean rugs to be in the rug cleaning business? I mean it is kind of obvious isn’t it to make money in the rug cleaning business you need to clean rugs, right? Actually no, one of my clients is a large and successful rug cleaner in a major metropolitan area and he does not clean rugs at all. How is he successful if he doesn’t clean rugs at all?

To protect his privacy I am going to call my client Bob. It is not his real name but we don’t need to use his real name or city to look at how he succeeds.

Ten years ago Bob had a staff that ranged from 9 to 13 washers and repair people working in very expensive real estate in the heart of the rug district in one of America’s largest cities. Bob took a hard look at payroll costs, benefits, and the cyclical nature of the rug business and decided to fire everyone except his repair department manager and a porter. At that point his business became much more profitable and began to grow.
Bob took most of the repair and washing departments and converted it to additional retail rug space. To cover his ongoing business Bob helped his old employees go into business for themselves and then he became their best customer in their new business.
Bob works closely with his manager Eli to maintain strict quality control. Every rug is inspected when it comes in. Based on the type of rug Eli decides who to send it to. Bob tells me that depending on the type of rug the majority of rugs go to one of three washers. Not all washers are good on all types of rugs. Repair is an important profit center and the pre-inspection finds a steady stream of very profitable repair work. Many people assume that the big money in repair is in large reweaving jobs. Actually even though it is expensive it is time consuming and the small repairs are far more profitable. Rewrapping selvedges, securing ends, and fixing small slits generates far more revenue and is easy to sell in the pre-inspection stage. If a customer is having a rug washed they are usually open to small repairs if it will head off later more expensive work.
Rugs are washed before they are repaired. So they go out to a washer and then the rugs comeback and Eli inspects them. We all know that rugs after a wash may not be as good as we like. The question is who is going to make that discovery. I have been in rug shops where the rug is unrolled and both the customer and the store agree that it should be rewashed. By involving the customer in this it gives your business a black eye with the customer. What Bob has done is by using Eli to provide a vigorous post inspection most of these problems are detected before the customer sees them. Then once the rug is clean it is either returned to the customer or sent for repair.
This move has been in place and it is good for Bob’s business and it has been good for many of his former employees. Bob continues to grow his business and in good times and bad his costs keep pace with his business. Many of his former employees are still doing his work but rather than as employees they are now small business owners. Some of them have employees of their own and have built up their own clientele. Rather than worry about them as competition Bob can compete because of his superior quality control. Plus he has expanded his retail rug business by better utilizing his space and working capital. Bob is a more successful rug cleaner than ever without washing a single rug.

For our next RugLovers Tour

Link to the The Great Pittsburgh RugLovers Tour

O'Connell's Great DC RugLover Tour

February 10th to 12th, 2012

Friday Feb 10

• 10 am:  Herat Oriental @ 106 South Early Street Alexandria, Virginia
  Rug ID: Class will split out into appropriate skill levels.
  Special Seminar on how to do Rug ID on the telephone by Dusty Roberts
• Lunch
• 3:30 pm: ICR Certification Exam
• 4:30 pm: Break
• Dinner

Saturday Feb 11

• 10:am: Hadeed Carpet @ 3207 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA
  Biological Contamination Remediation
• Lunch
• 3:30 pm: ICR Certification Exam BCS 1

Sunday Feb 12

• 10:00 am:  Marketing with Dusty Roberts and Barry O’Connell
• Lunch
• 2:30 pm: Textile Museum

******************************************************

COST
We want to encourage you to bring as many people from your firm to this event.

• 1st attendee; $600
• 2nd attendee; $300
• 3rd or more attendee; $150.

There are a very limited number of seats available for this event and you must reserve by Dec 31, 2011

Call Sue Krupp to reserve.
Chem Max Corporation
6479 Norton Center Dr
Norton Shores, MI 49441
231-798-7980

******************************************************
When reserving a room please let them know the block of rooms is setup under the Rug Lovers Seminar.

1-703-836-4700
Sheraton Suites Old Town Alexandria
801 North Saint Asaph St
Alexandria VA 22314

We have reserved a small block of 15 rooms for this seminar, the dates are from Thursday 2/9/12 – Monday morning 2/13/12.

• The rate for these rooms will be $99.00 a night held with your personal credit card.  
• Room accommodations each person pays their own.
• Incidentals each pays their own.
• The rate is subject to applicable taxes, which is currently 11.5% room tax, and $1.00 per room night occupancy tax and is subject to change without notice.  
• Extra person charge over two guests per room is $20.00 per night per person.  
• All rates are net and non- commissionable.

The hotel offers shuttle service every 30 minutes from Reagan National Airport.

The standard cancellation policy if you need to cancel your room this needs to be done 72 hours prior to cutoff date of JANUARY 10, 2012.  

If you try to cancel after January 10, 2012 the charge on your credit card will be one nights stay plus tax.

Don’t Let Your Carpet Cleaner Clean Your Rugs

 Don’t ruin your fine hand-woven rugs by letting a carpet cleaner clean them in your home. Most hand-woven rugs are wool or silk on cotton and the chemicals used for carpet cleaning can cause irreparable damage. Just because you walk on rugs and wall to wall carpet don’t treat then the same.

Industry expert Stephen Dusty Roberts of RugBadger has three words to describing cleaning hand-woven rugs in the home, “LOSE, LOSE, Lose”. Wool and silk are protein based fibers and need a pH balanced cleaner that is neutral or slightly acidic. Wall to Wall carpet primarily uses manmade fibers such as nylon olefin, or polypropylene. These fibers take a very alkaline pH balance that has a pH of 9 to 13.5. When you us4e carpet shampoo with a pH above 7 the wool can lose the ability to hold its dyes. Once the pH oh the wool shifts to alkaline the dyes are no longer firmly bonded and can cut lose in water. This is called “Bleeding”. When a rug bleeds we often see it in darker dyes such as red or blue breaking loose in solution and red positing on lighter areas. Anyone who has ever washed a red t-shirt with white underwear only to find pink underwear can understand this.

Thirty or forty dollars worth of pink jockey shorts is bad but splotchy pink in the white areas of a fine hand-woven rug is a disaster.

Not all Area Rugs are wool or silk and bleeding is not the only danger. Many rugs are made of abaca (banana), coir (coconut), cotton, hemp, jute, linen as the pile and cotton or jute in the foundation and backing. Water heat and alkalinity can cause the fibers to turn brown. This is not just in the inexpensive rugs but is even more likely in the high end rugs which often use these and other exotic natural fibers. HWE or hot water extraction is one of the most common in-home carpet cleaning methods. The cleaning process is based on heat, water and highly alkaline chemicals which are exactly what is needed to permanently change the fibers and ruin your high fashion area rug.

One particular danger is that a rug can look fine after it is cleaned and then self destruct the next time it is cleaned no matter how it is cleaned. For that reason if a rug has been cleaned in the home it needs to be washed by an expert rug washer who can deal with the problems of bleeding or cellulosic browning if it occurs.
If you have wall to wall carpet you need an in-home carpet cleaner. If you have natural fiber area rugs and Oriental rugs you need a rug washer. To find a reputable qualified rug washer in your area please visit:

Guide to the Best Oriental Rug and Carpet Cleaners and Restorers

The New RugBadger Cub Contest Ends

Dusty Roberts announced that his new mini RugBadger has a new name. In a contest with hundreds of entries 30 people suggested the name RugBadger Cub. In a special Fly-Off to select the winner of a new RugBadger Cub Michael Smith was selected as the Grand Prize winner.

The RugBadger Cub was an outgrowth of input from industry leaders particularly the Rug Chick Lisa Wagner. Lisa felt strongly that there was a need for a smaller, lighter, quieter and less expensive RugBadger. To best meet the needs of Rug Washers Dusty listened to the advice and came up with the new machine. On Lisa’s advice plans to name the machine after Lisa were set aside opening the need for the naming contest.

Rumor has it that another company that considers RugBadger their R&D department is on the brink of inventing a compact rug duster. In some cases imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, other times it is just annoying.

For more on the RugBadger Cub see:

http://rugbadger.com/blog/news/rugbadger-mini-winner/

Is Rug Washing Bad for a Rug

There is Rug Washing and then there is Rug Washing

Or Is Rug Washing Bad for a Rug

It is not unusual to hear some Oriental Rug dealers advise against washing a rug because “Rug Washing is bad for a Rug”. They will often say that rug Washing will shorten the life of a rug.

Obviously anyone who really understands Oriental Rugs knows that this advice is ludicrous. How can any intelligent person give such bad advice? Well if you understand where the idea comes from it is much easier to understand the mistake. 

Take a look at one of the popular old time books that talks about the dangers of rug washing:

From Home furnishing By George Leland Hunter

 Unfortunately, the price of small antiques is exceedingly high, while that of large antiques is prohibitive. This is the cause of the attempt to finish modern rugs in antique tones.

The first washing done in Constantinople was of the roughest kind. The rug was plastered with a mixture of mud, lime, and Sulfuric acid and then rolled up until the mordants did their work.

The desired effect was quickly gained and for a time some buyers were delighted at the number of large antiques on the market. But before long it was discovered that the process left to the rug only a few months of life, and many dealers had the doubtful pleasure of redeeming spoiled rugs.

This put a quietus on rug washing temporarily and would probably have ended it forever if the American demand had not continued insistent. American buyers came to Constantinople with instructions to purchase antiques at any cost, and, if necessary, to go into the interior—where most of them are about as helpless as a South Sea Islander on the Bowery—and this not through any fault of their own, but because the Oriental has ways of doing business that are distinctly un-American.

What part these American buyers took in putting rug washing on a proper basis is difficult to say. Several of those most actively concerned never mention washed rugs except in a whisper, while others say that they have merely followed the example of the pioneers.

Home furnishing: facts and figures about furniture, carpets and rugs, lamps and lighting fixtures, wall papers, window shades and draperies, tapestries, etc

By George Leland Hunter, John Lane Company, 1913

What we can see is that when the old timers spoke about Rug Washing they were really speaking about chemically antiquing oriental rugs with “mud, lime, and sulphuric acid”. Obviously this would seriously weaken a rug but today they repeat this old advice without understanding what the real issues are. A professional rug washer carefully tests a rug before applying special detergents that in no way harm a rug. In fact quite the opposite a proper cleaning can drastically increase the life, beauty, and utility of a fine hand-woven Oriental Rug. So the next time you hear some well meaning person say that rug washing is bad for a rug just realize that while they mean well they just don’t know what they are talking about.

Barry O’Connell

Professional Rug Cleaners for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut

Preserve Your Investment Contact Our Experts 1-877-784-3463

Museums, interior designers and private rug collectors trust the professional rug cleaners at Nazmiyal to handle regular cleanings, intensive stain removal procedures and all their antique rug care needs. Our team of rug cleaning experts has spent years developing techniques to clean and restore irreplaceable rugs and investment pieces. For the past 30 years Nazmiyal has been one of the best and most trusted professional carpet cleaning companies in New York City with a team specializing in antique rug care, vintage rug cleaning and semi-antique pieces. At Nazmiyal’s specially designed rug cleaning facilities, our expert conservators carefully evaluate each rug to determine the ideal cleaning method. Factors that affect how your rug will be cleaned include its size, geographic origin, construction techniques, fiber content, age and dyes. Once these parameters have been established, the professional rug cleaning process begins with dry dusting to physically remove dirt from deep within the rug’s structure. Depending on the fiber content and dye types, old rug cleaning procedures include a full immersion in an aqueous cleansing solution or an application of specially formulated dry cleaning solvents that gently remove dirt from the surface of the fiber without causing dye bleed, fading and other vintage rug cleaning problems. Our professional rug cleaners are well versed in antique rug care methods with techniques and cleaning formulas to handle vegetable dyes, synthetic colors and sensitive fibers, so darks remain dark and light colors remain pure and unaffected by color bleed and washout. Our professional rug cleaners handle each rug with care while adding experience, knowledge and attention to detail to produce the best possible results for each client. Prices for this professional antique rug cleaning service start at $3.50 per square foot. Convenient pickup and drop off service is available to many customers in New York City and the surrounding areas. If you live outside the NY, NJ, CT area, contact us about sending in your carpets for a professional rug cleaning. Contact Our Experts 1-877-784-3463 / Or Simply Email Us

Joe Hadeed 3 Million a year and growing fast

Joe Hadeed can differentiate the 800 regions of Hamadan rugs

Posted on Oct 26,2011

Photo by John Arundel Joe Hadeed runs the carpet cleaning business that his father founded Joe, Sr. founded.

By John Arundel

ALEXANDRIA, VA. - After feeling that his walks and outside playtime were not appropriately long enough for an English Labrador of his stature, my dog had expressed himself one too many times on the living room rug.

So there I sat recently in the lobby of Hadeed Oriental Rug Cleaning at 3206 Duke Street, with this cheap area rug we bought years ago at Lowe's.

I felt appropriately embarassed when a well-dressed chap in a German-made sports car came in toting this gorgeous Iranian rug, seemingly turning his nose up at me and my machine-made "Oriental rug," which was in fact probably mass-produced in some plant in Dalton, GA. I grabbed some old magazines, hoping to cover up the tags containing its origins

"This is an Imperial Farahan dating to the 1920s which I got years ago on a trip to Lebanon," the man pronounced regally, acting as if he were some Lepidopterist who had stumbled upon some rare and wondrous butterfly. "It's worth, like, $20,000 and I need it cleaned properly."

Joe Hadeed looked at the rug and politely identified the rug as something else. "What you have there, sir, is a Hamadan region rug from Iran," he said politely, as the man quickly deflated. "There are 800 different regions of Hamadan, and that looks like it's from the Malair city of Iran."

Photo by Connie Dale Mike Hadeed, Joe Hadeed and Chamber of Commerce President Tina Leone at the Chamber Awards. The Hadeeds won Alexandria business of the year.

Hadeed, 42, acknowledged that the rug was worth about $3,200 and that he would take care of it appropriately. Hearing this, I felt less deflated about having a rug from Lowe's.

Hey, it does the job.

The Hadeeds have been in the carpet business for nearly a century and know their stuff.

This led to the decision by members of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce paid tribute to the success and community service of Hadeed Oriental Rug Cleaning with Alexandria's Best Business of the Year Award.

The Hadeeds have come a long way. Michael Hadeed Jr. set up shop here after a stint in the U.S. Army and a job learning the rug cleaning business at the old Hinkel Rug Cleaning Co. Their father, Michael Hadeed, Sr. arrived at Ellis Island in 1905 and fought for the United States Army in World War I. He had also been involved in the rug business, having immigrated from the Middle East.

"I learned the business from the bottom up, starting in the rug drying room," said Michael Hadeed, who turned 81 recently and lives in the Rose Hill area.

Another son, Michael M. Hadeed, was a criminal defense attorney in Springfield and now works at the business, and a sister, Mary, lives in Sterling. "I am proud of my son for carrying on the family tradition," Michael Hadeed said.

The senior Hadeed and his brother Teddy, who died in 1981, started the business on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray on April 13, 1955 with his brother Teddy, at the location which is now Al's Steak House.

"It was a little mom and pop business until I bought it in 1990," said the younger Hadeed, who borrowed $300,000 from Burke & Herbert Bank and grew it into a bustling $3 million a year business with 32 employees. "I started here when I was 19 years old. My uncle Teddy taught me the business."

After college at Radford and a short stint selling cars at Sheehy Ford, Joe Hadeed bought the business from his dad and embarked on a massive expansion. "I was living at the Alexandria House and I noticed one day that the dry cleaners were picking up from the front desk clerk," he recalled. "That seemed to me a great way to expand the business."

Joe Hadeed moved the business to Duke Street and embarked on a massive expansion, adding trucks and advertising the service they provide. With a fleet of nine trucks doing pickups and deliveries, Hadeed cleans, repairs or restores the gamut, from Chinese rugs to hand hooked or hand woven rugs to fine Persian and Oriental rugs. Even my Lowe's special.

A trip to the back rooms of the facility revealed a hardy crew of workers proudly rebuilding tassels, patching, deodorizing, stitching, repairing and meticulously cleaning rugs to their former glory.

Recently they worked feverishly during a three-day period to clean a massive, $4 million Oriental rug from the George Washington Masonic Temple. Hadeed supervised the work himself, flanked by a crew of armed security guards. The average employee works about seven years for the Hadeeds, while several have been with them for 20 years or longer.

"Advertising in the local newspapers and selling Oriental rugs in a showroom next to the cleaning facility grew our business about ten-fold," he recalled. "Then we graduated to radio and now TV."

Hadeed hopes to expand the business so that he's cleaning rugs up and down the Mid-Atlantic, from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. He plans to expand his current facility from 8,500 square feet to a larger facility of 60,000 square feet, adding about 90 new employees if all goes right.

"This will be a $25 million business by the time we're done," he predicted. "I just love this business. I'm here six days a week."

Hadeed Oriental Rug Cleaning
3206 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA. 22314
(703) 241-1111

Oreck Offers two Speed Vac for Oriental Rugs

In a move to cater to the Oriental Rug owner Oreck is offering a two speeed Oreck Upright Vacuum. The vacuum has two speeds, one is a slower gentle speed for delicate Oriental and Persian rugs. Most rug washers see no harm in regular upright vacuumes but this is an interesting move to cater to a niche market.

"The Oreck XL Pilot vacuum is great for picking up dirt, dust, dander and pet hair. Its 360° Glide tilts and pivots for incredible maneuverability. It features a powerful, pile-lifting roller brush that easily moves through carpet, a HEPA inner bag and two speed settings (high speed for carpet, with a low speed that is gentle enough to clean delicate Oriental and Persian rugs). It weighs about 10 pounds without the cord."

Original Press release:

Oreck Corporation and hhgregg See Bright Future Ahead Together, Leading Regional Retailer to Offer Oreck Upright Vacuum, Canister Model and Steam Cleaner

Press Release

Posted on 10/28/11 at 3:22am by Webmaster

Oreck Corporation, a leading manufacturer of quality products in the homecare industry, announces the introduction of Oreck's select upright vacuums and its ultra versatile steam wand in more than 190 hhgregg stores.

Nashville, Tenn. (PRWEB) October 28, 2011

Oreck Corporation, a leading manufacturer of quality products in the homecare industry, announces the introduction of Oreck's select upright vacuums and its ultra versatile steam wand in more than 190 hhgregg stores.

Hhgregg is one of the nation's fastest growing retailers of home appliances and consumer electronics. All hhgregg retail stores will now offer the Oreck XL® Pilot™ upright vacuum, Oreck Quest® Pro canister vacuum and Steam-It® all-purpose steamwand. Oreck is well known for offering products that are easy to use, lightweight, powerful and durable.

“Oreck is excited to offer its product in hhgregg retail stores. We welcome the opportunity to bring three of Oreck's most popular products to the consumer through this respected retailer,” says Jeff Collins, Vice President, Sales, Oreck.

The Oreck XL Pilot vacuum is great for picking up dirt, dust, dander and pet hair. Its 360° Glide tilts and pivots for incredible maneuverability. It features a powerful, pile-lifting roller brush that easily moves through carpet, a HEPA inner bag and two speed settings (high speed for carpet, with a low speed that is gentle enough to clean delicate Oriental and Persian rugs). It weighs about 10 pounds without the cord.

The Oreck Quest Pro canister vacuum is designed with performance, ease-of-use and maximum cleanability in mind. It provides 1500 watts of cleaning power, yet is remarkably quiet.
It comes with a complete set of onboard tools, including a six-foot hose, dusting brush and a crevice tool. The power nozzle adjusts for different carpet pile heights. HEPA filtration and disposable filter bags come standard.

The Oreck Steam-It all-purpose steamwand uses steam to remove dirt and grime and is an easy way to get a deep down clean without the use of chemicals or detergents. It has a unique vapor chamber making it easy to clean above the floor without spilling. The Steam-It heats up in less than a minute, creating a high-temperature, low-moisture dry steam that quickly removes dirt and deep cleans hard floor surfaces, windows, kitchen and bath fixtures, tile and grout.

About Oreck
Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., Oreck Corporation is a leading manufacturer in the homecare industry, offering a variety of vacuum, air purification and other cleaning products. Oreck sells its products in hundreds of Oreck Clean Home Centers, as well as through phone and online direct sales. The company distributes products in the U.S., Canada and parts of Europe. For more information, please visit http://www.oreck.com.

Read more: http://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/11/10/p2021119/oreck-corporation-and-hhgregg-see-bright-future-ahead-together-leading-#ixzz1c53F5Vyr"

Rug Care Simplified by Kevin Pearson

Tips for keeping your rugs looking great for years

While your favorite carpet cleaner might do a wonderful job cleaning your carpet, they simply can not clean a rug properly with the same chemicals and equipment used to clean your carpet. Chemicals made for cleaning synthetic wall-to-wall carpeting could damage a natural fiber rug. A professional rug cleaner will use chemicals that are safe for wool or other natural fibers. It would be impractical to bring the rug dusting and washing equipment that is necessary to properly clean a rug into a home environment. Also, many times it is necessary to test the colors in a rug for 24 hours to make sure they are stable. When cleaning a rug it is nearly impossible to remove pet odors from any rug without a full immersion cleaning. This can only be done in a rug cleaning plant. A wet wool rug could then take up to 24 hours to dry in a controlled environment. After the rug is cleaned and dried then the fringe will need to be cleaned and a final grooming done on the rug before it can go back to the customer.

If a rug is going to be stored for any length of time, it should be cleaned first. Never roll up and store a dirty rug. Rugs should be stored in a climate controlled environment and be wrapped in plain brown paper or in Tyvek. Never wrap a rug in plastic. Since wool can hold 30% of its weight in water and still feel dry to the touch, wrapping a rug in plastic would not allow the rug to breath. So condensation could form in the plastic and cause the rug to mold or dry rot.

It is also not a good idea to ever set a potted plant on top of a wool rug. This can cause permanent damage to a rug by over watering the plant or just by the humidity that is absorbed into the rug from the potted plant. This can result in color loss, mold, or dry rot.

About Kevin: Kevin Pearson is a Master Cleaning Technician with The Clean Trust and has been in the cleaning and restoration industry since 1992. Kevin was elected to the Board of Directors of The Clean Trust in 2011 and presently working on a committee to rewrite the carpet inspector standards in our industry and has previously served on the carpet cleaning standards revision committee. He also serves on two other committees at The Clean Trust and is on the Board of Directors of the Professional Cleaning and Restoration Alliance. He has also been featured on Fox News in Houston. For more information Call Pearson Carpet Care at 281-548-7200 or visit our website http://www.pearsoncarpetcare.com.

Oriental Rug Washing: Does Rug ID Matter

Oriental Rug Washing: Does Rug ID Matter
Recently on a message board one rug washer commented “Unless it is a cheap olefin rug”. It made me realize that when you say “Rug” I picture a hand-woven wool rug and base my answers on that. So unless you say tufted or machine made or silk or something I base my assumptions on that.
The problem is that I may recommend cleaning a rug very differently depending on what it is and how it is made. Olefin you can clean pretty much like wall to wall carpet. Tufted, gun tufted, machine tufted whatever you call it is fairly simple as long as the latex backing is good. You need to check that. With hand-woven rugs, is it going to bleed, is the foundation cotton, wool or silk. Is the pile wool, silk, silk highlights, viscose, or cotton? I was with Paul Iskyan at Rug Renovating last Sunday and he showed me a sample rug made with all the different fibers that one manufacturer (could have been Stark) uses in their rugs. I am not kidding they are making rugs from bananas, jute, hemp, silk, soy silk, aloe and many other fibers. I never even knew you could make rugs from bananas or aloe and I had to ask what soy silk was.
My point is that the more you know the easier it gets. Time spent on Rug ID can steer you away from costly mistakes and it can also help you get more business. If you want to cash in on the rug boom you at least want to know the basics. If you took your car to the garage for a tune-up and the mechanic didn’t know if your car was gas or diesel would you trust him. Heck, would you even leave your car there?
I will be teaching a course on Rug ID for the Great DC Rug Tour next February. We will be using the Herat Oriental Rug warehouse in Alexandria Va for the rug ID session. It will include all the main types of new older and Antique Oriental rugs plus examples of everything else we see on the market. We may not see banana rugs but will have over 10,000 examples to learn from. This course was held February of 2012

Urine Contamination: Send Vinegar back to the kitchen

The old fashioned treatment for urine contamination is to wash the rug in a vinegar bath and deodorize giving rug washers anywhere from limited to very good success. One refrain often heard on the discussion boards is who needs “expensive pretreatments” while vinegar is so cheap. That lead me to ask what does vinegar do and how good a treatment for urine contamination is it.

Common white vinegar is a great cheap and common source of Acetic acid. Vinegar is a 4 to 8% acetic acid solution with a pH of 2.4 to 3.5. It does have antimicrobial properties but in the concentrations common in rug washing it has very limited affect as a disinfectant. It also dissipates fairly rapidly in the wash bath which leads to problems but let us look at what vinegar does and doesn’t do.

The key is that the acid in vinegar increases substantivity in the wash bath for the wool fibers and their dyes. Substantivity is the attraction between the dye in the bath and the wool fibers. Dye has a negative charge and an acid increase the positive charge of the wool causing the dye to stay on the fiber. Remember playing with magnets as a child, the like ends; north to north repel each other but opposites north to south stick together. By making the wool a stronger positive it keeps the negatively charged dyes stuck to the wool. This is where the problem of vinegar comes in. Vinegar is referred to as a “soft acid” meaning that it is a plant acid and it dissipated in water. So while vinegar does a great job at the beginning of the wash bath it quickly releases and stops working. So at the end of the wash bath there is nothing to help holding the dye to the wool and this drastically increases the chance of dye instability. Maybe not in this wash cycle but perhaps in the next. So for that and a few other reasons chemists began to create the “expensive pretreatment” formulations.

So vinegar is acetic acid in primarily a water solution and water is less than an ideal solution to get the acid to the surface of the wool fiber. So most manufacturers use acetic acid primarily in alcohol which does a much better job of getting acid to fiber. They also increase the amount of acid in the solution. They cannot go too high since at about 25% the acid would destroy the cotton foundation. But if it were straight acetic acid in the solution we would still have the problem of the dissipation of the soft acid in the wash bath. So what they do is add a hard or mineral acid which does not dissipate. Then they add a surfactant to increase the effectiveness of the pretreatment. That is why you probably noticed that pretreatment is sudsy. This is the way that just about everyone makes their urine pretreatment. The exception is Chem Max which does all of this but adds a special deodorizer. Paul Lucas told me that for 22 years he made chemicals but never made urine pretreatment because he would just be copying everyone else. Then one day he came up with the idea of adding one more ingredient that has made a fantastic difference. The downside to Paul’s Urine Pretreatment is that his requires gloves, goggles, and vigorous flushing. The vigorous flushing is not a big deal since all the treatments involved a hard acid which has to be removed from the rug.

Keep in mind that vinegar has a limited antimicrobial capability the way we use it but the pretreatments have an effective antimicrobial affect because of the higher concentrations and the two acids. Urine is sanitary in a healthy animal when it is first sprayed and it is also acid. But it is rich in food for living organisms and can quickly foster a breeding ground for fungus, viruses, and other harmful microorganisms. It takes about 5 days for urine in a rug to shift from acid to alkaline and then over time the alkalinity can go as high as a pH of12.5. By that point the damage to the fibers and the health risk can be severe.

Today’s rug washer is faced with choices. They can continue to use vinegar which is not consistently substantive through the wash cycle, has limited penetration, and is not an effective antimicrobial agent. Or they can switch to urine pretreatment with consistent substantivity, better penetration to get the acid where it is needed and a safe sanitizing treatment of a rug. Today’s rug washer has to decide whether to save a few cents and take the risk of long term damage to the clients rug as well as long term risk to the health and well being of the client. For the sake of a dollar or two. Effective modern urine pretreatment can

Then there is the question of speed and effectiveness, on a badly urine contaminated rug it is not unusual to see Rug Washers I know wash a rug more than once to deal with urine odor. Does it make sense to wash a rug once and spend an extra $25 in chemicals or wash it two or 3 times for the same money and save $25. It really comes down to how busy you are, how much your time is worth and how important the end result is to you. What does it say about your reputation if the urine odor returns on humid days? Personally I would rather decrease total man hours and turn out a better profit. If you are at $3 per square foot and you have to wash it twice you are at $1.50 a square and at three times. Additionally many Rug Wasters are charging an additional dollar a square foot for urine treatment. At that point instead of a decrease to the profit margin it becomes a profit center.

There are many great prod ducts on the market today. Personally I would choose ChemMax Urine Pretreatment if I don’t mind the goggles and gloves otherwise I would use Bridgepoint’s TCU Neutralizer. For faster more effective cleaning with greater profit I think it is time to send vinegar back to the kitchen.

A major point that I forgot to mention about Bridgepoint’s TCU Neutralizer. I chose it because it includes solvents that can break down the Lipids in urine. Fats, Oils, Waxes, and even excess Vitamins can be a major problem in sever urine contamination. TCU has the power to break them up and make the job much easier. No matter how well TCU works I don’t expect to use it again. Watch for a special wool balanced replacement very soon.