Smelly Shaggy pile rug

[Billy Brannan]

Hi I've have a enquiry tonight regards a shaggy pile rug.

The person has used to rug doctor themselves and its now starting to smell. I have not been to see the rug as yet. I'm going tomorrow but I wordered if anyone had generic advice for it. How can I get rid of the smell should i use a hand tool?
I'm thinking... adjust customers expectstions
Back vac to death
Cold water rinse
Use appropriate chemical
Tm3 with white brushes?/mit aggitate
Cold water rinse
Speed dry

 

[Daniel Nailor]

Personally I would recommend they have it dipped/spun clean by a company that offer that service.

 

[Robert Aigin]

I would not clean the rug. They have caused a problem by over wetting and not drying quickly enough. I’m assuming this is a cloth back tufted rug that is gassing off.
the chances are that you will not rectify the problem 100% and the customer will blame you for the problem.

 

[Joe Hatton]

How big is the rug? Do they have a dog? Where is the rug positioned?
if it is anything bigger then a small bedside rug it will be a problem to handle (especially when wet-see procedure below).
If they have a dog that has lay on it it will be oily.
If it’s on a main walk way it will be too dirty.
Going to see it today will answer those questions and others that crop up.
Take into account your charge for time taken may easily exceed the cost of a replacement rug.
I would suggest the time you think it will take could be well under the actual time when you get stuck in.
What’s the weather like in coming days in Scotland?
Manage customer expectations well, don’t promise anything but you best effort.
IF, I repeat IF, you take the job on, I would take it away, vac it both sides using hand tool where appropriate, build yourself a little pool by laying a polythene sheet down, raised at he edges. Flood the carpet using M-Power, let it soak, agitate, repeat the above after draining (maybe more then once). Rinse, even using a hose pipe. Drain your pool, and using carpet cleaning machine, remove as much water as possible. Hang the carpet over a fence to drip off excess. Some hours later, lay carpet back down on dry polythene sheet and using hand tool remove as much remaining moisture as possible. It will take a long time and effort. As you hang over fence to dry, you could mist spray with MPower.
It’s won’t be easy, especially if it is large (it will get heavy when wet), it may take a long time to dry (hence Scottish weather forecast), and it may not be successful.
Is it worth it ????
Probably not.

 

[Billy Brannan]

Thanks for the advice. The weather over the next week is heavy isolated showers with possible thunder n lightning. The rug is 230 by 70 I'm guessing cm. I'm going to view it soon but I'm going to try and manage her expectations for what I could do and give her hints about using a company thst can dip and spin

 

[Chris Birkett]

I would honestly not take it on. Shaggy rugs are a nightmare at the best of times. One that big will be hard to shift around once wet.

I tell all rug only enquiries that we don't clean rugs as stand alone items, as there are often materials used that we are not equipped to deal with. We can assess them on site while cleaning other items if they wish.
I then send them a tracked link to a rug spa, who will collect, clean, and return, and I earn 20%.
I know I'm sure I'm missing a trick, but to me I just ain't keen on them.

Chris

 

[Ken Wainwright]

Just some general observations rather than specific to this rug.

The mal-odour can be from bacteria feeding off soils (very difficult to rectify) or it can also be soured latex which is permanent. Submersion or saturation cleaning will not correct this.

Do not use a CRB or rotary on shag-pile carpets and rugs, just a pile brush.

Learn when to walk.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

 

[Joe Hatton]

That’s a big rug, I would leave it.

 

[Phil Bennett]

Only ever done 2. I’d walk

 

[Trevor Ives]

It is their problem - do not get involved - it would be a very specialist job with probably limited results and probably cost more than the rug is worth.

 

[Billy Brannan]

Just to update I walked. I pointed her in the direction of a rug specialist

 

[Carl Sands]

I'm currently cleaning two rotten shag rugs but we have a dedicated rug spa so are geared for it - the problems you've outlined with the rug above are many; you'd own the issue the second you touched it. I'd probably want to flood that with m power and ram dry but even that may not be enough - they've wrecked it with the rug doctor!

 

[Max Campbell]

Have you talked to the rug specialist you referred them to? Most offer a good discount to other CC'ers, so if you match or slightly exceed their retail price you still make a good margin.