Past Lisa Wagner

In the past, jute was used as a foundation fiber in some hooked, needlepoint, and (a few) pile rugs. Today, however, there seems to be a "jute renaissance." Jute has become 1 of the more widespread fibers in the carpeting world, especially in rugs coming out of India. We are seeing jute used not only for foundation fibers, just likewise equally a face fiber for jute rugs.

New jute face fiber rug from India. jute rugs

New jute face up fiber rug from Republic of india.

From the retailer's betoken of view, jute rugs have two major advantages: Jute plant fibers are quick and cheap to grow. Anything that gets rugs to market place faster and at a lower toll is an advantage to the carpeting sellers.

For the cleaner (and consumer) there are major negative aspects to jute, specifically that jute is not a very durable or easy to clean fiber. About jute rugs cease up becoming "dispensable rugs" if they are in heavy-use locations. Though these rugs are marketed as "eco-friendly," the fact that they reach landfills faster than traditionally woven rugs is not particularly environmentally friendly.

Hooked rug with jute foundation fibers.

The most common challenges for professional rug cleaners that come up from jute rugs and how to handle them is detailed within this article.

Jute browns with water

If you are a professional carpeting cleaner who has ever had to tackle installed wall-to-wall wool carpet, which happened to be woven on a jute backing, then you know how dangerous this state of affairs tin be.

Jute foundation browning a white

Go that jute fifty-fifty a piddling too wet, and the white wool tin plough shades of coffee brown.

Jute will turn chocolate-brown when it's moisture. It releases oils that brown the fibers. Since the way to get rugs clean is to wash them, this tin create a cleaning claiming.

Some rug cleaners, if the carpet is not as well heavily soiled, opt to get with a good vacuuming and depression wet cleaning methods.

With heavily soiled jute rugs, some cleaners wash, giving them an acid side rinse (to assistance preclude the browning) and dry them rapidly. The longer a jute rug takes to dry, the more than problems tin arise.

Some cleaners dry these rugs face up down to wick whatsoever browning issues to the back side. If a cleaner has a drying platform, the rug tin can lay face upwards with warm, dry air run underneath to create that same wicking dynamic toward the dorsum side of the rug.

Jute does not clean up well

Jute does not requite a wow when cleaned the way wool does, it does non have a great soil-hiding capacity, and the fibers easily break and split when under normal use. This means aggressive scrubbing is not an option. The fibers also easily discolor from spot and stain removers, so in-home cleaning efforts often leave large bleach halos around all of the spills.

These can sometimes be dyed to help lessen the do-it-yourself damage, but often the time and skill needed for this blazon of work is non worth the carpet involved.

Do-it-yourself spot removal can make information technology even tougher to make a jute cleaning job expect not bad.

Jute will await better subsequently washing, merely there is never a dramatic result with the work. Jute does not take peachy texture or sheen, so at that place is nothing to pop back to life with a great cleaning chore.

Many of today's jute rug productions are loosely (quickly) constructed rugs that come from India, and they tend to stretch and buckle.

If the rug is anchored down with heavy furniture, the edges can stretch out of shape in the habitation. If the carpeting is given a total wash and moved around without careful treatment when wet, it also is possible to stretch these rugs out of shape. Once they lose their shape, it is next to impossible to become them square once more.

These are not rugs to hang up wet to dry.

Jute becomes breakable

Jute is a very absorbent fiber, and if left damp too long, it volition develop mildew and eventually dry rot.

As jute ages, it also dries out and becomes brittle — and loses its strength equally a result. You lot will see this in very old hooked and needlepoint rugs in which the jute foundation splits and breaks forth the folded edges and in high-traffic areas.

Old, hand-hooked American rug from the second World State of war.

With hand-hooked and rag rugs made during the era betwixt the two Earth Wars, oftentimes the jute used as the foundation in these rugs begins to disintegrate with age. The face up fibers (wool and cotton) stay completely intact, but the foundation threads split and tear. When deterioration occurs in the foundation of these rugs, they must be removed from floor apply, and other ways to display them must be institute because they will continue to fall apart.

Old Spanish wool rug woven on a jute foundation that is deteriorating from age and moisture damage.

Onetime Spanish wool carpeting woven on a jute foundation that is deteriorating
from age and moisture damage.

With extremely frail pieces from this era, traditional cleaning methods are non safe. These rugs need to be secured betwixt nylon screens to let no flexing or bending of the foundation and soaking and rinsing with as lilliputian agitation as possible. This will aid prevent further damage to the deteriorating foundation fibers.

Jute holds odor similar no other fiber

Jute is a primary fiber used in the product of machine-loomed rugs. When a client brings in a synthetic-loomed rug and says the rug does non looked stained from their canis familiaris only smells horrible, this is the result of the jute.

The synthetic plastic fibers are non soaking up the pet urine; instead, the very absorbent jute interior fibers are acting as a sponge. The synthetic fibers agree the moisture inside the jute, so it is very difficult for the rug owner to dry out out these areas, and this leads to a fungal and bacterial pet petri dish in these rugs.

Aggressive decontamination and odor removal steps demand to be taken to make these rugs "clean" again, and sometimes the cost to save the rug exceeds the cost to simply buy another ane.

Contemporary, Indian, mesomorphic-braided jute rug with jute backing.

With these rugs, cleaners demand to audit the dorsum side of the rug more than closely than the front end side. Nighttime shadows in the foundation will oftentimes be mildew and urine salts. If the problem is left alone for too long, these areas volition develop into tears or holes.

Manage expectations with jute rugs

With all rugs, but especially with these jute creation rugs, the more time a cleaner spends pre-inspecting and testing, the less fourth dimension will be spent trying to set up unexpected disasters.

If a rugmaker has cut so many corners to brand a rug cheap that fully washing it safely is non possible, then explain the structural problems and whatsoever options that may be available to become the carpeting as clean every bit is safely possible.

If a rug owner has immune five cats to make the jute rug their own litter box, and the aroma is horrendous, so sometimes recommending that they put their coin toward a new rug instead of saving this one is the best option.

Some rugs are worth saving. Jute rugs generally aren't.

Lisa Wagner is a second-generation rug intendance good, NIRC Certified Carpet Specialist, and an owner of 1000. Blatchford's San Diego Rug Cleaning Company. She was recognized as the 2006 Cleanfax magazine Person of the Yr for her manufacture contributions. For online carpet course and grooming event details, visit www.RugClass.com.