Pooling on Area Rugs – Is It Just a Spot or Something More? – Sedona AZ
Ruthie here and today I wanted to shed some light on something that we see in quite a few of the area rugs that come into us at Arizona Oriental & Specialty Rug Care known as pooling. We see pooling most often in area rugs with thick pile (like Chinese rugs), but it happens in all kinds of area rugs, both tufted and woven.
SO WHAT THE HECK IS POOLING!?
Pooling is a type of pile reversal that often makes certain areas of the rug look like water was spilled there. In these photos shown here, it does sort of look like part of the rug has gotten wet! However, this isn’t the case and is instead a redirection of the area rug’s face fibers.
While normal fibers stick straight up in the air, they will eventually be worn down from traffic and use. In some cases, these fibers begin to change direction entirely. Instead of standing up straight or lay a certain direction with the rest of the fibers of the rug, they fold down on themselves and begin to point in another direction entirely. Light gets reflected differently off of these redirected fibers, causing these areas to appear wet or mottled. The photos below show the same rug taken from two different angles, showing how the light reflects differently!
Pooling can happen in any area rug, even in the oldest and most expensive area rugs! No one is quite sure why this happens to rugs at all but it has been happening for centuries! As I said before, all rugs are susceptible to pooling and there isn’t a specific fiber that is more likely to pool than others.
Unfortunately pooling effects the fibers of the area rugs, so cleaning alone won’t correct it.
That’s not to say that your area rug shouldn’t be cleaned, though! All area rugs should be cleaned every 1-3 years, depending on the level of activity in your home. Arizona Oriental in Prescott AZ is here to help you with all of your wool, silk, and synthetic area rug cleaning needs!
Till next time, enjoy your beautiful art for your floor and remember a clean rug is a rug that can last you a lifetime!
Arizona Oriental & Specialty Rug Care serves Sedona, Prescott, Prescott Valley, and much of the Northern Arizona areas. We meet the highest standards in professional cleaning of area rugs with rug wash specialists having earned the highest training, including certification as WOOLSAFE FIBRE CARE SPECIALISTS through the WOOLSAFE ORGANISATION. Such extraordinary certification ensures the area rugs of our client’s receive the utmost in care.
Call us for more information on the splotchy looking areas on your area rugs and cleaning quotes at 928-445-1718, visit our website at www.ArizonaOriental.com, or stop by Monday through Friday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at our rug washing facility at 565 EZ Street, Prescott, AZ 86301 (pick-up and delivery also available). (05-19-17)
