The Rug Experts Spill: What it Means When Your Rug Smells Like Rubber…
Here at Arizona Oriental & Specialty Rug Care in Prescott, AZ we see and clean plenty of stinky rugs in our facility - it’s just another day in our lives! Ruthie here and I know that many of my clients come to me and ask if we can remove these odors from their rugs. Musty and urine odors are ones that we can typically remove without a problem. However, for the rugs that have a rubbery or latex smell, there may be nothing we can do to stop these odors just from cleaning.
Rubbery odors are mostly exclusive to tufted area rugs. When a tufted rug is made, loose tufts of wool are punched through a mesh foundation fabric. This is held together by a layer of latex glue before a piece of monks cloth or canvas is lain over the back to give it a nice, finished look. Odors can arise from these tufted rugs years down the road or even very soon after purchasing the rug, depending on the quality of the latex that the manufacturers used.
Low-quality glue causes this rubbery latex smell. I’ve seen (or smelled) it stink up a whole room in no time. This is far from the most appealing smell out there and it definitely isn’t something you want coming from a rug you enjoy having in your home!
Unfortunately, because the problem lies in the construction of the rug itself, these odors cannot be removed or corrected just from cleaning.
If your tufted rug has been around a long time before giving off this odor and are showing signs of the backing detaching, there is a slight possibility that we can remove the backing and scrape away the old, low-quality glue. The rug will be cleaned, new higher-quality glue applied, and a new piece of canvas or monks cloth laid over the back. Getting rid of the old glue can help to lessen the odors but there is a possibility that they may not go away completely.
Don’t let your stinky rug get you down! Give us a call today or bring it into our washing facility if you have a rug with mystery odors!
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 Prescott, Prescott Valley, Sedona, Flagstaff, 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 our client’s area rugs receive the highest quality care.
Want more information about what can be done about odors in your rugs? Call us at 928-445-1718, visit our website at www.ArizonaOriental.com, or stop by Monday through Friday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at our rug washing facility at 565 EZ Street, Prescott, AZ 86301 (pick-up and delivery also available). 05-06-2019
