Originally published in Installation & Cleaning Speacialist magazine.

Everyone's most time-consuming cleaning step is the fringe on rugs. They look great when the rug is new, but often go downhill from there. They act as dirt magnets, untwist, mat or bloom and are subject to cellulose browning.

Most fringes on hand-tied rugs are cotton. In many tribal rugs, the foundation yarns are wool (see illustration 2). Learn to recognize the look of a fringe on a tribal rug. The dark appearance is the natural color of wool or of the goat hair that is sometimes blended with the wool. This is not discoloration or browning, and should not be treated with bleach-type chemicals. Silk rugs will often, but not always, have silk foundation yarns. As with wool, silk fringes should be cleaned - but not with bleach.

On area rugs that are machine made, a separate fringe is often sewn onto both ends of the rug as shown in illustration 3. These fringes can by cotton, nylon, rayon or the fiber of the rug pile.

Because most problems occur with them, cotton fringes will be the focus of this article. The primary source of the problem is cellulose browning. This is the same problem you'd experience if you improperly cleaned a Haitian cotton sofa.

Cellulose degrades and oxidizes over time. When moisture is applied to it, a natural dye is released to the surface. A common example of this can be seen when a newspaper has been left outdoors for the weekend. When the paper if finally picked up, a brown color will have appeared on its surface. This is the result of cellulose in the paper "browning." The problem of brown or discolored fringes increases when a rug is hung on a dry pole, as is the practice in most plants.