More and more area rugs are tufted goods, giving cleaners additional challenges in the rug cleaning market.

In the past, tufted handmade rugs (as opposed to "woven" rugs) were the inexpensive merchandise on the market that, in some cases, were more apt to be replaced in-stead of professionally cleaned.

But that's not the case today as a rug's price seems to be dictated more by popular styles and designs, rather than the workmanship and labor investment.

It makes no sense that rug weavers in China are being paid more to craft tufted rugs than hand-woven rugs (which take much longer to create), but that's the case, so we are seeing quite a few high-priced tufted area rugs in circulation today.

And these rugs are bringing a host of cleaning dangers for those who are not careful with their cleaning process.

The tufting process
A hand-tufted rug is created in a fraction of the time than it takes the same size hand-tied, or "woven" rug to be made.

A small woven rug may take weeks to months to craft, depending on the knot count and skill of the weaver.

A small tufted rug can be knocked out in a day, and ready for market in a few more.

The tufting process begins with stretching a foundation cloth, usually cotton, across a loom tightly. The design of the rug is then inked onto that cloth for the rug maker.

A hand-held gun with wool wrapped through it essentially shoots the wool from the backside to the front and loops it back again.

It's similar to a color-by-numbers craft, hooking the wool through the mesh cotton cloth until the entire piece is completed.

When all of the tufting is done, the rug is placed face down, a scrim is put on the back, and latex is poured on the piece to hold the loops in place.

When the latex is dry, the rug is flipped over and the front loops are sheared so that it has a face fiber pile similar to woven rugs.

A material backing is attached to the back of the rug to hide the ugly latex, and then a prefabricated fringe is added along both ends, if the design calls for it.

Common problems to look for
As with any manufacturing source, there are some who have better quality materials and better quality control oversight than others.

When inking the design on the cotton foundation mesh, some companies use permanent ink that will remain fast during a cleaning, and some do not.

Because ink cannot be "stabilized" for a wash process, poorer quality merchandise can create a situation where the stenciling will bleed out and wick up during a wet wash.

Generally, because the ink has been applied from the back of the foundation mesh, the wicking of ink will bleed out to the back side, but it will also wick to the front on some rugs.

During your pre-inspection process, bend open the fibers in an area with design elements and look at the foundation cloth to see if there is an ink problem that can become your problem.

While you are bending open the face fibers, you will also want to look at the base of the wool strands to see if the rug has been "tea-washed." (See "Tea-washed rugs" on page 16)

Trouble with materials
Tufted rugs, because they are the "cheaper" way to create wool rugs, tend to use a cheaper quality of wool in the construction process.

Shedding can be a problem, especially if the wool has been sheared from not especially healthy — or even dead — sheep.

These rugs also tend to have poorer quality latex holding the pieces together, which throughout time can dry out and become brittle when you bend the rug.

Depending on how much filler was added to the latex to extend its use, and what was used, this can deteriorate and crumble from a cleaning process.

In the pre-inspection process, pull away the cloth backing (this is generally loosely stitched to the folded-over ends of the cotton foundation cloth) and look at the latex to see if the scrim is secured smoothly in place, or if there are signs of cracking and crumbling.

The cleaning concern here would be potentially pulling the wool tufts loose through agitation or extraction because they are not held strongly in place.

What stinks?
Pet odors, when they are caused from contaminants that have penetrated the latex of a tufted rug, are extremely difficult to completely remove.

But even tougher to minimize is the odor associated with some of the new tufted product from India, which can many times become worse after you clean it.

The sources of this strong odor have been theorized to be latex, which has not been cured properly, or mixed with contaminants in the crafting process that are worsened with moisture.

If your client has a new Indian tufted rug brought to you specifically to address this odor, tell them to take the piece back to exchange for one without an odor (or perhaps one not from India) because this is a flaw in the manufacturing process.

If you do not come across any of these warning signs, then many of these pieces will wash up well.

If you use an immersion wet washing process, which is necessary when the rugs are heavily soiled or have pet odor issues, drying time does take considerably longer than woven rugs.

In this case, it helps to lay the rug out flat with air movers along both sides to help facilitate faster drying.

In most cases though, if the rug is not heavily soiled, a surface cleaning may be your best option to minimize potential problems with the integrity of the rug structure, especially if you do not have a wringer in your plant.

Some of these rugs today sell for thousands of dollars, so taking the time to look for danger signs is a very wise use of your time.

Lisa Wagner's company, K. Blatchford's Oriental Rug Cleaning, Repair & Restoration, is located in San Diego. She is a business and marketing consultant, a rug care instructor, and the creator of the Rug Secrets™ Rug Shop Success coaching program. For more information on Rug Secrets™ knowledge products and rug care training, please visit www.rugsecrets.com.