Old Wives Tales and Carpet Cleaning Myths

Here we have selected a number of the most common misconceptions consumers have about carpet and fabric cleaning.

1. Wool carpets shrink.

This is actually untrue!! Wool does not shrink when it gets wet!! It expands!! So why does your woolly jumper shrink in the wash? Most carpet cleaners and the general public don’t think about it or don’t know. We know!! E-mail us on info@vcrs.ltd.uk and we will tell you!!

Carpets can shrink after carpet cleaning, but only certain types of carpet and not necessarily wool carpets. A 100% synthetic pile carpet can shrink. A 100% may be impossible to shrink. It depends on the construction of the carpet. The carpet cleaner who understands why and how carpets can shrink has got to be first choice to clean carpets in your home over one who doesn’t and cannot explain it!!

2. Carpets get dirtier more quickly after they have been cleaned the first time.

There is some truth in this one in that many, many years ago, traditional carpet shampoos were formulated from coconut oils and this had an adverse long term effect on the new synthetic carpets which were just coming on the market at that time.

However it has not been true for decades as new carpet cleaning formulations do not cause rapid re-soiling. If it happens now it only happens because an incompetent carpet cleaner has used the wrong products or mixed them incorrectly.

3. Carpets can take days to dry.

If they do, you chose a carpet cleaner who does not know what they are doing or has made errors. Carpets can be dry anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours depending on the condition of your carpets and the method selected to clean your carpets. The more heavily soiled your carpets are, the more moisture that will be required to rinse it away.

In any event, a professional service should have your carpets dry within 24 hours whatever method, whatever condition your carpet is in and regardless of weather conditions as this is the specified maximum time in the standards and specifications published within our industry.

If it takes longer than 24 hours, your carpet cleaner has done something wrong.

4. Carpets and upholstery fabrics are damaged by cleaning frequently.

Carpets are no more damaged by cleaning than your clothes. A shirt worn to work will probably be washed on a daily basis. A carpet may need cleaning only once every year or so. We don’t avoid washing our clothes just because they are damaged in the cleaning process. We clean them for hygiene and appearance!!

Carpets benefit more from periodic cleaning than clothes as dirt, soil and grit are abrasive and as we walk over soiled areas we increase the rate of wear. Think of the damage being done on a shirt collar!!

No damage is done to wool or synthetic carpets by the cleaning process if cleaned correctly using the correct method for that carpet.

Wool carpets do not contain any viable quantities of lanolin as this was scoured off in the process of producing wool yarn. (Wool will contain as little as 0.5% of its original lanolin content after cleaning for wool carpet production.) But wool can be damaged using the wrong carpet cleaning chemicals. At VCRS, we only use the mildest “woolsafe” approved cleaning solutions for wool. If the carpets are beyond mild methods of cleaning, we discuss the options before we use any more aggressive solutions.

Note: Our Technical Director, Adam Jankowski, is a Woolsafe Registered carpet inspector, as well as a carpet cleaning instructor for the Woolsafe organisation.