Month: September 2016

How to Treat A Pet Urine Spot on Your Oriental Rug

We all love our animals. They brighten our days, lift us up when our spirits are down, and make our homes feel complete. Unfortunately, accidents are inevitable, and even the best dogs and cats will occasionally have an accident on your Oriental rugs. Today, we are going to go over a few quick steps you can take to help prevent damage and odor from pet urine. Keep in mind, these steps can be effective at removing urine from your wall to wall carpet as well.

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You will need- White Vinegar and paper towels or dry rags.

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Step 1 – If the spot is still wet, poultice the area. If it is already dry, move on to step 2.

The first reaction a lot of folks have is to wipe the area up with a wet rag. A much more effective method is “poulticing”. To poultice a spot, take a dry rag or paper towels and apply downward pressure on it. The moisture will soak into the rag and get sucked out of your rug. A poultice is more effective because it doesn’t spread the spot around and removes a much greater quantity of moisture. It’s important to note, that if you own good wet vacuum that is capable of removing moisture, you can use that instead of poulticing the spot.

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Pressing down instead of wiping is key

Step 2 – Apply white vinegar.

White vinegar is great for eliminating the odor of most pet urine. It also helps to keep the dye in your rug set, preventing color migration. Pour enough white vinegar directly onto the spotted area to soak it. While the odor of the vinegar is intense, it will fade quickly as the area dries out.

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Step 3 – Let it sit for 3 to 5 minutes.

We call this “dwell time”. The white vinegar will help break down the bonds holding the urine in place. This is especially important if you are dealing with cat urine as it tends to have oils that need to be broken down.

Step 4 – Poultice out the white vinegar

Much like step one, use a poultice to remove the white vinegar. Again, if you have a good wet vacuum, you can use it instead.

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If your paper towels get too soaked, just throw them out and grab some dry sheets

Step 5 – Smell the area, possibly repeat steps 2 through 4.

Take a quick sniff of the area, if you can still smell the urine over the vinegar, it means you need to repeat steps 2 through 4. If the white vinegar is the only thing you are smelling, move on to step 6.

Step 6 – Dry the area quickly and correctly.

Getting your rug dry quickly and effectively is a crucial part of keeping the bacteria in the urine from heavily reproducing. Air flow is key, so using a box fan or desk fan to blow over the wet area will go a long way towards this. If you can expose both the top and bottom of the rug to that air flow, it will speed up the process tremendously. You can prop books up underneath your rug or even drape it over a chair to achieve this.

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Once dry, you have done all you can to treat the spot. In most cases, you will find that the smell is gone and the staining reduced. It is important to note, that while this helps the appearance and smell of your rug, it does not really disinfect it. If sterilization is what you are after, or if problems still persist, it’s probably time to have your rug washed professionally. Full immersion cleaning is by far the most effective technique for eliminating and disinfecting urine.

When it comes to prevention, consistent training of your beloved pet is the first step. Some great material on how to train your pets can be found here –

https://www.cesarsway.com/dog-training/housebreaking-issues/housebreaking

Even the best trained pet will have occasional accidents, so what can you do to help make sure those accidents don’t soak into your rug? We recommend Fiber ProTector brand stain guard.  Built to keep moisture form soaking into the fibers of your rug, Fiber ProTector can keep any accident from becoming a more troublesome spot. 

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And of course, always remember that for a tougher more stubborn spot, Serafian’s can get your rug 100% clean and disinfected.  If you have any questions about these steps or other rug related questions, feel free to e-mail us: Serafians@gmail.com

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By: Matt Gabel

Matt Gabel is the Retail Manager at Serafian’s Oriental Rugs. He has been working closely with rugs for over 25 years.  Serafian’s offers free pick up and delivery in the Albuquerque metro area. For more information, call (505) 504-RUGS or go to serafians.com

How To Protect Your Rugs From Fading and Sun Damage

A question that often comes up here in the Southwestern U.S. is “How do I protect my rugs from sun fading?” That’s an important question, as the ultraviolet rays from the sun will not only fade the color from your rug, but also cause the wool fibers to wear out more quickly. In the case of some tufted style rugs with glue backings, it can even cause the laminate to degrade.

The first thing to keep in mind is that ultraviolet light is the real cause of fading. The other parts of the light spectrum don’t really damage your rug, so limiting the rug’s exposure to UV is key. There are a few things you can do which will make a difference.

First is “tactical” placement of your rug. It sounds obvious, but when you put your rug down, limiting the amount of direct sunlight it is exposed to makes a huge impact on how much UV light can penetrate it. While effective, this is the most constraining solution to sun fading. Sometimes you really want your rug in an area where a lot of light comes in, which is perfectly reasonable.

In that case, we recommend drawing your shades when you aren’t home. It’s nice to have a lot of light in your house, but if you’re out at work, or not really spending time in the space where your rug is, the simple act of drawing your shades goes a long way towards preventing fade.  Fortunately, if drawing your shades isn’t an option, there are still solutions.  

“Low E” (Low Emission) glass is a specially designed type of glass built to filter the amount of UV coming into your home, while still allowing all the light you normally see into the space. Most “Low E” glass filters out about 95% of the UV that would otherwise make it in, and has a huge impact on lifespan of your rug and its colors. “Low E” glass also has the added benefits of keeping energy costs down, letting less heat in during the summer, and less heat out during the winter. The downside of Low E-glass is that it could require replacing your windows, a potentially expensive prospect. There is, however, a much less expensive alternative.

Low E-Filters can be purchased for your existing windows at a fraction of the cost of Low E-Glass. Coming in clear and semi opaque shades, Low E filters are literally applied to the surface of your existing windows. While not quite as effective as Low E glass, they are still a great way to reduce the UV rays coming into your home. They can even be combined with Low E glass to create a doubly-effective barrier.

For a great blog on how Low E filters and glass work, check here. – https://www.buildinggreen.com/blog/window-performance-%E2%80%93-magic-low-e-coatings

A solution that we recommend avoiding are UV blocking chemicals that can be applied to the fibers of your rug.  While these sound great in concept, our independent testing has yet to prove any of them effective in preventing long term fading and damage. Even worse, we have found that these chemicals tend to attract dirt, causing your rug to appear dirty much more quickly and even make it more difficult to clean. As of today, we don’t yet recommend the use of these products on your rug.

Whatever method you use, we highly recommend doing what you can to prevent UV exposure in your home. It will go a long way to creating enduring beauty and life in your valuable rugs.

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By: Matt Gabel

Matt Gabel is the Retail Manager at Serafian’s Oriental Rugs. He has been working closely with rugs for over 25 years.  Serafian’s offers free pick up and delivery in the Albuquerque metro area. For more information, call (505) 504-RUGS or go to serafians.com