Rugs and Floods

It seems that even though we do not have “floods” in San Diego like most areas of the U.S. do… we do have a high rate of water damage incidents coming from pipe breaks and leaks.

The longer a rug remains wet the more likely it is to have dye migration that is not correctable. Rugs that are not washed properly when these incidents happen and dried thoroughly can end up with mildew and dry rot problems. Here is a rug that was involved in a flood and then improperly stored in a plastic bag for months while the home was being repaired, and the rug deteriorated from dry rot as a result:

Here are tips to minimize the damage of rugs involved in floods:

• Extract the water as soon as possible using a wet vacuum or having your restoration company extract with their professional water removal equipment.
• Make sure you extract WITH the direction of the rug’s fiber nap, instead of against it (this minimizes fiber damage).
  If you are unable to have the rugs thoroughly washed right away, then it’s important to get the rugs as dry as possible to stop the damage risks. Dry them and wash them later.
• When transporting to a facility to be cleaned, wrap in towels or sheets to prevent dry from migration from one rug to another.
• Do NOT hang up wet rugs. Extract and dry out flat.
• Do NOT dry in direct sunlight. Most contemporary rugs are sensitive to sunlight fading. If you must dry in sunlight, lay the rugs face down so fading occurs on the back side only until the rugs are taken to a cleaning facility.

Wool and silk oriental rugs can take months, sometimes years, to weave by hand. If you have investment textiles you want to protect from a flood that has affected your home, simply follow those guidelines and you can lessen the risk of permanent damage to your rugs due to extended exposure to water.

All rugs involved in floods need to be fully washed and decontaminated. Cleaning with a carpet cleaning machine is only a surface cleaning and will not remove the contaminants inside the foundation fibers of woven rugs. Even a “clean water” flood has that water running through “not clean” surfaces from roofs to walls to flooring into those rugs, so the water is never truly “clean.” It’s important in order to put those rugs back in pre-loss condition to have them properly washed.

With tufted rugs (rugs that have latex holding them together and a material covering up the back) there is a risk of delamination due to extended water exposure from a flood.