There’s nothing impressive about a poor cleaning job or ruining a customer’s rug. Use rug identification to set yourself apart from your competition. Anybody can “not” know rug identification. Does your company want to be just “anybody”?
By understanding construction, you can solve problems, anticipate potential problems and better advise your customers on cleaning and repair. The customer will look to you as the expert. An expert is someone “very skillful; having much training and knowledge in a special field.” Ask yourself, “Am I an expert in rug cleaning?” In addition to having the knowledge, it is important to learn to handle complaints in a constructive, knowledgeable manner resulting in your customers gaining confidence in you as their cleaner of fine textiles. Also, superior product knowledge is not a marketing gimmick. It will increase your bottom line and enhance your reputation.
The key differences between a hand-knotted and a machine made Oriental rug are:
1. Look at the back of the rug. Warp yarns do not continuously run the length of a hand-knotted rug whereas they do run continuously in a machine-made rug.
2. Looking at the back of the rug, a hand-knotted rug often shows the weft yarns, while machine-made rugs do not.
3. Many hand-knotted rugs will have a kelim between the pile and the fringe, while most machine-made rugs will not.
4. The fringe on hand-knotted rugs is a continuation of the warps, while machine-made rugs will have fringe applied by machine.
5. Looking at the sides, hand-made rugs are overcast or serged by hand, while the sides of machine-made rugs are serged by a machine.
6. Look at the back. If material is glued or sewn onto the back, the rug is most likely tufted.
Most cleaners understand that rug identification is an important skill. However, they think it is difficult or impossible to learn, so they try to operate under the misconception that rug identification is not necessary for a successful rug cleaning business. Rug identification is not easy, but it can be learned. Some rug cleaning classes or training materials teach that rug identification is not important to successful rug cleaning, that it is merely a marketing tool. It is understood that you do not have to be able to tell the difference between a Hamadan and a Lillihan, both single-wefted rugs, to be a good cleaner; however, to be able to identify a hand-knotted from a machine-made rug, wool from cotton, and the myriad of potential cleaning problems associated with certain types of rugs, does require a certain level of rug identification skill. These skills will be developed and improved over time with effort, education and experience. Remember, rug identification is a lifelong pursuit and even the “experts” can disagree on a rug’s attribution.
This article was submitted by the experts at Master Rug Cleaner in Dallas, Texas. For more information on this topic or to find out about classes you can attend at a Rug Cleaning School. For more info please visit our website at: http://www.masterrugcleaner.net
Author Resource:-
Master Rug Cleaner The source for training and certification for professional oriental and specialty rug cleaners. For more info please visit our website: http://www.masterrugcleaner.net
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