Cleaning Jute carpet

Jute
With its soft silky luster, jute is a fine natural fiber. It is best suited to areas of the house such as sitting rooms and bedrooms, rather than the more heavily used areas such as halls and passageways. Jute is a very versatile, adaptable yarn which weaves well, looks and feels good and comes in natural tones. It can also be mixed with wool and linen, enabling more color variations, and improving durability, so the jute/wool/linen mix can be used throughout the home except for in kitchens or bathrooms.
Where you find this fiber in carpets:
Residentially, before the popularity of broadloom synthetic carpets, these fibers were typically used in higher end homes as summer rugs. With the return of hard wood floors in homes these fibers are making a comeback as summer rugs, and being used as carpets by designers in upscale homes.
Commercially, class "A" executive areas and inside high end residential condominiums where traffic is kept to a minimum and luxury is important are also potential areas to find these fibers.
Characteristics:
All natural fiber specialty carpets exhibit one single characteristic that is common to the fibers. When exposed to heat, humidity and sun light they age over time. The ageing process is exhibited in a gradual darkening of the color. Alkaline cleaning accelerates the ageing process creating a browning condition with alkaline residues leading to premature decay (rotting) of the fiber, a condition known as "Dry Rot". Jute can be dyed and is subjected to the same water based staining issues as typical synthetic / natural fibers.
What you need to know to clean:
These carpets are natural fibers with jute and or linen derived from the plant family. As with all plant fibers they are susceptible to damage from high alkalinity leading to browning rapidly and breaking down (rotting) prematurely.
When exposed to hot water solutions they swell very fast loosing dimensional stability and upon drying will not revert to their original carpet dimension.
Flat weave Jute & Jute Blends
100% Jute is typically available in flat weave only since it is a soft fiber with low abrasion resistance and durability. Flat weave jute and jute blends are best cleaned with mild agitation using either rotary or cylindrical equipment. Brushes should be the same Polyester brushes used on
silk and cotton carpet. Note: It is not recommended nor should you ever use Nylon fiber brushes on this fiber, the Nylon bristles will cause irreversible fiber damage no matter how soft you feel the brush is.
Pile weave Jute blends
Blending Jute with Linen and Wool allows for a pile carpet and rug to be made. The blending of the three fibers is performed in the spinning process and provides a yarn that is soft, luxurious and more durable. The durability of the wool lends the blended yarn to the pile process. Pile jute carpets should never be agitated, as the jute in the blend is too weak to resist agitation and will rapidly cause shedding and pilling. Note: Jute has lower moisture absorption than Linen and Wool and will saturate very quickly, when cleaning Jute blends it is recommended that your psi be between 60 and 80psi to avoid over wetting.
Cleaning:
When cleaning Jute fibers use cold water only and mild acid based chemistries. Using hot water and alkaline base chemistries will cause the fiber to brown and distort the weave.
Tools needed:
The following is a list of the equipment you need to effectively clean these specialty fiber carpets.
 Rotary or Cylindrical equipment.
 Polyester Brushes for the equipment.
 Pump up tank sprayer, electric sprayer.
 HWE extractor.
Procedures:
Always thoroughly test the carpet before you begin any procedure. For a detailed explanation and testing procedures refer to Testing Procedures for Textiles.
1. Vacuum the carpet thoroughly in two directions to remove as much dry soil as possible.
2. Thoroughly mix your cleaning chemistries according to label directions. With the exception of an enzyme based pre conditioner use cold water only.
3. Pre Condition the carpet using an Enzyme based pre conditioner to emulsify the oils.
4. Based on the fiber and weave as described above clean the carpet using either a reducing based natural fiber shampoo cleaner or a reducing based natural fiber extraction detergent.
5. Rinse carpet using a non surfactant based acid rinse to remove detergent residues. Call Superior Steam Cleaners at 443-277-7265 or go to our website http://www.superiorsteamcleaners.com/ Homeowners
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