Cleaning a very old carpet

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So I got this carpet and padding (marked at $50 at the sale) from the old house Kim was cleaning out, part of my "payment." It had been retired to the playroom on the third floor because it was soiled where it had lain in the library (lovely, proper dark English oak paneling) between two sets of doors, one to the dining room, the other to the living room (gawd, they might have called it the drawing room!) The carpet is about about 12' x 16', originally a beige with a not too busy pattern of flowers and vines, predominantly black outlines, dusty touches of darker beige, blue and peach, about a 10-inch border all the way around. (Aside: there was another old rug of equal size but with too much damage--and there was STILL plenty of room in that playroom!) Looks as if it's been deliberately dyed with tea in the middle to achieve an antique look! It's marked on the back "Hartford Saxony," by the way, maybe CT? I have no idea of the material, I would have to guess it's wool. Don't know the age, either. Could be from the 50's? Maybe earlier? (House built in the 20's.)

So I managed to clean out 2/3 of the living room and put down a couple of plastic drop cloths (thank God for stash!) and then managed to manhandle the damn thing onto the plastic, in case the dyes ran when I cleaned it. Smart move--the 3 mil plastic made it easier to position the carpet. Just as well, because at one point I was having breathing problems from the exertion. (Note to self: don't do that again.)

I've shampooed it twice with my Bissel shampooer (Big Green Machine), using Bissell anti-allergy shampoo. The sucked-up shampoo water was very dark brown! The bit in the middle is still appreciably darker than the rest. Not so bad because it's where the seating area is, with a largish old black-painted oak table covering a lot of the darker part.

I've had enough of it for the time being but at some time in the future I might want to have another go at cleaning up the middle. Anyone got any suggestions, besides sending it out to be professionally done? And, yes, I've thought about making a tea dye to make the rest of it match, LOL!

For my 7 hours of work, I also got the liquor and two bottles of cheap champagne (mentioned elsewhere), six very nearly new good-quality throw rugs (marked at the sale for $8/apiece, and some canned food (I took the Vidalia onion relish, asparagus, artichoke hearts, Zatarain's rice mixes, few other goodies, some spices). I think I like this line of work!

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

Answers

2 questions...

They "hiring"??? and you want company!!! I'd love to do this sort of thing! you lucky duck!

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002


Snort! The Hungarian and I have been going to Kim's businesses for years. It's to the point where we take them a few things for Christmas, Valentine's, etc. She already has a good crew--I help out only on emergency things. Just make friends with your local estate clearer-outer--or maybe if you call them, put in a resume or something! You just need to be able to pack breakables, sort junk from good, that kind of thing. See, Kim has three sites. One is Grannie's, of course, where the usual stuff goes. Then there's Decades, where the REALLY good stuff goes and it's open about once every month or two. And then there's Treasure Island where you can fill a bag with all kinds of little stuff and half-filled bottles of cleaner, shampoo, etc., for about $3-$5, open maybe once every three or four months. Kim is smart enough not to do estate sales at the house--she'll clear out a place but not hold a sale there. She has incredible energy, like someone on speed, but she's not.

You would have laughed, SAR! Jane, about late fifties, gave me a ride once or twice and she has a 70s Volkswagon van! Then there's Maria, must be in her sixties, getting deaf, picked me up in a sporty bright blue something or other, with a silvery naked lady hood ornament surrounded by a wreath of colorful plastic flowers and a front license plate that shows Betty Boop and "Party Girl!" Last time Kim picked me up in the cargo van--no seats in the back, except for a recliner and a wing chair, lol! Bonnie works as cashier at Grannie's--her son's in the federal pen for armed robbery and kidnapping, lol! Her daughter's allegedly off crack and hookery now. Bonnie thinks I'm going to take her job (no way!), no matter what anybody tells her and alternates between hostile and sugary sweet. Great characters!

Santa (aka Fred), a black guy, was dressed as Santa at the Christmas Party. Must be over 60 but strong as a horse and keeps the young lads in line, the ones who do the muscle work.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002


'You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant.'

I find myself humming this...

Sounds like a lot of fun, OG.

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002


oops! forgot the main question here.

No ideas for geting the tea out, except maybe peroxide? It does so well with blood...

Hmmm, maybe you can do a police outline of the stain. Is it shaped anything like a body? LOL [talk about a conversation piece!]

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002


No, nothing so interesting as a homicidal shape. It's not tea, I just thought I could make a dye with tea, which people use to "antique" a rug so that the rest of it would match the dark part. The "shadow" comes from being between two sets of doors so that people walked across that bit the most. We tend to forget that natural fibers are nearly as forgiving as recycled pop bottles or whatever it is they use these days.

Thing is, with the furniture carefully placed, you can't really notice it unless (like the Hungarian) you never miss a thing.

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002



I meant to say "aren't nearly as forgiving," but you knew that.

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

When we come for a visit I'll be sure and point it out.

I, like the Hungarian, rarely miss a thing. Especially something like that. LOL

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002


Damn! it sounds like such great fun!!

Oh, don't know if this works on OLD stains...but daughter taught mom something last yr!!..the little guy had GRAPE juice in a sippy cut..I told her NOT in the Family room with white carpet!!!.."Oh Mom! Sippy cups don't leak!"

YEAH RIGHT!!"

after I screamed and said "OMG the JUICE!!!!!!"

She just got the blue window cleaning and spritz..spritz...and blotted it up..IT WAS GONE..done done, never "shadowed" when it dried, either!

but Iffn I was you..I opt for the tea staining, myself!

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002


Yep. This is the grunge of decades, not yesterday! And I doubt it knows what Scotchguard or Staimaster is!!!

The Hungarian and I went to another estate sale Saturday. The wife's parents had been missionaries in China, years ago, so the place was filled with beautiful Chinese antiques, none of which we could afford. (But I found some bits of jewelry I could manage, including some fun early 70's earrings, very dangly, turquoise and Indian silver! I thought of David, of course.)

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002


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