Many rugs marketed today as silk are, in fact, artificial silk
rugs made of viscose fibers.
Rugs made of viscose, or technically viscose
rayon, present several unique problems for those
who own and clean them.
If you own a viscose rug, it's important to understand
the advantages and the drawbacks of this type of fiber.
Viscose is made of wood pulp and cotton byproducts.
Viscose is also called faux silk, art silk, made-made silk,
fake silk, rayon, banana silk, bamboo silk, lyocell,
and ramie.
Today, designer rugs labeled as man-made silks are often
viscose artificial silk.
These are sometimes sold at prices
that make consumers believe they have bought the real thing,
and sometimes viscose is used as a filler or silk substitute
to make lesser-quality rugs that are often still labeled
as real silk.
The advantage of viscose is that it
can be made into fibers that are incredibly soft.
No other fiber feels like viscose, and for this reason
it is popular with many designers and rug
manufacturers.
However, this softness is achieved
through chemical processing that makes the fibers very weak.
Despite its great look, it is one of the most fragile fibers
on the market today.
It's important to know about four major drawbacks that
make viscose a bad choice for everyday use.
First, viscose rugs can shed.
Since viscose fibers are so weak, normal,
everyday traffic can break the fibers
and leave the rug looking as though it's
been clawed by a cat.
These fiber pulls can be trimmed or shaved
by an experience rug-care professional,
but the problem will likely reoccur.
If these rugs are vacuumed with a strong vacuum or a vacuum
cleaner with a beater bar, it will make the problem worse.
Second, viscose fibers don't hold dye well.
Dyed viscose fibers tend to bleed if you get them wet,
and this can be from improper cleaning or from spills.
And because of this, it's important
that viscose rugs are thoroughly tested prior to washing.
This testing will identify when a viscose rug
may need to be surface cleaned instead of immersion washed.
It's important that you use an experience rug cleaner
if you own a viscose rug.
Cleaning this type of rug is considered an advanced cleaning
procedure, and it's important that you only
use an experienced rug cleaner to deal
with this type of fiber.
Third, viscose rugs become yellow with moisture.
And again, this can happen from spills or from cleaning.
It's important that your rug cleaner use proper chemistry
and get the rug dry as quickly as possible to minimize this.
It's common for viscose rugs to yellow over time,
and for viscose rugs in high-humidity areas,
this yellowing happens even faster.
Finally, viscose rugs can become matted and stiff
after they've gotten wet.
This can be from an improper cleaning process
or from spills in the home.
An experienced rug cleaner will use
special brushes and hand-grooming techniques
to soften and raise the nap after cleaning.
There are two common scenarios where
you're likely to find viscose used in rugs.
No other fiber is as soft as viscose,
so sometimes in spite of the disadvantages
of this type of fiber it is very deliberately chosen
to achieve a certain look or effect.
Another common use of viscose is as a filler or substitute
for real silk.
Viscose is often blended with silk, and
many times these drugs are still sold and often priced
as though they're real silk.
This can lead to disappointment if rug owners find out
their silk rugs aren't the real thing.
The takeaway from all of this is that viscose rugs are
manufactured to achieve a certain look,
but viscose is a tricky fiber to own and to clean.
These are not rugs that will stand up to regular daily use,
so a family room is not the place for a viscose rug.
Cleaning viscose should only be attempted by an experienced rug
cleaner that is familiar with the unique challenges
of viscose.
And even with an experience cleaner,
no viscose rug will ever look as good as it did when it was new.
If you have any questions about viscose rugs or any other rugs,
give us a call and we'll be happy to help.
And please let us know if you like this video.