What to do with all that wool?

What do Australia, New Zealand and Wales have in common? Rugby? Sure. Tough men? definitely. Funny accents? oh yes. But there’s more, a wool lot more.

Sheep are synonymous with these countries and while that is often a source of good humour, on this occasion, it’s a little disturbing. This poor fella has been found on the outskirts of the Australian capital, Canberra, looking a tad shabby.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-34125662

Estimated at more than five times the normal woolly size, Chris needs a good grooming. So much so that the national sheering champion - Ian Elkins has been called in to lend his services to the stricken merino sheep.

Now that the walking carpet has been saved, shorn and the unofficial World Record holder, our question is, what to do with the wool?

We have a few ideas;

Firstly you would need to measure the size of the coat. As it turns out, back in 2004 there was another errant sheep wandering Australia’s bush, named Shrek. His fleece came in at 27kg (60lb for those of you refusing to convert). With that much raw material you can knock-up a series of pretty rugs, a very long scarf, or start a line of nifty jumpers. Although, given that this guy is likely to be a bit chilly after the sheering (even though he is in Australia), I might suggest that the first sweater be tailor-made for him.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-34125662

Judging by the picture, I might suggest a big of a cleaning before you spindle that sheep. Best call the professionals. We’ll get that fleece golden in no time. We'd suggest a bit of product first, shampoo and conditioner might not do much, but I think we'd go with something a little more intense.

Here at Art of Clean we'll be honest, we haven't tackled sheep bathing, but after the sheering, well, that's our business. We suggest a thorough cleaning of your wool rug or carpet every year. Why? well, just click on our link and look at the results. Don't you want that wool rug woolly?

Art of Clean is a specialist cleaning firm in: 

Wood Floor Sanding,

Stone floor Cleaning,

Carpet Cleaning,

Rug Cleaning,

Upholstery Cleaning 

Leather Furniture Cleaning, 

Working for domestic or commercial clients throughout Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

For more information on our services contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or email us at info@artofclean.co.uk

Types of carpet - tufted or woven?

There are two types of carpet available in the UK, Tufted carpet and Woven carpet.  There are then a number of types of pile that distinguish the finish of the rug (see blog on Types of Carpet Pile here)

Tufted Carpet:

This type of carpet is mass machine-made for a value carpet product, often created using a man-made fiber such as nylon or polypropylene.  The carpet making making machine threads carpet fibers through a backing where the thread is caught on a loop before the needle descends.  The top loops of fibers are either left to create a Loop Pile (also known as a Berber Pile) or cut down to create an even leveled pile called a Cut Pile.  The reverse of the carpet is glued to hold the fibers in place, and a secondary layer of backing is attached to cover this.

Foam Backed carpets are produced to eliminate the need to put down underlay first, this makes laying carpet much easier for DIY home improvements.  A layer of foam is either attached as well as or instead of the secondary backing fabric.

Woven Carpet:

Woven carpet is a high quality product that it is produced in large part from wool or a predominantly wool blend.  The carpets are produced in a similar way to the traditional carpet producing method using a loom.  The carpet fibers are woven into the backing, this creates a strong durable product that doesn't require gluing or secondary backing.  Woven carpet is said to last up to 3 times longer than tufted carpet due to the strength of it's construction.

There are two types of woven carpet:

Axminster

The Axminster carpet is a woven carpet produced of high quality wool, they are known for their detailed designs and large array of colours.  Because they use the durable woven method to produce their carpets they are able to use finer yarns, and create finer details to their designs.  They can use up to 12 colours in a carpet making them a very desirable statement floor choice often found in hotels.  The desired yarn colour is woven into the weft and cut to the desired pile as the carpet is constructed.

Wilton

Wilton are also recognised for being high quality woven carpets, however they are created in a different way to the Axminster.  They have a more limited colour range because the carpet is woven with a continuous strand of yarn all the way through, allowing them only 5 colours per carpet.  This production method creates an extremely hard wearing carpet that is favored by many contractors.

If you need your carpets cleaned contact us at Art of Clean.  We are proud to be WoolSafe and IICRC trained and registered.  

For more information about our services please contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk.

Art of Clean are specialists in: 

Carpet Cleaning,
Rug Cleaning,

Upholstery Cleaning 

Leather Furniture Cleaning, 

Hardwood Floor Cleaning, 

Stone floor Cleaning,

Working for domestic or commercial clients throughout Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

For more information about our services please contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk.