Wool does not forgive the wrong chemistry
Wool Axminster, wool broadloom and silk area rugs across South Florida hotels, ballrooms and high-end homes — cleaned inside the pH range wool tolerates, and left neutral.
Why wool is different
Wool hides soil. That is its great virtue as a contract fibre and the reason a wool Axminster in a ballroom is almost always dirtier than it looks — by the time it reads as soiled from standing height, there is a great deal in it.
It is also the fibre least willing to forgive a mistake. Wool is a protein, and protein does not tolerate high alkalinity: a standard commercial prespray runs around pH 10 to 11, and on wool that means yellowing, dye bleed, felting and texture loss that no subsequent cleaning reverses. The damage is not visible while the technician is still in the room.
So we work inside the range wool tolerates. Alkaline prespray no higher than pH 8.5. An acidic neutralising rinse at pH 3.0 to 5.0 — which rinses residue better than water alone and brings the fibre back to neutral, where wool should be left. Agitation only with wool-compatible brushes.
The pile is set while it is still damp and warm, because wand marks and jet streaks put into wool after it cools stay there. Then it is dried fast — air movers, the building’s own air handling — since a wool carpet left slow-drying is a wool carpet developing an odour.
The numbers that matter.
- 01
pH 8.5 and no higher
The prespray limit wool tolerates. Above it, yellowing and dye bleed — and the damage shows up after the truck has left.
- 02
Acid rinse, pH 3.0 to 5.0
Rinses residue better than water and returns the fibre to neutral, which is where wool should be left.
- 03
Pile set while damp
Wand marks and jet streaks set permanently once wool cools. Grooming happens in small sections, while it is still warm.
- 04
The mills that make it
Brintons US Axminster, Masland Contract and Milliken supply the wool in South Florida hospitality. We inspect claims for them.
Some of Our Clients
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