Carpet & Rug Problems

Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Does wall to wall carpet dyeing work?

Oct 2009

So I married into a 3100 sq foot monster home that has large rooms with white, plush, wall to wall carpet. Argggh! Even with a shedding dog and then having a baby, we held it together for a couple of years. But all bets were off when baby got mobile. (Don't get me started about potty training!) One room is smallish, 13x16, totally destroyed and in a high traffic area so we're going to put in new. Three of the bedrooms have cleaned up reasonably well. The biggest problems, of course, are in the biggest carpeting areas. We turned the living room (20x22) into a family room/play area and it is stained in places, even with professional cleaning. It is in one continuous piece with the adjacent dining room, making the total area really large. The master bedroom is similarly permanently discolored in places and is big (20x20).

The carpeting itself is in good shape, very thick, plush and high quality. When it's cleaned, it looks stunning until it dries and the spots come back.

We are planning to rent out the house (at a loss if need be) and are setting up a budget to get the house ready. I think my husband was onto something when he said ''wouldn't it be great if we could dye it a generic tan so it would cover the spots and go with everything?''

I turned to google and discovered that yes, indeed, such a service exists. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any unbiased reviews on the process, cost and quality of the service. Everything appeared to be an advertisement. Has anyone attempted it? If so, was the outcome worth the expense and effort?

At this point, replacing all of it would at a minimum cost $20-25/sq yard, putting total outlay in the thousands. Since the house is destined to be a rental, we're wincing at investing only for it to be trashed again by renters. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. White Elephant Owner

Forget trying to ''fix'' the problem, only to rent, and as you said, have them re-ruin it! Go to IKEA: buy area rugs, and mask the stubborn spots, no fuss, no muss! (remember the old saw: ''Out of Sight, Out of Mind''?) If I were in your shoes: I'd save the $$$ solutions for me & my family, if we were going to inhabit the space again, in the future... --my 2 cents

Pottery Barn rugs--safety and bad smell?

Feb 2009

Before we drop some money on big area rugs from Pottery Barn--has anyone had experience with them emanating a bad smell? I've read some bad stuff online. Also wondering about their safety as we have young children. Thanks for any advice you can share about PB rugs or other good child-safe, reasonably-priced rug options. Cold Feet

I would be really cautious about PB rugs. I can't speak to the safety but the smell can be really obnoxious. I bought a used one from someone and it had the burnt rubber smell that you will easily find described on the internet. The only time it didn't smell was on really warm, dry days. So, that was about 2 weeks a year. If you go to a PB store and sniff the rugs you can still find that smell. It's on the ones that are rubber backed but not the chenille type rug. If you find one you like I'd sniff it and then only buy it if you can get in writing that you can return it. I asked about that one time at a store and they said no. BTW, it wasn't just me. I was at a co-workers house and smelt this awful smell then realized what we were sitting over. Their rugs are very nice looking but it's not worth it. Jennifer

The smell never goes away. They shed terribly and never stop. Spend your money elsewhere. I've purchased and returned 2 and am stuck with a third. anon

I have several POttery Barn rugs and some of them do have an odd smell. I didn't even notice at first, but my husband did when one rug was in a small poorly ventilated room. Frankly, i wouldn't know if it's because it's a pottery barn rug or what--is that what wool can smell like? Anyway, I love their rugs but might hesitate next time to buy. I think you should call them and ask if they know about this issue before you buy, maybe it's something they've corrected? good luck steph

Both my sister and I had pottery barn rugs with this problem. They were really good about taking them back, but in her case she had the rug in the baby's room and was especially concerned -- getting a refund doesn't take care of that worry. Part of the problem is that they smell worse over time, not better -- maybe it's glues breaking down? I don't know if they've dealt with the issue, but I ended up with a couple of surprisingly nice wool area rugs from Costco, that seem to smell fine :) mary

I have two Pottery barn rugs, both wool, and I have not had this problem. One is an 11x13' rug in the living room, have had it for about 8 years. Baby crawled on it, threw up on it, etc. The other one is a year old, 5x7' in my bedroom. Neither one smells (or smelled) and I have not had any other problems with them. I have been satisfied with them. Ginger

We have a Pottery Barn rug. We like it a lot. I didn't feel it had any kind of smell to it--toxic or otherwise--and I can be sensitive to smells. (E.g., my husband had a shed/studio installed in our backyard, and I couldn't go near it until it totally off-gassed.) I can't answer your question about whether it is safe because i don't know what you mean. We got the Adeline rug. It is 100% percent wool, no synthetics. Don't know if it is treated with anything.

We bought a Pottery Barn area rug 5 years ago for our daughter's room and it still smells a little. The smell for the first year was pretty bad, although we were just too busy to do anything about it. In hindsight, we'd have taken it back. I wouldn't buy a rug there if I were you. Another reason not to buy one of their hooked yarn rugs is that the hooks just keep pulling up whenever we vacuum - doesn't look good. Stinky rug sufferer

I've had a couple of different rugs from Pottery Barn and though I'm not about any safety risks/hazards, I will say that they do tend to smell when first purchased. The smell is a cross between a wooly/hay sort of smell and something mildly chemical, from my recollection. I've only purchased wool rugs from them so can't speak to woven rugs of other materials.

I have a 14 month old and she's never seemed to have a problem with them. One option I chose when looking for a new rug for my dining room during a recent move was to buy one used off Craigslist. No smell at all (and I was pretty picky about the type, size, and prior use of the rug before buying it so the owner had a receipt to show that it was only a year and a half old and had been in a guest room, etc).

Anyway, it saved me a couple hundred dollars off the regular store price and I avoided that ''new rug'' smell that has accompanied previous ones I bought directly from the store. -- love my used rug!

I bought a pottery Barn rug in December. I put it outside for 2 hours before putting it in my daughter's room. There was no smell that I noticed. It does shed a little bit, but otherwise we really like it.

Carpet with minimal offgassing

March 2006

I need to put in new carpeting in our bedroom. Any advice about ''airing out'' time before allowing my pre-crawling son to play on it? I'm concerned about chemicals and any effects they might have on him. Thanks for your advice! meg

Usually, new carpet contains formaldehyde in the glue, which offgasses into the air, causing indoor air pollution for months. Here is more info: http://www.nontoxic.com/purewoolcarpets/whattoavoid.html I think a rug without glue would be a better choice. If you want carpet, you can get one made with natural latex, like this one: http://www.nontoxic.com/purewoolcarpets/index.html sunsolsal

try Interface FLOR - they make chic, high-quality carpet squares that you can install yourself and remove for easy cleaning and maintenance. Their products are as ''green'' as carpet comes. www.interfaceflor.com jean

May 2004

We are thinking about replacing the wall-to-wall carpet in our daughter's room and would like to get a carpet that would do minimal off-gassing. Where would we look for something like that? Thanks. Katherine

Most carpets are full of formaldehyde, a toxic substance bad for both children and adults. Nirvana Safe Haven in Walnut Creek sells carpets made only of wool and latex. 925/472-8868. www.nontoxic.com. They also have paints and mattresses. I have never done business with them, so I am recommending them only on the basis of the type of products they sell. sunsol

How to prevent rug from curling up on the sides

April 2007

I have an area rug (nice quality, machine made) in my living room that has just started curling up on one side. It is just in one area, about 2' long. I haven't done anything to the rug, no spills have occured, etc. I've tried putting heavy objects on the curling part, to no avail. It's in a heavy traffic area, and poses a tripping hazard. Does anyone know how to fix this? Thanks! Kim

The classic fix for curling carpet is to sew on a heavy tape.

1- Go to Stone Mountain & Daughter on Shattuck X Dwight & tell one of the clerks. They will fix you up. OR go to Discount Fabrics on SP X Ashby...you can probably get something that will work at hardware stores but cotton braid is the classic stuff to fix it.

2- Flip back your carpet and attach a thick wide braided tape along the edge short of the fringe. Use a curved needle & extra stong thread.

You might want to add a weight. A heavy magnet or what is perfect, is one of those flat steel weights from the pocket of a weight training belt? You know? They are 1''X 2'' steel and flat? Or at the hardware store, they sell thin narrow strips of metal in the drywall department? Sew that in & it's not going anywhere. The weight would be in between the carpet and the braid. Don't sew through to the top. You don't want to see your work. If you do need a weight, a thick pad will bring the carpet up to flat. If your pad comes out to the edge, you can just cut a bit of it off, so the carpet lays flat.

You probably won't need a weight as the braid will stiffen it so it can lay flat. annie