Repairing Wool Fibers
One of the most amazing facts about wool is that you can repair damaged wool fibers. Yes, wool fibers, even though dead, can repair themselves if given the correct tools. We all know this, because we know that high pH can damage wool. We can repair some of that damage by returning wool to its isoionic balance of 5.5 pH. Your goal when cleaning wool is to leave the pH as close to 5.5 as possible. You do not have to check the pH of every square inch of every rug, but, you should know the pH of your cleaning system, If you keep your system near 5.5 pH you will probably see that your colors “pop” too, as most dyes will look their best at this pH. More important, your wool will be stronger, remember, what is made of amino acids, it likes the pH of 5.5. The fibers will feel softer too.
Even more important to the repair of wool fibers is the redox balance of the wool. Many rugs are chemically washed and this adversely affects the wool, often the disulfide bonds of the wool proteins are broken. These disulfide bonds are covalent bonds and form the “backbone” of the protein molecule making it strong. These disulfide bonds are important in the folding and stability of the protein molecules.
You can measure this damage with a ORP meter (oxidation-reduction potential meter). A healthy wool rug will have a reading of between 400 and 600 mV (millivolts). However, if a rug has a reading below 200 mV, you need to repair the wool. If you strip wash (reduce) a rug to remove color bleed you will get low readings and will need to repair the wool. Oxidation is the answer to this damage. We manufacture “Ancient Secret Formula” to get the balance of the wool back to the 400 through 600 mV range. This will make the wool strong again and will remove any sulfur dioxide odor from strip washing.
Chemical washed rugs, even brand, new rugs are sometimes washed in chlorine bleach. This will give a high reading of over 800 mV, which you need to repair with a reducing agent like Chem Max “First Stripper”. Reduction will get the wool protein back to a balanced state of 400 to 600 mV. This wool fiber repair will often improve the colors of the rug, while giving back the strength of the repaired wool fibers.
With time the wool fibers become dried out. Wool fibers have a lipid layer. This is found on the epicuticle at the wool’s outer surface, these “scales” cover the entire surface of the fiber. This structural lipid layer is about 1% of the total content of the wool fiber. As this lipid content is lost over time or the wool is damaged by aggressive washing, the wool loses its sheen and luster, plus the fibers become coarse and brittle, even fragile. The cell membrane complex of wool is also a lipid structure. This membrane acts as “cement” to hold the protein cells together. This lipid bilayer is needed to keep the wool fiber strong. You need to repair this damage and make the wool healthy again by treating it with Wool Rug Revitalizer, This can repair the damage from dried-out wool fibers and rebuild the full value of antique or damaged
wool rugs.
As a wool care professional, you should be aware of the widespread use of cyclodextrin as a deodorizer on wool carpet and rugs. Cyclodextrin is used, for example, to make Febreeze. Repeated use can damage wool as the cyclodextrin breaks down and captures the lipids of the wool fibers. This will eventually physically break down the cell membrane complex. You can and should repair this damage from cyclodextrin by washing away residues and applying Wool Rug Revitalizer.
Just as it is important to clean wool rugs, it is important to repair wool fibers and keep them healthy. Your discerning customers will appreciate your ability to repair their wool rugs and are willing to pay for it. These services can be very profitable and satisfying to preform. A win-win for you, your customer and the rug itself.