PSA: I was wrong about the old carpet in that 1920s house in Pasadena

I always told people that old wool carpet from before the 50s was a lost cause and to just tear it out. I was working on a house in Pasadena last week and the homeowner showed me a study from the Textile Conservation Center. It said that with the right low-moisture cleaning, some of those old wool carpets can have 70% of their original tensile strength restored. I had no idea it was that high. Has anyone else actually tried a restoration like that on a really old piece?

2 comments

2 Comments

leer129d ago

Man, that's wild. I love when you find out you've been giving bad advice for years. Makes you wanna go back and apologize to everyone.

nelson.gavin9d ago

Bad advice happens all the time though, right? It's just carpet cleaning, not telling someone to tear out original hardwood floors. Most people were probably gonna replace it anyway for the look. Feels like getting worked up over a small thing.