Smokin’ Hot Rug…

Don’t know if you know this, but wool does not carry a flame. It is naturally fire resistant.

This does not mean that a super hot fire cannot engulf a wool textile, but an isolated flame will self-extinguish. This is good to know when you are choosing fabrics in your home, because inevitably fires do happen, and it’s best to not give it extra fuel. (When I watched a video of how quickly a Christmas tree can become an inferno in a home – literally seconds – I started buying small live trees instead of chopped down ones, it scared me that much.)

Once in awhile we get rugs with fire damage. With soot, smoke, ash, we can give the rugs a bath and remove much of the damage to put the rug in “pre-loss” condition.

Once in awhile though, it’s more than soot – it’s a burned hole. And even then, sometimes, the “impossible” is possible … like with this rug that a client believed headed to the trash heap:

Damage to done photos – click for larger view

This is the handy work of my mother Kate, a weaver, and the founder of our facility in San Diego. We have a repair team on staff to handle everything from the usual suspects (torn fringe from a vacuum cleaner to be replaced) to the more difficult projects like this fire damage order from the wildfires in San Diego.

When you have a home that has gone through the emotional devastation of a fire, and you’ve lost about everything, being able to save one thing… one piece of your former home… means a lot. So when we can make a small miracle with a rug like this, it creates one of those really happy moments in a company – when you know you’ve made a small difference in someone else’s world.

At our plant at Blathfords Diego Rug Cleaning Company, we love rugs. But we also love people, and it’s that mix that creates success in any business because it’s a mix that makes a difference.

– Lisa