Carpets are usually used as a personification to your living décor or interior space; the presence of carpets not only adds to the aesthetic appeal of the place but also protects the floor from dust and any direct damage. In some homes or places, carpets are used as a multi–purpose mats, which can add an aesthetic appeal, entertain guests, and even allow your kids to play around.
Carpets have a beautiful history attached to their own; the first evolution of carpets began when people began hunting birds for meat and stringing their feathers to decorate various places in their houses like wall hangings, floor mats etc. In ancient India, Palm leaves were placed in infirmaries and sick rooms to help the person recover sooner than expected.
However, the evolution of carpets is a fascinating history in itself, as are the methods of maintaining the same. In this article, we will discuss the ancient and modern ways of cleaning a carpet.
ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS OF CARPET CLEANING
- Old carpets were usually made up of feathers and leaves; as time passed, feathers tended to gain more moisture and thus lasted only up to weeks; one way of retaining them was to dry them out in the sun, but that method also did not work out well hence the only way of handling such organically made carpets was to replace them at regular intervals.
- “However, with the advent of time during the renaissance period, when art began to flourish in carpet making, also saw a gradual shift; the ancient method of cleaning carpets was to hang them in a line and beat them with a stick until all the dust had fallen off, to remove oil and spill stains lemon juice was used along with a loaf of white bread for scrubbing, bread in those days was a real luxury” explained a service provider of carpet cleaning in surrey.
- The Victorians, however, were very obsessed with their carpets; hence, they always lay down huge woollen layers before a banquet or a feast to protect their carpets from spillage or any tough stains.
- With the advent of time, the pumice stone, usually a byproduct of volcanic eruptions in the area, was now being used to clean clothes and remove dead skin. With the world war happening when there was so much famine and hunger around, people stopped using bread to wash clothes; they now began to use a pumice stone to clean clothes which was usually a derivative of volcanic eruptions.
- As industrialization progressed, the first effects of industrialization were seen in the pumice stone, which now was no more just a derivative of volcanic eruptions but also included fused polymers and rubber into its composition so that it could last longer than before.
- However, there was not any industrialized colour in those days. Organic colours often tended to bleed; hence to prevent colour bleeding, chloroform was used. However, chloroform tended to render people senseless, which is why it was discontinued.
However, all problems related to carpet cleaning came to an end with the advent of industrialization; the first effects of industrialization was seen on the Pumice stone until the first carpet cleaning machine arrived in 1868.