There are few soft floor coverings which are guaranteed against shrinkage; therefore, dimensional changes of your rug should be expected during cleaning. Your skilled professional rug cleaner takes every step economically possible to minimise this inherent characteristic.
During the spinning and weaving process, fibres and fabrics must be kept under tension for proper functioning of equipment. For example, warp yarns are held under tension on a loom during a rug’s construction. Stretching occurs during this and other operations, and fibres and fabrics remain stretched until moisture causes them to relax. Shrinkage at this point is often referred to as relaxation shrinkage.
The amount of shrinkage which can be expected will depend upon the construction of the rug and the fibres used in the backing. Most shrinkage is due to the type of backing fibres used. The density of the face fibres will also have a bearing on the amount of shrinkage. However, the type of face fibre has no relation to the amount of shrinkage. Shrinkage which causes dimensional changes results entirely from wetting the backing yarns. Moisture causes the fibres to swell, and this forces the weave threads to contract, causing the overall floor covering to shrink.
Most of this type of shrinkage will occur during the first thorough wetting (usually the first cleaning). On some rugs, as much as 10% shrinkage may take place. However, it is more realistic to expect about 2% shrinkage in the average rug. Shrinkage can also take place in the home due to the rug’s backing yarns absorbing moisture from humid air.
