1827-1997 US Rug-Upholstery-Carpet Conditioning Trivia
Excerpts from HISTORIC CARPET CLEANING METHODS IN THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES.
Edited by John Burrows, J.R. Burrows & Company, Historical-Design Merchants, Rockland, Massachusetts
www.burrows.com
Editor’s Note: One of the most common strategies of keeping carpets clean in the early nineteenth century was to use druggets, heavy woolen goods spread under tables to protect carpet from spills. They are sometimes called crumb cloths. In addition to dining rooms they were used in other areas of heavy wear. E.V. Rippingille painted The Young Trio in 1829 showing a drugget protecting carpet in a parlor where children are at play.
1827
To Restore Carpets to their First Bloom.
Beat your carpets with your carpet rods until perfectly clean from dust, then if there be any ink spots take it out with a lemon, and if oil spots, take out as in the foregoing receipt, observing to rinse with clean water; then take a hot loaf of white bread, split down the centre, having the top and bottom crust one on each half, with this rub your carpet extremely well over, then hang it out on or across a line with the right side out; should the night be fine, leave it out all night, and if the weather be clear, leave it out for two or three such nights, then sweep it with a clean corn broom, and it will look as when first new.
To Wash Carpets.
Shake, beat, and sweep well. Tack firmly on the floor. Mix three quarts soft, cold water with one quart beef’s gall. Wash with a flannel, rub off with a clean flannel, immediately after putting it on each strip of carpet, - Mrs. R.
Carpets should be washed in spots, with a brush or flannel, one tablespoonful ox-gall in one or two quarts water. – Mrs. A.
To Remove Ink from Carpets.
Take up the ink with a spoon. Pour cold water on the stained spot, take up the water with a spoon, and repeat this process frequently. Then rub on a little oxalic acid and wash off immediately with cold water. Then wet with hartshorn. – Mrs. R.
Housekeeping in Old Virginia, edited by Marion Cabell Tyree. Louisville, Ky.: John P. Morton and Company, 1879.
1884 - Cleansing Carpets (Naphta Process). – This is regarded as the surest and most satisfactory, where there is the slightest suspicion of moth eggs or worms. It is especially adapted to pile carpets. Caution should be exercised as to the purity and clearness of the naphtha used, and the thorough extraction of the grease, else the dirt adheres more easily than before. Where carpets are to remain on storage some time, the odor can be left in the carpet if desired. A more through cleansing can be assured by having the carpet beaten first. A surface application of naphtha will drive the impurities through the article, to be absorbed by that which is under it.
Spring House-Cleaning.
After a Carpet has been well beaten and the floor perfectly dry, it can be nailed down tightly, and then the soiled portions can be cleaned with two quarts of cold water with a bullock’s gall dissolved in it. Put on with a soft brush and wipe dry with a clean cloth. Potter’s clay mixed as a past (thick) with water and spread on with a knife, wet, will clean them nicely. Cover over with several thicknesses of heavy brown paper, leaving it for a day or two; then brush off. If not entirely removed, apply again. It never fails when properly used. If spots of grease are upon them, saturate the spot with spirits of turpentine and let it remain several hours; then rub it between the hands. It will crumble away without injuring the color or texture. When a color has been destroyed by acid (unless some shade of red), ammonia will neutralize the acid, and chloroform will restore the original color. A solution of oxalic acid crystals, one part by measure to eight of soft water, will entirely remove dry ink stains. The goods must be afterwards thoroughly washed, as the acid destroys the cloth. If a carpet is thick, like those of Brussels or Axminster, and is much soiled, take a clean mop and dip it into warmish water, to which one teaspoonful of ammonia has been added to each quart. Wring out the mop as dry as possible, and rub it over the carpet in breadths. When the water becomes soiled, take a fresh supply.
…Benzine will eradicate moths in the carpets the same as in furniture. Avoid using it near the fire, or in a room where a light is burning. Alum is also certain death to all insects. Dissolve it in proportion of one tablespoonful to a quart of water….
The Household, A Cyclopaedia of Practical Hints for Modern Homes, edited by May Perrin Goff. Detroit, Mich.: The Detroit Free Press Publishing Company, 1886.
Shampooing a Rug
A rug can be shampooed in the house, although conditions are better when done outdoors. There are needed an ample supply of soap jelly, a large bowl, an egg beater, a soft scrub brush, 2 pails of clean water, and a number of clean cloths.
The rug should be thoroughly cleaned on both sides, preferably with a vacuum cleaner; if the work is to be done in the house, the floor beneath should also be cleaned. The rug can be shampooed lying on the floor, but there is greater convenience in having a small table over which it can be drawn section by section.
A quantity of soap jelly is placed in the bowl and beaten to a stiff lather resembling whipped cream. This is applied with the brush to a section of the rug not over 2 feet square and rubbed in with a circular motion; more lather is added as required. When the section is clean, the lather is wiped off with a damp cloth, the space again gone over with another clean cloth wrung out in clean water in the second pail and wiped with a dry cloth. An adjoining section of the rug is then shampooed, with care to work over the edge of the first to prevent the leaving of an unwashed streak.
When cleaned, the rug should be hung outdoors in the shade to dry. Should this not be possible, it should be supported on chair backs, and all windows opened to admit plenty of air. When dry, the nap should be brushed in one direction with a stiff broom.
[Note: no cleaning method is given for carpet, which had fallen from style in the 1920s-30s.]
First Aid for The Ailing House, Roger B. Whitman, New York: Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1934.
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Following is a timeline of US carpet conditioning household machines and cleaners I located based on advertising in periodicals and the websites listed at the end. Unless specified, the rug attachments to the polishers were presumably used with their proprietary dry-foam shampoo. Note, that the floor polishers may have been introduced earlier than listed here without the rug cleaning attachment. Corrections and additions welcome:
Pre-1930s - natural and general chemical cleaners; many vacuum cleaner manufacturers sold sprayer hose accessories that could at times be connected to the exhaust ports and used for applying non-foaming cleaning chemicals onto rugs, carpets, and upholstery; these were then manually cleaned with a cloth, sponge, or brush and allowed to air dry. It was still commonly used for a time as an alternative even after the dry foam shampoo method was introduced.
1920 - Hamilton-Beach carpet washer (electric machine)
1933 - Renuzit Home Products, Inc. "Renuzit" French Dry Cleaner for fabrics, rugs, & upholstery
1935 - Hamilton-Beach sells its underperforming carpet cleaning equipment division to its manufacturing manager and sales & marketing managers, Francis von Schrader and Harry D. Rench, respectively. As a result, the von Schrader Manufacturing Co. is formed to sell the machines under the von Schrader label, and Rench Manufacturing Co. organizes to produce the equipment and cleaning supplies.
1935 - Irl Marshall's Home Service Company (name changed to Duraclean in 1946) "Foamovator" absorption shampoo method
1941 - "Powder-ene" Dry Cleaning Carpet Powder - Rench Manufacturing & Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company
1945 - Earl Grissmer Co. "Fina Foam" rug and upholstery cleaner
1949 - Hild Floor Machine Company - Joseph Roti, owner - first shower-feed carpet brush, popularizing on-location rug and carpet cleaning as an option to in-store; Hild was acquired by Mytee Products, Inc.of California in 2000.
1952 - Glamorene “Carpet Cleaner” dry-cleaning carpet compound (featured article in the February issue of READER’S DIGEST that year)
1954 - Glamorene "Cotton Rug Cleaner" (liquid), Glamorene "Upholstery Cleaner" (liquid)
1954 - Earl Grissmer Co. "Blue Lustre" foaming rug and upholstery concentrate
1956 - Rench Manufacturing HOST Dry Extraction Carpet Cleaner; introduced at the National Institute of Rug Cleaners in New York.
1956 - Glamorene "Liquid Rug & Upholstery Cleaner"; initially used with manual applicator
1956 - Shetland “Twin Brush Polisher and Scrubber” with snap-on rug cleaning attachment (Shetland Vanishing Foam Rug Shampoo)
1957 - Bissell foam rubber roller & brush “Shampoo Master” with Bissell "Germ-Proofing Formula Rug Shampoo" (Bex-Bissell, UK)
1957 - Hoover Twin Brush Floor Polisher with rug shampoo attachment
1957 - Johnson’s “Convertible” single-brush polisher/scrubber/waxer/dry-cleaner (rugs) with "Johnson's Rug Cleaner" compound
1957 - Sears Kenmore Twin Brush Floor Conditioner with rug-cleaning attachment
1958 - Sunbeam Twin Brush “Floor Conditioner and Rug Cleaner”
1958 - G-E Twin Brush polisher with rug cleaning brushes
1959 - Earl Grissmer Co. "Blue Lustre" (Single?) Brush electric shampooer (rebrand?)
1959 - Judson DeepClean DC3 - hot steam extractor
1959 - Regina Twin Brush Floor Polisher-Scrubber-Rug Cleaner
1959 - Electrolux single brush "Rug Washer" shampoo dispenser with "Turbo Shampoo" for the "Turbotool" multi-use accessory; in 1962 the "Turbotool" was discontinued and the "Rug Washer" was redesigned as an accessory (polishing-scrubbing brush optional)
1959 - Glamorene Rug Shampooer (non-electric) with sponge roller and "ease-flex" bristles
1960 - Singer Twin Brush "Rug Cleaner-Floor Polisher"
1960 - Eureka 4-Brush Polisher-Scrubber with rug cleaning attachment (later models were 2-brush); 1964 - similarly-styled "Instant Suds" dedicated shampooer introduced
1960 - Hoover Shampoo-Polisher
1961 - Westinghouse "Rug Cleaning Scrubber-Polisher" (single brush orbital action, Model VP20); and Glamorene rebrand
1961 - Kirby fabric shampoo
1963 - Regina "Twin Brush Floor Polisher-Scrubber-Carpet Conditioner" (rebrands include: Sears, Blue Lustre, Bissell); currently being sold by new owner Koblenz; made in several trim levels and commercial version
1964 - “Steam Vacuum Generator for Rug and Upholstery Cleaning” Sep. 8 USPO app. by Fred E. Hays
1965 - Kirby rotary brush “Rug Renovator”; currently "Kirby Shampoo System"
1965 - Electrolux Triple-Head Model B-8 “Carpet Beautifier” (earlier 1963-65 Model B-8 had a retrofit option) with "Turbo Shampoo"; 1982-83 newly-designed "Floor Beautifier" then renamed "Floor Pro" and c.2003 Aerus "Lux Floor Pro"
1967 - Sears Kenmore Rug Shampooer (company had previously carried Bissell "Shampoo Master")
1967 - Hoover "Floor-A-Matic" polisher-scrubber-shampooer (w/wet pickup)
1968 - "Prochem" (professional chemicals) started by Jim Roden - shampoo, spotters, furniture cleaners, deodorizers, etc.
1968 - "Sani-Clean/Steam Way" hot water extraction machine
1969 - Bissell "Electro-Foam" straight-line brush carpet shampooer; and Compact rebrand
1971 - HydraMaster - “Baron” truck mount
1971 - Hoover Rug Shampooer (no polishing-scrubbing option)
1972 - Roger Kent’s "Rug Doctor" (later partnered with Bissell)
1973 - "Stanley Steemer" by Jack Bates Carpet Cleaning Company
1974 - Blue Lustre “Rinse-N-Vac” steam cleaner (The Earl Grissmer Co. was bought out by three of its executives in 1970 after the 1969 passing of Mr. Grissmer and renamed Blue Lustre.)
1974 - Steam Way “TurboMatic” truck mount
1984 - Filter Queen “Aqua-Queen”
1984 - Regina “Steemer” Model S278
1985 - Bissell "Carpet Machine Plus" (extractor)
1992 - Bissell "Big Green Clean Machine"
1994 - Bissell "Little Green Clean Machine"
1994 - Hoover "Steam Vac"
1997 - Eureka "Dream Machine"
RCA-Whirlpool?
Air-Way?
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historyofprofessionalcarpetcleaning.wordpress.com
racinecountyeye.com
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Photos:
1. Dec 1947 POPULAR MECHANICS - Duraclean ad (truncated)
2. 1957 HOST ad
3. Undated Glamorene Rug, Cotton Rug, & Upholstery cleaners and applicator ad
4. eBay listing photo of Glamorene bottle
5-7. Blue Lustre single brush carpet shampooer (rebrand?); current eBay listing
8. Blue Lustre twin brush Dry Clean Machine (Regina rebrand); current eBay listing
