Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-09

SA, cess for steaming carpets"
But you advertise ="
Il advertise, as all other dealers in my line
do. to clean carpets by steam. The phrase is
always employed in the business. though il
naturally occasions some misunderstanding.
People almost invariably suppose that the
steam cleaning of carpets and rugs is per-
formed by the direct application of steam TO
the fabrics, whereas, as matter of fact, the
only connection it has with the process is to
run stationary engine that supplies the power
for the work. That is all carpet cleaning by
steam means"
How. then, is the work done, pray?"
1T is simply process of beating carpets by
steam power, that is all. Being done by ma
chinery, il is more thoroughly executed than
II can be done by colored person with club.
All 1t pretends to accomplish is the shaking out
of the dust"
But suppose there should he any vermin?"
They will probably remain undisturbed.
particularly IL the nap of the carpet or rug is
long and thick"
And the grease spots?"
The 'steam-cleanng' process makes no pre-
tense OF taking them out; all it removes is the
dust"
so that is the reason why my steam-cleaned
carpets have always come out with the old
grease spots after few weeks of usel'
certainly, madam. The grease still remains
III tne Iaprlcs and, as soon as 1t has had time to
gather dust it shows again"
We'll, that does seem to me almost a
swlndle; But tell me what the process you
speak OF actually is"
HOW 1T Is DONE.
1.-The steam cleaning of carpets ia done in
huge octagonal cylinders of Stats. made TO re
Volve rapidly by a steam engine. Projecting
shelves inside the cylinders and running their
whole length keep the carpets bouncing
around violently all the time, while the re-
voivlng boxes whirl and every particle of dust
Is knocked out of the material by the action of
centrifugal force. That is all there is to the
business; it is simply a mechanical improve
ment on the colored gentleman and his club
but why do you call that sort Of carpet
beating steam cleaning, when you know that
1t decelyes people?'
Simply because every one else does, madam,
and If we did not the public would suppose that
we were not up to the most advanced methods
of our trade"
FOR GREASE SPOTS
Goodness mel" exclaimed the customer.
rs there then no way of having the grease
spots taken out Of ones carpet?"
'Oh, yes" responded the upholsterer. "If
you like, you can have your carpets washed.
Leave one here and workman of ours will
hrst spread it out on the floor and cover it, as
II he were going to shave il, with a thick lather
MADE from kind of soap specially manufac-
tired for the purpose. After the lather has
all been taken off with tin scrapers the carpet
Will be entirely free from grease 1t will be
easier, however, to perform the operation
without taking the carpet up, by sending our
employed to your house"
Nv hat does it cost to clean a Garnet in this
way?" 49, ''i-'
"tifteen cents yard madam"
That seems good deal to pay, though to
my mind 1t is less of gouge than the bogus
demonstrating process you have described to
me. But does this washing of the Garnet dis
pose of vermn?"
Not at ali. To get rid of them YOU must
have your carpet renovated as we call it.
That Is to say, it must be put through special
process, the object of which TO kill all living
things In 1t. Observe that great box over there
as Dlg as an ordinary room. Ii is Of iron. and
inside 1t Is surrounded with coils OF pipes,
through which hot air can be pumped by an
engine below. In this way the Temperature
inside that box can easily be raised to 200 de-
grees Fahrenheit. But $50 degrees is sufficient
10 destroy all living organisms Suppose
that set of furniture is sent down
here by Its owner, with information to the eff
feet that vermin have got into it. We simply
put 1t into that iron vault, slide to the door turn
on the hot air, and within twelve hours the
trouble with that set of furniture is absolutely
cured The hot air has TO be absolutely dry in
the box in order to do the work at that tenn
perature. Mattresses, carpets, curtains every
thing, In short, that furnishes a house we treat
IN this way for the killing of anything that is
noxlous. renovation is a euphemistic term
for the process" |
$50 1t would seem that the business OF get
ting carpet really and truly cleaned. in every
sense of the word, is pretty expensive affair"
mo SO very. At all events, if you have your |
carpets or rugs first beaten by steam, next |
washed, and finally renovated YOU are |
reasonably sure that they will be clean, and |
the expense will not be more than IS cents a |
yard at the outside"
TO GET RID OF MOTHS
"Moths are SO very remarkably bad in Wash |
ington. Do you not have a good deal of trou- |
Bile with then?"
mo, madam. 1t is part OF our business TO |
know how to keep rid Of moths. Moths are
probably worse in this city than in any other |
on this continent, but they themselves give us |
little trouble compared with that occasioned
by customers anxieties regarding them. You
would be astonished to realize how fidgety peo- |
pie are about the matter. even TO the point of |
being morbid. Not very long ago a gentleman
of large means purchased from US a very costly |
from Dupont Circle. When it was unrolled
upon the floor a very minute thousand
legged bug was found in il. The purchaser
was extremely angry and sent the carpet back |
explaining that he did not desire to introduce |
vermin into his establishment with furniture be |
bought The insect in question was inclosed |
by him Tor our inspection in a box, and we |
sent it at once to the bureau of entomology in |
the Department of Agriculture. Answer |
was sent US by the experts there to the effect 4
that the suspected bug was a garden insect |
that would starve on carpet, into which doubt \
less 1t had made Its way by accident. On re- /
ceipt of this experts testimony the purchaser |
could not do otherwise than receive back the |
carpet"
..He must have been very nervous man."
suggested the customer
mot SO extraordinarily so as you suppose" /
rejoined the dealer. People are constantly 1
that moths are attacking their car |
pets, simply because the broom has detached |
particles OF the nap SO as to leave bit of the |
web bare. Another trouble commonly re-
ferred to moths by nervous customers is I
what IL called the 'sproutng' of carpets |
which means simply the pulling out of the |
stitches. Where q dog or cat is scratching /
about in the house such sprouting' is found /
everywhere. Over there is a kind of carpet |
that is very much bought by southern people |
who come to Washington. some Of the fun of /
its texture 10 brushed out very readily with |
the broom, and il is at least an even chance |
that within six months after we have sold /
such o carpet we will receive a small /
match box full of such sweepings, ac-
by . complaint to the effect |
that moths must be attacking the goods we |
have sold Believe me when say that moths
are credited with much more evil than they
actually commit. 1t 10 worth mentioning, how
ever, that oriental rugs are most apt of all car
pets 10 be attacked by moths ON account of the /
grease left in the wool from which they are