Tel: 01962 458428 or 07564010847

April 3rd, 2023

Sisal, seagrass, jute carpets. Everybody knows them, a lot of companies dry compound clean them, some might even attempt to remove stains on them, but almost nobody colour repairs them.

Over the last few years I have tried many methods of colour repairing these fibres, some more successful than others: from tea and acid dyes to reactive dyes and pigments.

The first 3 are easy to mix in order to reach any target colour but the repairs are subject to fading.

The use of pigments gives lasting repairs, but by their very nature (unlike dyes, pigments are insoluble) they are difficult to blend together.

I usually use a mix of primary colours red, yellow and blue in order to customise a good colour match for the repair, so being able to mix the colours together is essential – developing specific dyes for Sisal solved these problems.

As I started doing more and more sisal colour repairs, I also got a lot more enquiries for sisal stain removal.

Sisal loses colour with moisture and agitation so we use this to our advantage to remove stains. Sometimes one can find the fine line between reducing the stain and removing the colour of the carpet with no dyeing needed, but in most cases it is a matter of bleaching out the stain and dyeing it to blend in.

One has to go in layers during both steps removing a stain and adding colour, so it is a slow process that requires A LOT of patience and practice but whether we like them or not, sisal carpets are very popular so there is a massive demand for stain removal and colour repair on these fibres.

Would you like to learn more about sisal stain removal and colour repair? We will do a sisal workshop at The WoolSafe Conference on the 11th of May 2023. There is also a brand new Sisal Stain Removal and Colour Repair Course coming up soon.

Gabriel Andreca

Brio Carpet Care