Viscose (also known as rayon, bamboo silk, banana silk, and art silk) is a fiber made of heavily chemically processed wood pulp and cellulose. It is made into a glossy fiber known as artificial silk, however, it is essentially high gloss paper. It is the weakest of the rug fibers, these rugs are considered “disposable” rugs due to their short life span under normal use.
Due to the fragile nature of viscose fibers, it is strongly recommended that new viscose rugs have fiber protector applied to help repel spills and soil. This does not bulletproof viscose rugs, rather it helps suspend the elements a little bit longer so you have a fighting chance to save the rug from being ruined from your first spill.
Regular vacuuming can cause damage to viscose rugs, as can regular heavy traffic or friction from furniture use. However, viscose has no ability to “hide” soil so even light dust and soil will create dark dirty shadows in these rugs. So regular dusting is needed to keep the rug looking fresh and shiny.
Use a light weight vacuum with no rotating brush, or a very soft brush, to prevent fiber tears. Stick vacuums or hand held vacuum tools can be used. A hand held horse hair upholstery brush can be used to safely groom viscose fibers in open traffic areas to dust or remove pile distortion shadows when you do not want to use the vacuum cleaner. Dust as often as you need to sweep your floors.
Viscose rugs will look dirty faster than other fibers. Rotate to even up the wear, and to even up the fading. Covered areas will not fade as quickly as exposed areas.
Spills are a disaster for viscose rugs. Immediate clean up is needed. With a spill take a paper towel roll, place it over the spill, and stand on it. The paper towels should absorb the liquid slightly faster than the viscose (especially if the viscose has fiber protector applied), and this will give you a chance to absorb it before the rug does. Blot, NEVER scrub. If you cannot get to the spill right away, professional cleaning will be needed.
