A client recently brought in a pair of Flokatis that had been purchased in Greece as a matching pair. One of them needed cleaning, and, best intentions being what they are, the client placed the flokati in a large washing machine, washed it in hot water, and then tumble-dried it in a large drier. Needless to say, there were some adverse effects to this approach, as is evident in these "after" pictures.

Keep in mind, they both were the same size initially. The unaffected one is on the right, the washed flokati on the left. The piece shrank from the original size of 5' x 2' down to 3' 7" x 1' 10 ". As you can see, there is quite a bit of yellowing as well.

Here is the view from the back side. As you can imagine, with the backing shrinking so dramatically, all of the pile is now packed tightly together, making the piece very stiff and much harder to roll. The unaffected piece on the right is still nice and soft and loose.

Here is a close-up of the two rugs side-by-side, so you can see the difference in both the color and texture of the pile.

The pile on the affected piece is still white down at the very base, but the tips are quite yellowed.

It is uncertain how far we'll be able to reverse the damage, if at all. The yellowing is likely reversible to a great extent, but whether we'll be able to stretch the piece back toward its original size, or restore the softness to the pile is another issue.

Once the work is done, I will post more pictures at the end of this entry. Look for it soon! And try to avoid putting your rugs in the washing machine!