Hi and welcome to our blog.
I always had an interest in the sciences so when I ‘officially’ joined the firm after school, I took what my grandfather and father had taught me and did a little research at the Science Reference Library.
Goaded on by my interest in how things worked, I set up a small laboratory in our workshop and converted what we already knew (a teaspoon of this, water temperature at that etc.) into precise information. Once I had that precise information I could undertake further in-depth research to improve on the results already being achieved. Some of those results have been staggering:-
- matching fibre texture and colour variation whilst reweaving completely holed areas
- removing colour fusion on all fibres and across the whole colour range
- removal of metal oxide stains
- removal of permanent ink stains
- and many, many others.
I really enjoy the challenges – and there certainly have been many of those over the last 52 years since I ‘officially’ joined the family firm although I did work with my father and grandfather, to a greater or lesser extent, from the age of five.
One of the most interesting was a fine, beautiful antique ‘white’ Agra (Persian design and weaving style manufactured in the Agra prison by special order) that the owner had tried to clean themselves and not only damaged the carpet physically but also caused colour fusion and severe colour bleaching – in fact what you saw was almost a ‘white’ version of the originally deep reds, blues, yellows, greens in the shade and texture of what I nicknamed as a child ‘Mickey Mouse colours!
Unfortunately this was not the first I had seen in this condition and after a few tests discovered that they had either added bleach to the supposedly surface cleaning chemical or had used a chemical that already contained a strong bleaching oxide (most carpet ‘shampoos’ contain bleaching oxides).
Further tests revealed that since the ‘chemical’ cleaning treatment had only been undertaken very recently, there was a very strong possibility we could reverse this reaction.
Immediately after the reversing reaction treatment – there was absolutely no change. But this was expected and we needed to control the carpet’s drying speed and the drying environment to ensure that the reversing reaction treatment worked as planned. Imagine my colleagues’ amazement when we checked the drying room the following morning to find that the bleached out colours had reverted to their original pre-chemical cleaning and pre-soiling original colours. To this day I’m sure they think I crept into the workshop overnight with a magic wand and the help of my old friend Merlin to undertake some special magic!
Really enjoyed that – it’s remarkable the satisfaction and pride you can achieve in your job especially when you are undertaking these unique treatments day by day.
As a result of research undertaken in our laboratory, we have produced quite a variety of unique products for unique circumstances. Most of these are used internally only, but because of demand we now sell our very successful organic Moth Shield to destroy existing moth and prevent further infestations in private homes, stately homes, department stores and retail shops.
Strangely my hobby from a very young boy was to build model aircraft egged on by my late father who was in bomber command during the war and never stopped singing the praises of the Royal Air Force. Airbrushes, paint texture changes and filling the gaps where the parts didn’t quite fit, I learnt to enjoy very early on.
At 68, I still greatly enjoy working with my colleagues on very challenging projects, meeting old and new customers, many of whom I’ve grown up with.
My passion for my work stretches to helping and advising people all over the country and abroad how to care for and protect their beautiful rug or tapestry.
You are always welcome to call me for advice on (020) 7226 0144.
