Table of Contents:
- What is Rayon or Viscose?
- Other Names for Rayon or Viscose
- What are the Advantages of Rayon or Viscose Fiber?
- What are the Disadvantages of Rayon or Viscose Fiber?
- What are the Physical and Chemical Properties of Rayon or Viscose?
- How to Identify Rayon or Viscose Fiber?
- How to Remove Spots and Stains from Rayon (Viscose) Rugs and Upholstery?
- How to Clean Rayon or Viscose Rugs and Upholstery?
- Related Articles and Information
- Related Products
What is Rayon?
Rayon is a manufactured regenerated cellulosic fiber, produced from naturally occurring polymers. Because rayon is manufactured from naturally occurring cellulose sources, it is considered a semi-synthetic fiber. Rayon is also called Faux Silk, Artificial Silk, Viscose Rayon.
FTC definition of “Rayon”: The U. S. Trade Commission defines rayon as “manmade textile fibers and filaments composed of regenerated cellulose”.
Rayon may also be called by other names often to mislead consumers, some of which are banned by the FTC as misleading:
- Allo silk.
- Art cylk.
- Art silk.
- Artificial silk.
- Bamboo rayon: A version of Rayon made with Bamboo fiber rather than wood or other materials.
- Bamboo silk: A version of Rayon made with Bamboo fiber rather than wood or other materials.
- Banana silk : A version of Rayon made with fiber from banana trunks rather than wood or other materials.
- Cactus silk: A version of Rayon made with fiber from Saharan aloe vera cactus, also known as “vegetable silk” or “Sabra silk”.
- Distressed silky viscose.
- Faux silk (Faux is French for “false” or “fake”.
- Luxcelle™: A silk-like thread found in the cellulose of purified cotton fiber.
- Lyocel™: The US Federal Trade Commission defines Lyocell as a fiber “composed of cellulose precipitated from an organic solution in which no substitution of the hydroxyl groups takes place and no chemical intermediates are formed”. Lycocell is called “washable Rayon.”
- Man-made silk.
- Modal: Virtually the same properties as regular rayon plus high wet strength extra softness. Modal fibers are supposedly dimensionally stable and do not shrink or get pulled out of shape when wet like many rayons.
- Silkette™: Kalaty’s trademarked name for the silk-like viscose yarns used in many of the company’s most luxurious rug designs.
- Silky viscose.
- Tencel™ is a trademarked form of Lyocell produced by Lenzing™.
- Viscose.
- Viscose rayon.
- Visil rayon: A flame retardant form of rayon that has silica (a flame retardant) embedded in the fiber during manufacturing.
ADVANTAGES of Rayon in Upholstery and Rugs:
- Dyes easily.
- Has a shiny appearance, looking like silk to the unwary consumer.
- Inexpensive (or should be).
- Soft.
DISADVANTAGES of Rayon in Upholstery and Rugs:
- Crushing - the fibers can be easily creased or flattened with heavy foot traffic or frequent sitting.
- Distorts.
- Fabric is weak.
- Fades.
- Fibers easily break.
- Fibers distort.
- Mildews if the viscose rug sits wet for days.
- Pile distortion (shading).
- Poor crease recovery.
- Poor Resiliency.
- Rayon rugs wear out quickly.
- Rugs and upholstery made with Rayon can lose 30% or more of its tensile strength when it gets wet.
- Sheds.
- Short life-span.
- Spot removal treatment can lead to permanent damage, yellowing, shrinkage, bleeding.
- Sprouting.
- Stains easily.
- Wears down quickly with even only a few months of use.
- Wet extraction or hot water cleaning can lead to irreversible color bleeding, fading, yellowing, wrinkling.
- Yellowing with just a water spill, drinks or urine.
Physical and Chemical Properties of Viscose Rayon:
- Absorbs more moisture than cotton and becomes weaker when wet.
- Acids such as sulfuric and hydrochloric break the cellulose to hydrocellulose.
- Organic acids such as citric acid can be safely used in 1 to 2 percent concentration without injury to the fiber.
- Oxidizing agents like chlorine bleach, hydrogen peroxide, peroxide cleaners, OxiClean™ and bleaching powder form oxycellulose.
- Prolonged exposure to sunlight weakens the fiber.
- Rayon is easily damaged by spotters containing alcohol, such as APS™ All Purpose Spotter.
- Rayon, under the influence of heat as well as light, rapidly loses strength.
- Rayon reacts faster than cotton with chemicals.
- Tensile Strength of the Rayon fiber is less when it is wet than when dry.
- Weaker fiber than cotton or silk.
ID Test for Rayon Fiber:
- In a flame, burns rapidly with a blue flame. When withdrawn from the flame, continues to burn rapidly with a red afterglow when the flame is extinguished.
- Scorches and ignites readily with an approaching flame.
- Smells like burning paper, leaves a gray to charcoal color light feathery ash.
- If the ash is hard with a crispy texture and smells like burning hair, the fiber is silk.
Removing Spots and Stains from Rayon Rugs:
- Spot and stain removal treatment can lead to permanent damage, yellowing, shrinkage and bleeding.
- Rayon is easily damaged by spotters containing alcohol, such as APS™ All Purpose Spotter.
- Spot removers containing alcohol (such as APS) will damage Rayon.
- DANGER: Most commercial spot and stain removers will damage Rayon rugs and upholstery!
- NEVER use oxidizing agents like chlorine bleach, hydrogen peroxide, peroxide cleaners or OxiClean™.
- Only solvent spotters such as Saf-T-Solv™ Dry Volatile Spotter should be used on rayon. Water based-spotters should never be used.
- If the spill is water, fold a dry cotton white towel, cover the spill area and place a heavy weight on it.
- Leave the area alone overnight.
- If the area is stiff, wipe over the surface of this area lightly with a dryer fabric softener sheet to soften the fibers.
- Lightly and carefully brush and slowly groom it back into place.
Cleaning Rayon Rugs:
- Vacuum with suction only, and no beater bar on viscose rugs.
- The best advice would be to never wet clean anything made of rayon! If the customer insists on getting it cleaned, get a signed release before proceeding!
- Rayon should only be dry cleaned with low-moisture or solvent cleaning methods to minimize texture change.
- If the rug you are cleaning is rayon, wet clean VERY cautiously! Rayon loses 30% or more of its strength when wet and rayon rugs frequently bleed severely.
- Pre-test for dye stability.
- If you insist on wet cleaning, extraction clean with an upholstery tool to avoid overwetting with a near neutral pH detergent such as LCA™-256.
- After wet cleaning, ALWAYS treat with Brown Out® to lessen yellowing and to help stabilize the dyes.
- Speed dry the rug or dry it face down to reduce yellowing and dye migration on the face.
- Apply solvent-based protector only, such as Sta-Clene® Solvent-Based Advanced-Generation Penetrating Sealer. It cannot bullet-proof Rayon fibers, but it does help give more time to clean up the disaster and hopefully have less signs of it afterwards.