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Sea Grass Carpet
For those looking for an environmentally friendly carpet or rug, seagrass carpets are a viable solution. They are durable, sustainable, water resistant, and attractive. Whether you opt for a seagrass carpet, rug, runner or carpet tiles, this is a beautiful and natural floor covering.
Seagrass carpet (also known as sea grass carpet) is a natural fiber carpet that's great for those who want natural and eco-friendly finishes in their home or office. Seagrass carpet, runners and tiles are suitable anywhere you may want it, even in the kitchen and bathroom. Seagrass carpeting is durable, water resistant, and soft under foot.
Sea grass is as grass grown in China in paddies which are flooded with sea water. The grass is harvested, dried and spun into a strong yarn for weaving. The nature of the grass yarn makes it impermeable, so dying it is difficult. Consequently, sea grass products are a neutral colored product -- ranging from a greenish-tan to green-brown, and a light brown. As with most natural products, there are color inconsistencies, but that adds an interest you don't find in "perfect" products.
The color variations and heavy texture make a wonderful covering for areas exposed to lot of dirt and spills. The water resistant nature of the grass fibers makes this kind of carpeting a good choice for people who want stain-resistant carpets.
There are several interesting patterns available in seagrass flooring. 12"x12" squares, or seagrass tiles, are made to be sewn together. They are created by what looks like crocheting the yarns into squares. You can also get rolls of seagrass carpet in a basket weave, herringbone and plain woven style for your flooring needs.
Seagrass carpeting can be glued directly to the floor or laid on top of an underlayment or padding. If you opt for an underlayment it must be glued to the floor and the carpeting then glued to the underlayment. If you don't want to attach the carpet directly to the floor, get one that has a latex backing to give the seagrass rug dimensional stability.
One caution about seagrass carpets is using it on stairs. Be careful when using seagrass on stairs because the surface is naturally smooth. The original smoothness with the polishing effect that comes from use, the surface can become slick and prove to be dangerous on stairs.
Since seagrass has minimal nap, it doesn't show tracking like traditional pile and loop rugs do. It's less prone to crushing and showing wear, and it doesn't have a tendency, like most rugs to creep.
Even though seagrass carpeting is essentially nap-free, it's still important that all widths are running same direction. Seams in natural grass carpets, like seagrass, tend to be more obvious than in normal pile carpets.
Finding a source for your seagrass rug or carpeting is challenging since they aren't mainstream yet, but with some research you'll find great resources.
Comments
You could try to use soap and water to gently clean up the rest of the stain. Don't scrub, only blot. A brush may be needed to get more mildew out, but then resort to blotting. Make sure to use a very mild soap, do not use oxygenating products such as OxyClean (you can read more about that on another post here).
If you can't get stains out with traditional soap and water try StainSolver made into a dilute slurry that will sit on the stains for a few hours. You may want to test this approach in a discrete location to make sure the carpet won't be damaged more, but generally StainSolver is good on this kind of material. After the slurry has sat there for a few hours gently mop it up and rinse carefully -- don't get the carpet too wet, just enough water to remove the solution and dirt. I hope this will solve your problem - you could always give the manufacturer a call as well just to see what they recommend. Whatever you do, be sure that the carpet is thoroughly dry before placing furniture, etc. back on it. I wish you luck!
As to why this happened, I haven't a clue. It sounds to me as if there was some moisture that was trapped in the seagrass between the latex backing and the items you placed on top of the carpet. What kind of a backing does your friend have? That could be the difference.
As far as payment, well........ I'd really appreciate it if you'd post back here to let me know what method you used to help get rid of the stains and the results. ;~)
The Flooring Lady at April 29, 2008 08:24 PM
I want to install sea grass carpet wall to wall in Florida and am so excited about it. One thing I worry about and that one of your other posters mentioned was pets.
Do you know of anyone who has experience with cats and sea grass? I'm sure it's all in the weave and durability of what you select, but is not a wise choice for lovers of kitties that love to scratch?
Oscar Spies at May 14, 2008 12:58 PM
Hi Oscar!
I don't personally know of anybody who has noted any problem with kitties and seagrass carpeting, but that doesn't mean that the problem has never occurred! Kitties don't only scratch, but they also have a tendency to upchuck hairballs from time to time, now that can create a real cleaning challenge.
The Flooring Lady at May 14, 2008 10:30 PM
Dear Flooring Lady We are considering putting in wall to wall sea grass in the hopes that it will be cheaper than my first choice wood,but we do have a yellow lab and 2 active sons with ther numerous friends.Is the sea grass pretty tough?, resistant to stains from boys and pets?,and fairly easy to clean? I really love the look and we are about a mile from the beach so I think it would be a good alternative. Any thoughts? Thank You in advance
maggie cote at May 19, 2008 10:48 PM
woops one other quick question if we change our minds in a few years is the glue a bear to get up?
maggie cote at May 19, 2008 10:49 PM
Hi Maggie!
As I'm sure you've read above, some kinds of stains can be a bit of a challenge. Don't forget to click on the link right above "Post a Comment" to read more if you haven't already. You'll get an idea of how to clean up doggie messes, how to clean, what NOT to use, etc. You can always google as well to find more info. When/if you buy your seagrass carpeting, be sure to make note of the manufacturer so you can find their phone number/website to see what kind of cleaners they recommend.
Yes, glue can be a bear to get up if you change your mind down the road. If you don't want to attach the carpet directly to the floor, get one that has a latex backing to give the seagrass rug dimensional stability.
The Flooring Lady at May 20, 2008 02:54 PM
Dear Flooring Lady, In my condo, plumbers working on the building caused back pressure in the sewer. Nasty water came up thru the toilet flooded the bathroom and then into the bedroom. About 1 square meter of sea grass with the rubber backing was affected. It is wall to wall and glued down so not easy to pull up. We cleaned with Resolve and blotted with several towels. We are concerned about bacteria. Once dry, should we be ok? Manfucturer does not recommend steam clean. I hate to cut a such a large piece out. Thanks Peter
Peter at June 16, 2008 04:59 PM
I would think that once thoroughly dry you should be ok, but still........ what about in the interim? To be honest, I haven't a clue how long the bacteria can survive or what cleaners that can also kill microbes could be used on a sea grass carpet without discoloring it.
Maybe you can run an ozone machine and an ionized in there and ventilate the room really well afterward. Setting the rug out in the sunshine would help too - let the sun do it's magic so to speak! I don't know if this is feasible for you or not though.........
Hopefully, perhaps somebody can shed some light on the issue of the longevity of bacteria. Hopefully you won't have a mold issue as well from the carpet getting wet. I'm sure you know about the breathability issues that arise when there's a mold problem.
If your carpet is discolored from this mess, a couple good environmentally friendly cleaning products that I can recommend are:Enviro-One, the link will take you to the order page. StainSolver -- it's a great oxygen bleach cleaner that's great for all of your cleaning needs from floors to laundry. It doesn't bleach out as much as products such as Oxi-Clean do.
The Flooring Lady at June 16, 2008 09:46 PM
Hi, I want to install seagrass wall to wall. I am in Mexico city and cannot find a provider or installer. Do you have any contacts here? Thanks
cristina at August 14, 2008 03:07 PM
Hi Christina,
I'm sorry, I don't know of anybody in Mexico City that carries seagrass carpeting. You might get some results by doing at search at Google.
The Flooring Lady at August 15, 2008 06:52 AM
