Howard County News

After English Setter, "Lucky", soiled a brand new carpet at the home of our now new franchisee's wife Debbie, the home owner immediately contacted local carpet cleaners. The two companies she hired tried to attack the pet stains with a variety of chemicals and soaps.

The ugly carpet stains remained. "I lived with those stains for about a year," says Debbie, adding that even after cleaning he could see the stains "glow in the sunlight."

She and her husband, who settled in Maryland to be close to his family in Laurel, have two children, six cats and their dog Lucky - the spotted Setter who caused the "spot" of destiny for the family.

That's when Debbie, 36, decided there must be a better solution. She first contacted Color Your Carpet a company that claimed to remove "clean stains" with an advanced color chemistry process. After intense due diligence and satisfied that this vocation would be a valuable service in her community she applied for and was granted a franchise initially in Laurel, MD.

After completion of extensive training courses, her husband personally attacked his carpet problem Within two years, he rose to the top of an elite group of custom carpet dyers in the USA. This "Old World Master" discipline is equal parts detective, color chemist and interior designer.

As a franchise owner of a Color Your Carpet Systems, a twenty-year-old international service company with franchisees located as far from the USA as Europe, South America and Australia, the local Maryland resident, originally a native of Wappingers Falls, N.Y.,


BEFORE: To restore color in an elaborate design, he uses a syringe to apply the proprietary dye fiber-by-fiber to the rug.

operates the business out of his home, and is currently the only Dye Master in Maryland.

With the enthusiasm and pride he demonstrated during his years as a missionary with his church, he has turned an initial $50,000 investment into a business that has grossed close to $1 million in sales. He personally has saved millions of dollars for his customers in Maryland, Virginia and DC.

He admonishes consumers against confusing his profession with any carpet cleaners who do not have the expertise or training of a "certified" dye master. He says the real danger is that people are totally unaware of the intricacies of color chemistry while the carpet cleaners and carpet retailers are too quick to pronounce a "death sentence" on stained rugs and carpets.

The hard to miss ostentatious magenta van and brightly colored logo golf shirts with neatly pressed khaki slacks draw immediate attention to the clean cut and gregarious young man as he and his team arrive at a job site. When conducting his initial carpet inspections he sports a logo dress shirt.

Although meticulously groomed, tell tale signs of tinted fingernails reveal some kind of artful profession. "My hands are frequently colored," he notes. He compares his profession to that of a fine arts restorationist. His experience, instinct and acquired "dye eyes" all contribute to his ability to match the subject's color, shade and hue perfectly.

"I don't focus on stain removal," he declares. "I focus on a perfect color match. This is 100 percent an art form." Like a seasoned detective, he has a sharp eye for detail.

"If I look at a spot on a carpet, I can tell exactly what has taken place, what colors are missing or what colors need to be added" he says.

AFTER: The end result of expert dyeing breathes new
life into the once "destined to the dump" rug.

At the famous home of our nation's leader, he began work on "color issues" last year.

"We can de-Buddy any carpet," he chuckles, referring to former President Clinton's first dog. Pet stains and other stubborn stains have usually been cleaned by traditional methods before we are called. But after disappointing results such as the discoloration still omnipresent as it was in his case initially, the customer is left with "clean stains". The problem is a "color issue" not a cleaning issue", he says. "Our job is to correct the color."

Before dogs there were camels:

World traveled he is also multi-lingual and among other languages speaks Tagalog and Amharic. He has visited 26 countries, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia- countries known for fine area rugs. He also spent four years in Ethiopia and the Marshall Islands.

"Some countries still use camel or goat urine to set their dyes," he notes. In addition to defeating carpet discolorations or creating custom dye formulas in his workshop, he and wife Debbie, import handmade rugs from Ethiopia.

He says Americans have stain problems in part because they don't remove their shoes before entering the house and because they insist on white carpets.

"It's OK to buy a white carpet when you're old, when you always take your shoes off, never have a pet, don't have kids and never drink Kool-Aid," he says.

"Red stains are the hardest," agrees Amy Hammonds, laboratory director at the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

President and franchisor of the carpet dyeing system and self proclaimed "mad scientist" Connie D'Imperio, is a Senior Member of the AATCC, and agrees that the reputation held by the most infamous red drink "Kool-Aid" is at the top of the list of stubborn stains. So much so that the textile professionals of the AATCC have implemented a special testing method to detect it. D'Imperio has successfully created the 'color solution' for her dye masters to "get the red out".

Although there are many customized tools for this service, the entire set up fits neatly in a small corner of the workspace when not in use. His workshop is a detached garage converted and complete with dehumidifiers, heaters, fans and special lighting. The workshop is laid out to comfortably accommodate himslef and his five technicians. While working on the rugs of the day, the shop can also safely store dozens of area rugs at the same time.

The proprietary dyes and related chemicals line the shelved wall on one side with a workbench, sink and labeled boxes of micro-tools like syringes used to inject tiny amounts of dye for intricate patterns. He states this special system can match 16 million shades from the three primary dye colors and five additional shading dyes that are supplied by the parent company. The shop is also used for testing fibers, creating formulas and making carpet samples for wall-to-wall dyeing services to be performed on-site at the client's property

For area rug restoration, he begins the project using his trained eye to identify missing colors and then analyze colors needed to restore and match the original rug colors. Using a combination of proprietary synthetic and natural dyes, a formula is created, dyes are measured and mixed and then heated before the careful hand-application. On larger areas, a small spray bottle containing the custom dye formula is used. In both cases, just as on-site on large jobs, the dyes are almost instantly colorfast. The dyes are 'set' and permanent in less than a minute after application.

Although dyeing is less expensive than replacing, there is no 'average cost'. Color changing, color restoration, spot dyeing and design dyeing are the primary services available. The cost of straight dyeing (a preset formula on a solid color wall-to-wall carpet) is usually priced on a per-square-foot basis while spot dyeing is calculated on a per-hour fee.

Jobs on area rugs range from a few hundred dollars up to a thousand dollars or more. While super labor-intensive jobs on an intricate multi-color or patterned carpet or a delicate area rug can cost up to $3,000. But if the rug is worth 5, 10 or 20 thousand dollars, it's well worth the money.

Average time to dye 200 square feet is about an hour on solid color carpet. Restoration on rugs that involves tough stains, such as bleach, mustard, and the notorious "red family" (red Kool-Aid, fruit punch, red wine, red popsicles, etc.) require more complicated processes and time. Intricate colors on pattern or multicolor area rugs is just as challenging and time intense. For the rug connoisseur, even the original characteristics such as abrash and muted age-rich colorings are kept in tact.

One such job involved a 200-year-old wool rug from the Middle East. It was infested with hundreds of tiny specs of mottled discolorations. To restore the correct color to each individual carpet fiber, he and his team spent hours tediously injecting dye into the minuscule spots with the syringes.

In addition to restoring area rugs, he dyes wall-to-wall carpets on location for home owners and commercial properties, savings reach up to 85 percent of replacement costs for customers. "Most people replace carpets because they're 'uglied out,'" he says, pointing to a few samples of Woodstock, circa 1970, era 'pukie-lime' (avocado green) or 'yukkie yellow' (harvest gold).

Or the light neutral carpet that seemed wonderful when purchased, has proven to be a nightmare to get and keep clean. Or the boring beige, once a great underfoot canvas for the cherry wood furniture, now clashes with the new blond oak, or shiny chrome or lacquered black furniture you have your heart set on. Or the customer has reached a brave new milestone in life and wants bolder colors to reflect this new plateau. Sometimes the out-dated "Country Blue" or "Pinky Mauve" carpet in the new home clashes with the other decor.

The carpet cries to be ripped out, but it's in great shape and certainly not ready for the landfill. All of these are great candidates for carpet dyeing. Sometimes all that needed is a slight tint to bring the color into this decade and look years younger. For the more artistic home owner, adding a border or custom design to give a brand new look and designer atmosphere to an old carpet is a cost effective alternative.

Carpet dyeing is not always an option. About 10% of carpet is made of fibers incompatible with dyeing. Some carpet is too dark to take to a lighter desired color. "But usually", he says, "carpet dyeing or color restoration instead of replacing carpet is the best solution and can be very cost effective. The customer must identify the total objective and decide if changing carpet color will deliver the overall desired results. If the carpet is in good shape, a brand new color will result in a 'new looking' carpet at about half the cost of new carpet."

Barring any unusual issues such as extensive variegated discoloration from radical stains or very uneven fading, the customer can save up to 85% when compared to carpet replacement costs. The average cost of replacing medium to better quality carpet is $3 to $6 per square foot. The related carpet dyeing options is priced at about $1.50 to $1.95 per square foot. More complicated color repair services on an intricate multi-color or patterned carpet or a delicate Oriental or antique area rug or designer services can cost much more per square foot.

He says his only real competition is new carpet. He doesn't consider carpet cleaners as competition at all. In fact he claims, many referrals come from reputable carpet cleaners who, as a result of having seen or heard of his special talent, readily recommend him to their customers.

"I simply will never admit defeat," he states emphatically. "Life's too short to live with spots."

'If I look at a spot on a carpet, I can tell exactly what has happened and what needs to happen to solve the problem.'

Color Your Carpet, carpet colorist and restoration artists.