Cleaning Cotton and Cotton Blend Fibers
Cotton is a natural cellulosic fiber and rayon is a manufactured cellulose fiber manufactured from wood pulp. These two fibers have similar properties, and can be cleaned using the same cleaning methodology and cleaning chemistry.
Cotton and rayon are rarely used in wall-to-wall carpet, but are often found in area rugs. These fibers offer a soft hand and provide beautiful colorations. Cotton may be used in weft yarns of many woven area rugs, especially hand-knotted Oriental rugs.
Both cotton and rayon are relatively inexpensive fibers, have the tendency to absorb a large of water, and dry very slowly. Since these fibers are organic, they must be dried quickly to limit microbial growth which may use the organic compounds in the fiber as a food source.
Both have fair to good resistance to changes in alkalinity, but the use of highly alkaline cleaning solutions should be avoided. Both fibers have disadvantages just as any other fiber. They have the tendency to crush or flatten fairly easily and they offer poor resistance to direct sunlight. They can become a food source for mold and mildew and they are flammable without fire retardant treatments.