Well…it depends on the size of the carpet! If it is a carpet the size of the one we have in the Ballroom, then 6 people to roll it and 7 to unroll it! It took us a whole day to complete the mammoth task.
One big carpet!
Why did we roll the carpet?
The carpet and woollen underlay have suffered from a pest insect infestation. The larvae of the Webbing Clothes moth and Case-Bearing Clothes moth, as well as the Varied Carpet Beetle and Brown Carpet Beetle have been feasting on the underlay and the carpet. We have been monitoring the infestation for a few years now, and this year has been one of the worst for the amount of moths we have caught on monitoring traps.
Before we rolled the carpet we had to carry out its annual clean
Until we can environmentally control the room with heat to bring down and maintain the levels of relative humidity to under 65%, we will not be able to eradicate the infestation. So in attempt to discourage the moths and beetle larvae and provide them with less food we decided to replace the organic underlay with a synthetic one, that we hope the insects will not want to eat, as it was probably the underlay they were enjoying the most.
Our longest roller (a drain pipe) wasn't quite long enough for the width of this carpet, so we extended it either end with some bubble wrap.
Ready to roll!
We hope that this time next year we will see a decrease in the moth and beetle population. Keep your fingers crossed!
After the old underlay was cut up and removed we thoroughly vacuumed the floorboards, especially between all the cracks where larvae and adult insects could be living.
Pouring desiccant dust between the floorboard cracks to kill anything living down there
The new underlay
Unrolling the carpet, we needed 2 people to stand on the unrolled end so we didn't pull the underlay along as we unrolled the carpet
Thanks to Jonathan, Marisha, Clare, and volunteers Carol, Tom, Carolyn, and Andra for you help. We literally couldn’t have done it without you!
Emily
We certainly made it in to a fun task. It was great to be in the house again. Not sure that the purple gloves will catch on though!
Purple gloves are the future!
Pingback: Focus on the Ballroom – Part One | The Knole Conservation Team Blog