need to oil the ropes over the course of a few visits. the rope oil will soften the rop tar/sludge then put on the carpet wipers.
having carpet on both sides of the rope is ideal but one side is fine. the more contact area the better if your keepers/guarding will allow it. you will need to start checking every visit and advance to fresh carpet as it will fill up quickly. at some point you will need to oil the ropes again as the carpet will "dry" them out. repeat this process until ropes are clean. if they are loaded with rope tar you may want to start with the wire brush. Bethlehem wire rope has some good literature on this and rope maintenance
