Oriental Area Rug Cleaning – Handwashed or Automated?

Oriental Rug Salon – Handwashing Services For Persian and Oriental Rugs

Who you trust for the cleaning and care of your cherished Oriental, Turkish, Persian, or other wool or silk area rug matters.

Basically, there are two ways a rug cleaning plant can clean area rugs; through an automated batch washing process or by hand. Whatever you do, you should NEVER let a carpet cleaning company “clean” your rug. Here’s why!

An automated rug cleaning plant is designed for volume, similar to an automatic car wash, whereas handwashing is considered custom detailing, and rugs are washed one at a time.

With batch mechanical washing, many rugs are piled in a tub simultaneously and mechanically washed with no way to intervene if something goes wrong (such as rug bleed).

With this impersonal approach to rug cleaning, very little prep work goes into preparing the area rug for washing. Often, rugs are dumped into the bin, filled with cleaning solution, and an “on” button is pressed. Every rug is washed the same way, regardless of individualized care needs.

At Oriental Rug Salon, our rug cleaning process is performed by hand. From the moment an area rug is received, throughout the dusting, testing, washing, rinse, and drying process, your area rug remains under the watchful eye of a certified-rug cleaning professional. Understanding rug cleaning better than most, we know that each rug has its own unique cleaning needs. Individualized cleaning and attention to detail are labor-intensive, but we believe your rug is worth it.

How We Care For Area Rugs

All rugs that arrive for cleaning or repair at our rug cleaning plant are photographed and inspected for pre-existing conditions. The inspection allows us to identify any issues with an area rug (such as insect activity, dry rot, fringe damage, pet urine issues, etc.) and choose the correct cleaning method. We test the dyes of the carpet for colorfastness. If the dyes are not stable, they are chemically set to prevent the migration of dyes during the cleaning process.

Rug Dusting

Before traditional handwashing, each area rug is safely vibrated at 40,000 revolutions per minute to dislodge deep-set sand, dust mites, pollen, and other contaminants residing in the foundation of the rug and out of reach of even the most powerful vacuum cleaner. These contaminate are removed before cleaning to avoid “mud” in the submersion bath.

Spot Treatment

Before handwashing, we professionally treat spills such as tea, coffee, pet urine, oils, food, and other spots to help ensure their removal during the wash.

Thoroughly Exhaustive Handwashing

A specialty bath is prepared for each rug. We use cold water and a blend of cleaning agents matched to each rug’s yarn, dye, and condition. We consider the textile’s age, origin, dye type, and any staining issues to ensure the deepest clean possible. Over 98% of all rugs are submerged washed. Those rugs that can not be wet cleaned will receive a dry-cleaning process.

We will introduce an enzymatic, allergen-free deodorizer to help eliminate odors during the cleaning process, and all cleaning agents are wool and silk safe, approved, and allergen-free.

Fringe Cleaning

If the area rug has fringe, we will perform a specialty cleaning designed to ensure that the fringe is as clean as possible.

pH Conditioned Cold Water Rinse

Upon successfully cleaning the front and back of the area rug, we will drain the bath and replace it with a pH conditioned, cold water rinse to ensure that no residues are left behind.

Water Extraction

Once the area rug has been thoroughly rinsed, we will extract approximately 90% of the moisture from the rug and place it on an air table for drying.

Final Inspection

The rug master will inspect the area rug to ensure the success of the cleaning, verify that there is no odor and that the area rug is 100% dry. The nap of the carpet is groomed into position and rolled for delivery.

Oriental Rug Salon is a specialty, boutique, area rug cleaning, repair, and appraisal company serving clients throughout the United States. The care of your area rug is our utmost concern, and for this reason, we wash it by hand. We believe batch washing should be left to car washes, not fine area rugs.

For more information about Oriental Rug Salon and the services we offer, please visit us online at www.OrientalRugSalon.com or “call us on the carpet” any time at 239-424-8171.

We offer FREE pick-up and delivery for most area rugs and offer fringe and other repairs, specialty treatments for moth prevention, pet urine issues, odor control, and other staining issues.