Oriental or Persian wool or silk area rugs that have been taken care of will last for generations while maintaining their beauty and value.  Although wool and silk are an extremely durable rug making material, they are not indestructible. Normal wear and tear, household chemicals, improper cleaning, and indoor heating and air conditioning can take a toll. Following these guidelines can help ensure that your cherished area rug looks its best. Use The Correct padding Using the wrong padding or worse, no underlay at all—can damage your cherished wool or silk area rug. When a rug is placed directly on an uncarpeted surface, it gets squeezed between the floor and your feet (or anything you put on top of it), which can damage the rugs fibers. The type of underlay [...]

How We Appraise Oriental And Persian Area Rugs Online Oriental and Persian area rugs have been a worldwide favorite among collectors, interior designers, and homeowners for decades. They are appreciated and enjoyed by royalty and laypeople alike as art and items of beauty, elevated luxury, and status. Daily Oriental Rug Salon receives online rug appraisal requests from clients around the United States curious about the value or history of a rug they inherited, purchased abroad, or from a rug reseller or flea market.  Some clients need appraisals for donation or insurance purposes, while others are curious about their rug's value, history or would like to offer for sale and want top dollar. Appraisal reports by Oriental Rug Salon provide information such as a description of the area rug and historical [...]

Last week we conducted a seminar for a group of insurance adjusters, restoration companies, and interior designers on the proper way to clean Oriental and Persian area rugs.  We discussed the impersonal approach, which is automated batch washing, and the method that has been around for centuries known as handwashing. Most high production rug cleaning companies use the automated batch wash method, which consists of an industrial washtub designed to “clean” many rugs simultaneously.  Production houses also prefer this method because it does not require a certified or experienced technician since all they’re doing is loading a tub and then hitting the start button. At Oriental Rug Salon, we are against the batch washing method based on the following reasons: The approach is impersonal, and no one is controlling what [...]

Live Christmas trees are beautiful. They look good, and they smell even better! However, where you place your live tree in the home should be a thoroughly thought-out process. And here is WHY? Most people like to place their Christmas tree in the living room where the family gathers.  Many of us who own wool or silk area rugs also want to put our cherished Oriental or Persian in the living room so that we can enjoy it year-round. Placing our Christmas tree and area rug in the same room are fantastic ideas; placing our live tree on top of the area rug is a disaster waiting to happen, and here is why.  It is hard to crawl under the tree, and it's even harder to see exactly how high [...]

Oriental Rug Salon performs hundreds of Oriental, Persian, Turkish, and every other kind of wool and silk area rug and textile online appraisals annually. There are many reasons why someone would request an appraisal, such as: For insurance purposes Our of curiosity or to learn the history, age, and approximate value of their area rug Perhaps they’re interested in selling or purchasing a rug and would like to know its value They may have inherited an area rug and want to learn its value and history The ending of a marriage or death may necessitate the division of property For estate planning purposes Or for the management of assets Our appraisals are performed by experts who specialize in Oriental, Persian, Turkish, and all other wool and silk textiles.  Our appraisal [...]

When presenting lectures to various professional organizations, we are often asked, "how does a rug owner know who to choose when caring for their cherished area rug?" First off, the rug owner needs to know the processes the rug cleaning company uses to clean area rugs. Many high production rug cleaning plants use mechanical equipment similar to a large washtub.  They dump up to a dozen rugs at a time into this tank and a large paddle agitates the rugs.  They use this process because they can wash many rugs at a time and it doesn't take much skill or salary to pay someone to hit the "start button."  Another problem with this process is that their client's rug is being washed with many others that could contain pet urine, [...]

There is nothing like the feeling of a plush rug under your feet or the beauty of an Oriental or Persian rug as the focal point in a room.  Your rug is where you or maybe even your children or grandchildren play videogames, enjoy your pets or watch TV. But without regular cleaning, your cherished area rug will quickly turn into an incubator for unwanted guests in your home. Dirty rugs are germ breeding farms, allowing bacteria, insects, and even viruses to find a place to multiply. And many of these can be very stubborn to remove. Due to the inherent nature of natural and synthetic fibers found in wall to wall and wool or silk area rugs, it can be hard to avoid exposure to germs. To protect those [...]

Area rugs can harbor a great deal of dirt, viruses, and germs, especially at times like these, when we are all stuck at home. From everyday household allergens to dirt, bacteria, and viruses, a dirty rug can impact the health of your household. An area rug can hold pounds of dirt, dust mites, and allergens before it starts to look dirty.  No matter how powerful your vacuum cleaner is, it will never remove contaminants that are stuck in the foundation of your cherished area rug.  As a result, it is essential to have your rug cleaned by a professional cleaner at least once a year to preserve the beauty of your Oriental, Persian, or Turkish rug while improving indoor air quality. If someone in your household is sick and your [...]

What is 100% Natural Viscose? In simple terms, Viscose is a manufactured textile made from the cellulose found in trees and plants.  The cellulose, or byproduct of these plants are then heavily processed using a cocktail of chemicals such as Caustic Soda and Sulphuric Acid to break down their fiber content. Viscose's source material is always plant-based (hence the term 'natural' often used by manufacturers and retailers to describe Viscose); however, due to the artificial manufacturing process, it is more accurately a semi-synthetic fiber. Do Viscose rugs have other names on the material tag I should be on the lookout for? Yes. Viscose is also referred to as Bamboo Silk, Banana Silk, Rayon, Plant Silk, Art (artificial) Silk, and countless brand names that are copyrighted. Why are viscose rugs so [...]

Oriental Rug Salon provides area rug appraisals and valuations throughout the United States.  We are an internationally certified WoolSafe Service Provider, certified by the prestigious Carpet & Rug Institute, A+ Rated by the Better Business Bureau, and a seven-year-in-a-row-winner of the coveted Angie's List Super Service Award. We are proud to lend our experience and certification to those rug owners seeking to obtain an appraisal of their cherished Persian, Oriental, Turkish, Tribal, or other wool or silk rug. Our appraisers are experts at area rug and textile valuations and we offer in-person and online appraisals with an average turn-around time of 4 days. Oriental, Persian, Turkish, and other wool, and silk rugs are a commodity, and their value is based on quality, availability, supply, demand, knot density, age, and the [...]