The Carpet Fields of Turkey – Oh What A Sight!

From above, the carpet fields of Dosemealti, Turkey, may look like tulip fields, but what you are seeing is tens of thousands of rugs laid out to bask in the summer sun. The strong sunshine and the Mediterranean humid nights are put to work, fading the vivid dyes of handwoven rugs from around the world into the pastel colors preferred by many westerners.

Each summer, tens of thousands of handwoven rugs are sent to Dosemealti to be cleaned, treated, and repaired from around the world. They are then laid out in fields of over 500 acres, creating a patchwork of beautiful colors. After a month bathing in the summer sun and humidity, the rugs soften, and dyes fade. The carpets are then dusted and ready to be shipped back to their owners or sold to wholesalers from all five continents.

Many rugs end up in the carpet fields of Turkey due to the vivid shade of the dyes used to create the colors of the yarn. Many rug buyers from the west prefer a more “muted” or antique effect, and the carpet fields accomplish this task. When rugs are delivered to the carpet fields, the owners will tell the experts how much fading they would like and trust them to achieve the desired results.

Genuine Handwashing Of Cherished Area Rugs

While tens of thousands of area rugs are shipped to Dosemealti, Turkey, for treatment annually, thousands more are sent from the United States and Europe for cleaning and repair.

Why would someone in the United States or Europe send their Persian, Oriental, Turkish, or other cherished area rugs to Turkey for cleaning instead of using a local rug or carpet cleaning company?

Simple, there are very few local options regionally that know how to correctly clean handwoven rugs, especially rugs that are antique, have pet urine issues,  or have unstable dyes.

Many rug cleaners in the United States and Europe use automated batch washing equipment designed to “wash” a dozen or more rugs at a time. Rugs are treated like laundry instead of precious works of art.

It doesn’t take much skill to load a group of rugs into an industrial washing machine and hit the “On button”. In this process, all rugs are washed together and, at the same time.

In Dosemealti, all rugs are washed one at a time, by hand, by artisans who know their rugs. These experts understand issues such as dye migration, correct wash procedures for different types of wool and silk (yes, there are different types of wool), and they know how to intervene to make each rug look its very best. Their families have been handweaving, creating the dyes used in each spool of yarn, and cleaning rugs for generations. To them, there’s no such thing as a shortcut to caring for area rugs.

Sadly, in the United States and Europe, many rug cleaners are geared for production and profit. The more rugs they can clean in a day, the more money they make. Sadly, many rug cleaners can’t even identify the type of rug they’re “cleaning,” let alone its history, dye composition, or how to care for the long-term health of the rug. It’s all about maximizing profit.

Why Choose Oriental Rug Salon For The Cleaning And Care Of Your Cherished Area Rug?

Oriental Rug Salon is a full-service area rug cleaning and repair facility for all handwoven wool and silk area rugs. We are an internationally approved Wool Safe Service Provider, certified by the prestigious Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC), and certified by the Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI). Our technicians are experienced in the cleaning and care of all wool and silk rug textiles. All cleaning is performed by hand under the watchful eye of our Rug Master.

Oriental Rug Salon receives area rugs from clients throughout the United States because of our attention to detail and referrals from rug collectors, interior designers, insurance and restoration companies, and satisfied clients nationwide. We are specialists in rug cleaning and repair, that’s all we do.

Why do clients ship to us from all fifty states? For the same reasons, clients ship their area rugs to the experts in Dosemealti, Turkey, because we’re experts in what we do.

There are no two handwoven area rugs identical in the world. Each rug has a story to tell and was woven with love by the labor of a true textile artist. Families weave many rugs in poor provinces or tribal communities throughout Persia and rely on their skills as the only form of income for their families. Handwoven area rugs are indeed a labor of love.

Oriental Rug Salon knows how to care for Persian, Turkish, Oriental, and all other wool and silk handwoven textiles better than most.   Each rug deserves individualized attention as no two are alike.

When thinking about having your area rug cleaned or repaired, ask the company under consideration how they clean rugs. Do they use the impersonal approach of batch washing, or are rugs cleaned by hand? What are their experience and certification? Are they licensed and insured? What professional organizations do they belong to?

Where you have your cherished area rug cleaned matters!

For more information about Oriental Rug Salon, please visit us online at www.OrientalRugSalon.com or give us a call any time at 239-424-8171. We’d love to discuss your area rug cleaning or repair needs.

Oriental Rug Salon Offers Oriental Rug Cleaning, Area Rug Appraisals, Pet Urine and Odor Removal Services, Area Rug Storage, and Area Rug Repairs