Area rug is a beautiful piece of art and it’s also a valuable investment for your home. Cleaning your rug often is important for extending its life, preserving its beauty and keeping your home allergen free. We are one of the few plant facilities in the nation that offers full service area rug cleaning and repair. With over 32 years of experience we are experts in making sure your area rug gets the royal treatment it deserves. Our expertise lies in cleaning all types of area rugs in the most efficient and safest way possible and we strive to maintain the highest level of excellence in service and quality.
Your carpet sees a lot of action, particularly in areas like the kitchen, hallway or foyer. For rugs in high traffic areas, it’s recommended that they be cleaned every 6 months to a year while the average rug needs to be cleaned only every 2 to 3. Here are a few steps you can take to determine if your rug needs cleaning.
First vacuum the rug thoroughly back and forth, making sure to get as much dirt and particles off of the surface of the rug as possible. Once you’re finished vacuuming, open the pile and look deep inside the rug to the foundation. This is where vacuums can’t reach. If dirt has remained here, your rug needs cleaning.
Take a white cloth slightly dampened with water and sample a small area of the rug surface. If the cloth comes up dirty, your rug needs cleaning.
First your rug over and place it on a hard surface. Then vacuum the back of the rug with a vacuum that has a rotating beater bar. Be sure to be careful when vacuuming not to catch the fringes! After a few minutes of vacuuming, pick up the rug and if there is dirt is on the floor, your rug needs cleaning.
Before you decide on who is going to clean your area rug, you first need to find out how much experience they have cleaning area rugs and how they plan on cleaning it. If you choose to clean it yourself, get in contact with us first to get an idea of what type of maintenance and area rug cleaning should be employed to keep it in top condition.
In all cases, the best advice it to have your rug professionally cleaned by a reputable and knowledgeable company that specializes in cleaning area rugs only.
There are many different types of area rugs, none of which should be treated as wall to wall carpeting. They require expertise to identify the type of rug, and experience to clean them properly without causing irreversible damage. Methods used for cleaning area rugs are specialized and each type of rug must be handled on a case by case basis.
Many people make the mistake of having their area rug cleaned as if it were wall to wall carpeting. If an area rug is cleaned with the type of equipment and techniques designed to clean wall to wall carpeting, it may cause it to yellow or bleed, and only the surface of the rug gets cleaned. Years of sediment, stains and odors remain locked in and often reappear at a later date. Soap residues left behind also compound the problem by attracting more dirt later on, so in a short period of time the rug will look dirtier than when you started. The best method for cleaning an area rug is to have it removed and brought in to a plant facility that specializes in cleaning area rugs.
When we receive your rug, it’s first put through an inspection process where any damages, stains or odors are noted. If there is any considerable damage that needs special attention, we’ll inform you of how we plan to proceed. At this point we repair or secure the damaged areas of the rug so further damage won’t be caused by the cleaning process.
After preliminary repairs are made, high-pressure air is used on the front and the back of the rug to literally blow away years of built up silt and sediment from deep within the rug foundation. This important step cleans the area rug without causing any adverse effects. Depending on the size of the rug and how dirty it is, this step may take up to 2 or more hours to complete. After dusting, your rug is then tested for colorfastness, any stains are identified and spot treated, and any odors are eliminated using an enzymatic compound designed specifically for treating pet and other tough odors.
Depending on what type of rug you have for us to clean it is either saturated with water or kept dry. Wet washing is the best method for cleaning an area rug. If the rug is deemed suitable for wet washing by our technicians, it’s brought to a rug bath where it’s saturated with water and a special biodegradable pH balanced shampoo is applied to the surface and the back of the rug. This shampoo is much like the shampoo you use every day to wash your hair and won’t harm the fibers the rug.
After your rug has been shampooed on both sides, it’s repeatedly rinsed until all the soap and sediment is removed and the rinse water runs clear. Once complete, the rug is pulled from the bath and most of the excess rinse water is removed. The rug is now ready for our environmentally controlled drying room, and once inside it’s hoisted up and left to hang until it’s completely dry. Once the rug is dry, if your rug has fringes they are separately cleaned, rinsed, dried and then carefully combed by hand.
Depending on the type of construction and materials used some rugs should not be wet washed. For these rugs, after they are inspected, repaired and dusted, they are cleaned using low-moisture suds that are quickly removed. Afterward, the fringes are cleaned and the rug is hung to dry.
Color run
Color run, or ‘bleed’ as it’s often referred to, is the migration of colors into an adjacent color area. Typically, color run is caused by unstable dyes that were improperly applied, or in some cases the fibers of the rug may have been over dyed or the pigments may have been applied after weaving. Color run occurs in most often in southwestern rugs and in some cases, Oriental rugs that have been cleaned improperly. For the most part, color run is completely removable. The process involves employing chemical agents, but successful results are determined by the type of color that ran, the amount of bleeding that occurred, and the level of experience and skill of the technician doing the work. Our technicians are trained experts in removing color run without damaging the rug fibers or dramatically altering other colors in the rug.
FAQ's Rug Cleaning.
Do you repair area rugs?
Yes. We are fortunate enough to have one of the best rug repair and restoration experts in the nation. Our master weaver Mr. Hamid Bashir and our team of technicians are experts in matching the exact materials, colors and weaves used in almost any type of area rug. Focusing on the details, the repairs made are near invisible and our restoration service can bring most rugs back to their original condition.
How much will it cost to clean my area rug?
The cost of cleaning your area rug depends on its size, if there are any special treatments that need to be done, like repairs or stain removal, or if it’s excessively dirty. Please contact us today for a free cleaning estimate.
Do you really wash Oriental area rugs?
Yes. Area rugs have been washed for thousands of years on the banks of rivers and lakes ever since the very first rug stain and today, wet washing is still the best way to get your area rug truly clean from the foundation to the pile. Our wet washing service is modeled after the same time honored rug cleaning methods practiced centuries ago. When we’ve finished wet washing your area rug, we’ve leave nothing behind, so when it’s sent back to you it’s as pristine as is the day it was finished.
When you wash an area rug, won’t it shrink?
Most rugs have either cotton foundations or wool. Rugs with cotton foundations, when washed, won’t shrink and rugs with wool foundations are blocked to ensure the rug retains its original shape.
Can stains be removed?
Yes and no. Our business is area rugs, and our technicians are the best at what they do, but in some cases a stain cannot be removed only reduced. Over our 32 years we have seen some disasters become miracles. Stains can be removed, but it all depends on the type of stain, what’s been done to it already and how old the stain is. The fresher the stain is, the better the chances of removing it. Old stains are much more difficult to remove. If you already know what type of stain it is, let us know ahead of time.
Do you pick up rugs in the Salt Lake City area?
Yes. Give us a call today to arrange a scheduled pick up time. We provide pick up service from Provo to Ogden. Our drivers will arrive at your location within thirty minutes of the appointed pick up time. Before pick up, please let us know ahead of time if there are any special instructions such as any heavy furniture that needs to be moved. If you live outside the area, you can call us to make special arrangements for pick up or we can give you instructions on how to pack and ship your area rug.
Do you clean southwestern textiles and Navajo area rugs?
Yes. Southwestern area rugs are particularly tricky when it comes to washing. The colors in southwestern area rugs are known for their tendency to run when washed, but wet washing is the best way to get a southwestern area rug clean and fresh. So how do we do it? To clean a southwestern rug you really have to know what you’re doing. Our technicians wash southwestern rugs every day and are experts in determining if it’s susceptible to bleeding and can wash it without any problems. If your area rug already has some issues, don’t worry, we have years of experience in removing color run from all types of rugs.
Should I steam clean my area rug?
The short answer, no. Steam cleaning services, particularly truck mounted steam cleaning services, are designed to clean synthetic carpeting of a single color and not multicolored area rugs with natural fibers. Cleaning your area rug using these services is risky at best that among other problems, often results in shrinkage, yellowed fibers and color bleeding. The high temperature water can also strip the natural protective oils from the rug giving it a dull look and making it more susceptible staining in the future. Steam cleaning services only clean the surface of the rug. The techniques they use will not remove the years of accumulated sediment deep inside the foundation and often only temporarily hide stains and odors that will reappear later on. The best method for cleaning your area rug is to have it thoroughly washed, rinsed and completely dried. This is not possible to do in your home.
Should I vacuum the back of my area rug?
Sediment and silt build up in the foundation of your area rug acts like sand paper and can severely reduce its lifespan. Vacuuming the back of your rug using a vacuum with a rotating beater bar knocks lose the sediment and silt that’s been locked deep down in the rug’s foundation for years and brings it to the surface. Once you flip the rug back over, you can vacuum up more sediment than if you just vacuum the surface. It’s recommended you do this at least once a month depending on the amount of traffic your rug receives.
Can you clean ikea's area rug?
We can clean your rugs that you have bought from ikea or other stores but we have to take a look at it first to make sure that the quality is
good enough and its worth for you to clean your area rug or repair it.