Handwoven? Handwash it!
the Oriental Rug Washing company
Authentic handwashing of your handwoven treasures.
At the Oriental Rug Washing Company (a division of Boss Systems), we love rugs and have dedicated ourselves to the proper care and cleaning of them. With proper care and cleaning, your fine rug can last for generations. Having said that, we are pleased to provide you with the following…
Rug Care Recommendations:
Vacuuming
Hand woven rugs need weekly vacuuming to clean and restore life to the fibers. Be careful on the fringes though. To avoid damaging them use a suction-only vacuum. (Never use rotating brushes or beater bars on fringes)
Pad
A quality, custom cut pad will cushion your rug and help keep it in place; thereby extending the life of both the rug and its owner.
Rotation
To minimize wear and tear on the rug and fringe, rotate your rug regularly, perhaps every three to six months. Rugs in lightly used locations can be rotated once a year to help you to keep your rugs looking beautiful for years to come.
Cleaning
Handwoven rugs should be air-dusted and handwashed each year (rugs in lightly used locations can go up to three years between cleanings). The Oriental Rug Washing Company will air-dust, handwash in a submersion bath, rinse, dry, and detail your rug and its fringe to bring back the beauty, warmth, and glow of your woven treasure.
Our Exclusive 5-step Rug Washing Process
- 1. Inspection and Testing Every rug, no matter how large or small, is thoroughly inspected for areas of concern before the wash process. Damaged or structurally weak areas are bound and protected. Bleeding and color loss is checked for a minimum of 24 hours before washing
- 2. Dusting This is impressive. No more hanging rugs over the clothesline and beating them with a broom. Using compressed air (from a huge 25 horsepower, 10 thousand dollar Ingersoll-Rand compressor) is the safe and extremely thorough way to remove dust and dirt your vacuum can’t even begin to reach. Oddly enough, compressed air is used not only to disperse high volumes of air under pressure, but also to create lift, literally pulling dry soil from the rug. You have to see it to believe it! Using proper tools and the correct pressures, dusting of rugs creates rolling clouds of soil that, once pulled from the rug, are blown off outside by large fans. This is the fun “visual” part of the cleaning process.
Dusting a fine handwoven wool rug…
4. Rinsing Rinsing takes place twice. The first is in the wash pit using fresh water and compressed air. The second rinse is after the rug is brought up out of the pit and is hanging on the drying rack. Water is allowed to drain from the rug and then fresh water is introduced again at the top of the rug. The rug absorbs the fresh water like a sponge. As the clean water moves through the rug it pulls out whatever small amount of soap and soil that might still remain. Depending on the rug and its condition, this final rinse may be done from one to three times.
5. Drying and Detailing Freshly cleaned rugs are dried overnight. This is accomplished by turning the wash area into the Mohave Desert. Well, almost. Room temperature is brought up to and maintained at 90 degrees. Numerous fans are turned on and strategically placed to move air through and around the rugs during the drying process. A large industrial dehumidifier, capable of removing 25 gallons per day of moisture from the air likewise runs and returns dry air back into the drying room. Once the rugs are dry on the following day, the fringe is rinsed, cleaned, combed and dried. The rugs are inspected, post-dusted; the nap is set, and Teflon or other topical treatments are applied when requested.
Fine rugs hanging out to dry and be detailed
Call us for free pickup and delivery inUtahCounty! 801-375-4348
Have You Considered…
Teflon For Wool?
Helps protect your rug from spills and tracked in soils.
Moth Proofing?
Just say “no” to moths destroying your beautiful hand-woven floor coverings.