While it may be tempting to go with the cheapest option when it’s time to clean your fine rug, you are putting your rug at risk for color bleeding, soap residue, unraveling, and many other issues. Never allow a carpet cleaning company to clean your fine rug. These companies can be tempting to use when they are already in your home cleaning your carpet.
What Happens When Carpet Cleaners “Clean” Rugs
However, carpet cleaners use heavy machinery on carpet, and this spells destruction for handmade rugs. These machines agitate the fibers in a pulling motion, placing high amounts of stress on your rug as the machine rips around in circular motions. The high tension your rug experiences when being cleaned by machines will pull out fibers, leaving your rug threadbare or even torn.
Often the rug’s fringe does not survive the experience. However, unraveling is not always immediate. Your rug’s fringe may look fine initially and then a few weeks later you notice it is unraveling. If your rug is machine-made with a glued-on fringe, the glue will loosen and eventually detach.
Carpet cleaners inevitably leave soap behind in your rug. The soap is made for synthetic carpets, not organic materials and can be quite harsh and damaging. This soap dulls the rug’s shine and makes the fibers stiff. You may see areas where the rug doesn’t lay flat or has a cowlick. When soap is left behind, it acts as a magnet for dirt, so your rug will begin to look and feel dirty quite soon after “cleaning.”
In addition, it is almost impossible to dry a rug in your home. If left damp for an extended period, the rug’s dyes will bleed and run. Color bleeding is very difficult to completely fix. This means that if your rug experiences color bleeding due to water left behind, some of this damage will be permanent, even after professional restoration. Not to mention that damp rugs are almost guaranteed to mold. This destroys the rug and poses a health hazard.
Inexperienced Rug Cleaners Often Cause Damage
Besides carpet cleaners, you may consider getting your rug cleaned by a company that hasn’t been around very long. These companies are often sister companies to carpet cleaners, branching out to distance their brand from carpet cleaning to make more money. The problem is that they often use very similar techniques and tools as carpet cleaners, but do it at a facility instead of at your home. While the risk of water being left behind is much lower, they still use harsh machinery and chemicals on your rugs.
Experience & Expertise
When it comes to cleaning your precious rugs, work with a company that has been in the RUG CLEANING industry for decades, if not generations. A reputable rug cleaner uses knowledge passed down from family members straight from the heart of Persia, the birthplace of fine rugs. They will not use machinery of any kind to clean your rugs. The cleansers they use should be natural, organic, and created specifically for washing handmade rugs.
If your rug has pet stains or odors, it should be treated with live bacteria enzymes, a natural solution that eliminates these issues. Ask the company if they use live bacteria enzymes for odor and stain removal, if they don’t, do not trust your rug to that company. The alternatives to live bacteria enzymes are generally harsh chemical cleaners.
Behnam Rugs has been hand washing rugs the traditional way since 1978. Our rug master trained in Persia, before moving here for higher education and to expand the business his family has been a part of for generations. We use organic shampoo to clean rugs that has been made specifically for us and is certified in terms of lather factor and pH. Our experts use wooden paddles and brushes to clean the front and back of each rug. We dry rugs using only sun and wind. Our 10-Step Rug Cleaning Process is all natural and safe for silks and antiques.
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