The Secret To Safely Cleaning Your Antique Persian Rug

Are you looking for a safe and thorough technique for cleaning your antique Persian or Oriental rug?

Commendation is due first of all for your diligence. It is scary how many rug owners don't even think about cleaning their rug. If you are thinking that vacuuming your rug is proper rug cleaning, then you are going to be in for a shock. We will examine that shortly. But first of all, why do rugs need to be cleaned?

3 reasons why it is vital to clean your rugs!

1. You Are Murdering Your Rug - Dust, dirt and tannins settle into the deep fibres of rugs and can slowly erode the fibres. As you walk on the rug, the tiny particles of ingrained dirt act like sandpaper with every step that you take. You can not see the damage, but the longer you leave dirt in your rug, the shorter the lifespan of your rug.


2. Reduced Air Quality – What types of germs, particulates and forms of mildew is your antique rug harbouring? Air quality specialists emphasise the importance of regularly cleaning soft furnishings and flooring for allergy-free housekeeping. One of the easiest ways of improving your indoor air quality is removing trapped airborne pollutants from your rugs and carpets.


3. Think Of The Investment – It always ends up coming down to the bottom line! Antique Persian rugs are one of the only home furnishings that will grow in value if they are properly maintained. Handmade rugs fetch impressive sale prices all over the world. The key selling points for antique Oriental rugs is the build quality and the condition of the rug. Ensuring your rug is properly cleaned is a wise investment in order to prevent colour fading, fibre preservation and mildew prevention.

So, what is the proper way to clean an antique Persian rug?

An illustration that some rug cleaners have used is to think of a Persian rug like a head of hair. Would vacuuming your head leave your hair clean? Obviously, our heads produce a lot of oils, so they need to be washed more often, but the principle stands. Vacuuming your rug is the most essential rug maintenance task, but it is not rug cleaning.

Oils, tannins and contaminants build up on the fibres and backing of your rug. These oils and acids will gradually eat at the dye in your rug leading to fading and spotting. The end result? The value of your rug will plummet.

While we are talking about vacuuming your rug, there is an important secret that rug cleaners always share with rug owners.

Don't vacuum your rug too fast.

Slowly vacuum your rug so that the delicate fibres vibrate and release the abrasive dust particles. Vacuuming towards the edges of your rug will ensure that your rug fringes are not damages. If your rug is in an area of your house that gets a lot of traffic it should be vacuumed weekly. If you do not have children, pets and the rug does not get a lot of foot traffic, consider vacuuming it every two to four weeks. Follow these simple rules and you will be setting your rug up for a very long life.

Now let's talk the best technique for rug cleaning!

Some carpet cleaning businesses offer steam cleaning for rugs. Even though this may seem like a reasonable service, don't fall for it!

They will use the same powerful hot water extraction machinery and chemicals that they use on regular carpets. Handwoven rugs use much finer wool than regular home carpets. The fibres will be damaged and the dye may be permanently damaged. This form of rug cleaning can be effective for area rugs that are constructed from normal carpets, but it will kill your average Oriental or Persian rug. Thinking back to the illustration of cleaning your hair, it would be like pouring steaming water onto your head, then using harsh chemicals onto it, finally using an industrial-strength vacuum to suck out the moisture. The end result? It is not going to be pretty.

The Best Cleaning Technique For Antique Rugs

Full immersion cleaning has been used for centuries in the Middle East to safely and thoroughly clean precious rugs. This delicate cleaning technique ensures that each fibre is totally clean and all impurities, contaminants and foreign particles are removed from the rug. Using gentle chemistries, tannins and oils are removed from the rug without damaging the dyes.

This form of cleaning is quite labour intensive and requires expensive chemistries. But you can not argue with the results!

Full immersion cleaning allows both the top and bottom surfaces of the rug to be cleaned. As the water is circulated throughout and penetrates every fibre, this is the most thorough form of rug cleaning available.

Following the washing procedure, the rug then needs to be dried in a room with a specific temperature and humidity. If a rug is dried in too hot a room, it will shrink and will cause uneven marks on the perimeter of the rug.

Really Important Questions You Need To Ask Your Rug Cleaner

1) Do you do full immersion cleaning?

If they do not at least offer this service, you should be worried. They are probably going to use commercial carpet cleaning equipment to perform hot water extraction. The rates will probably be very affordable, but is the risk worth it?

2) Do they use Woolsafe chemistries?

Handmade rugs are constructed from high-grade wool. Specialised chemicals are required to safely remove injurious tannins and oils without harming the wool. Woolsafe chemistries have been extensively researched and tested to guarantee that they will provide the highest standard of cleaning and not harm the wool. Would you wash your hair with horse shampoo? Why would you wash your antique rug with anything other than specialised rug cleaning chemistries?

3) Do you offer free quotes?

The cost of professional rug cleaning can vary from being very affordable to outrageously overpriced. Ask for a free quote. Make sure that there are no extra add-ons or service charges. Don't just choose the cleaning contractor that offers the cheapest price. Choose the cleaner that offers the best value. Like everything else in life, you get what you pay for. So settle on a specialised rug cleaner that has a reputation in your community for providing quality results.

Who Is Oriental Rug Care?

Oriental Rug Care is Sydney's #1 specialised rug cleaning firm. With a team of expert rug cleaners that have undertaken extensive spot identification and removal training, Oriental Rug Care provides the highest standard of full immersion rug cleaning in Sydney.

Since 2009, Oriental Rug Care has been providing Sydney rug owners with the safest and most thorough Persian rug cleaning services in the Sydney region. With a purpose-built cleaning studio in the Inner West of Sydney, Oriental Rug Care has the personnel, equipment and experience to clean even the most delicate and precious antique rugs.

The Oriental Rug Care knows the importance of cleaning your Persian rug regularly, but they also recognise that most Sydney rug owners are extremely busy. In order to assist busy Sydney-siders, Oriental Rug Care provide a free rug pick-up and drop-off service for rug owners in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney including Alexandria, Beaconsfield, Bellevue Hill, Bondi, Botany, Centennial Park, Chippendale, Clovelly, Darling Point, Diamond Bay, Double Bay, Dover Heights, Eastgardens, Edgecliff, Eveleigh, Golden Grove, Kensington, Kingsford, La Perouse, Malabar, Mascot, Matraville, Moore Park, Paddington, Pagewood, Queens Park, Randwick, Rose Bay, Rosebery, St Pauls, Taylor Square, Vaucluse, Waterloo, Watsons Bay, and Zetland.

For more information on Oriental Rug Care, visit the company website at www.orientalrugcare.com.au.

Oriental Rug Care of Australia
Address: 23 Shepherd St, Marrickville NSW 2240
Website: https://www.orientalrugcare.com.au/
Phone: (02) 9018 1510