RUG CLEANING
Wool, silk and cotton are natural fibers collecting dust over time and need to be cleaned regularly. Fine rugs made with natural fibres need to be washed thoroughly in order to preserve them at their best. Rugs, due to their structure as a woven material, also accumulate dirt at the bottom of pile and over time this may cause 'dry rot' destroying the foundations. As well as enhancing your rug's aesthetic beauty, a full immerse hand wash will also prolong its life because all the dirt attached to fibres and foundations will be removed. Surface cleaning with machinery can not create the same effect, it is almost same as attemting to clean a wool jumper with a wet wipe instead of washing.
All rugs we wash are pre-tested for colourfastness and we only use fine natural ingredients. Marks and stains are specially treated and can usually be removed. Great effort and care goes into rug cleaning and each rug gets special attention in the hand process. We have been doing this for 15 years, experience makes a difference. Our commitment to quality ensures that our clients receive the best service at competitive prices, while maintaining high standards of professionalism. FEEDBACKS FROM OUR CLIENTS CAN BE SEEN HERE
Rug Cleaning Process
1. Pre-wash Inspection
We inspect your rug for existing conditions, such as weaving characteristics, abrash, white knots, existing stains, worn areas and prior dye bleeding. This is usually done at the time of collection, in your premises, to explain you and advise accordingly.
2. Removing the Dust
This is the first step after inspection. Rugs, because of their pile, can hold up considerable amount of dust settled at the bottom of the pile, on the foundations. We shake and vacuum all the dust off from rug's foundations to remove it all, making sure when flooded with water, dust will not turn into mud sticking to foundations.
3. Flooding
Before washing, the dyes of your rug tested for colourfastness. If they are not colorfast, the rug is bathed in a solution first to set the dyes during washing. Then we soak the rug with cold water and use soft brushes to apply mild shampoo gently, avoiding hard agitation. Depending on the dirt, it will then be soaked for a while before we start rinsing it. Fringes are washed appropriately for an additional time in the bath.
4. Drying
Drying should be done without excessive heat as this will cause shrinkage to woven materials. We are very careful about the way we dry our rugs, air movers used to help faciliate drying without the use of high heat. We are dealing with natural fibres and all aspects of cleaning process are determined according to this, the way rugs are dried is also very essential.
5. Grooming and finishing
The rug is given a final grooming to its pile, fringes and rolled & packed to be delivered back to you.
How Much?
Rug cleaning is provided at £25 per square meter for wool and £45 for silk rugs. To find out how much your rug's cleaning will cost, you can give us a call or follow the steps below:
1. Measure your rug's width and lenght in meters
if your rug is 2 meters by 3 meters
2. Multiply W x L, this will give you square meter figure
2 x 3 = 6 square meters
3. Multiply £25 x square meter
£25 x 6 = £150
Promt collection and delivery is included in this price. Please note that minimum charge is £80.
Washing rugs is labour intensive, small rug cleaning can be managed single handedly, but rugs larger than 3 x 5 foot may require additional hand as they get very heavy when soaked. If you are thinking of doing it yourself, make sure you are doing it correctly to avoid damage to your rugs. We have a great article on rug cleaning with step by step instructions. Do not wash your rug if you are unsure about colour fastness, and speacilist help will certainly be needed if you are dealing with old and fragile rugs.
Pet urine and red stains:
One of the common issues we deal with is pet urine. It can be quite an issue if it is left on the rug for long time. It should be treated as soon as possible to avoid permanent damage. Because of the acid pet urine has, once it has settled at the foundations of a rug, it will damage the warp and weft threads (foundations). Urine will weaken and break the natural fibre, causing loss of pile and holes in long run. If the urine sat on the foundations for longer than a week, then colour in effected area is likely to bleed. To remove the bad odour and to liquify to help remove the urine salts, we have to soak the rug in vinegar. This will also stabilise the dyes even though effected area is likely to bleed. You should act as soon as it happens beacuse pet urine causes damage to rugs that devalues them permanently. If cleaned properly soon after, we can avert permanent damage.
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Fine rugs should not be cleaned the same way as wall to wall carpets. Surface cleaning with chemicals and machinery or steam cleaning can damage your rugs. These methods will turn the dust and dirt at the bottom of the pile into mud, sticking to fibres and permanently damaging them. On the other hand, full immerse wash with natural shampoo will revive rug's pile as all the dust and dirt dissolve during washing.
READ OUR ARTICLE RUG CLEANING GUIDE
1. Scoop it up, blot up what you can with towel.
2. Get some sparkling water or 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and cold water in a container. Use a spong and DAMPEN the effected area, do not wet too much. Then blot with towel to remove the urine.
3. Blot out until you see nothing coming into the towel. Use a hair dryer, choose a warm setting, not very hot and dry the effected area. BE CAREFUL if you see the rug dyes transfer into the towel, you need to stop getting the rug damp, and blot and dry as quickly as possible. If you get a woven rug too wet you will risk potential mildew and mold problems, so do not get the fibers WET, just damp.
ALL STAIN AREAS SHOULD BE BLOTTED OUT IMMEDIATELY USING DRY, COTTON TOWEL
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ONCE INSTRUCTED, YOUR RUG WILL BE PICKED UP BY OUR RUG EXPERT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IF YOU RESIDE IN GREATER LONDON. FOR OTHER PARTS OF BRITAIN, WE USE UPS NEXT DAY COLLECTION SERVICE. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH FOR MORE INFO.
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