Dusting
Removing soil for the rug is possibly the most important step in properly washing an Oriental rug. In the old days, the rug was placed on a fence and the rug was beaten to remove the soil and dust. Today the process is using a tumbler soft compressed air so when the rug is washed the dirt doesn’t work to the top of the oriental rug after the rug dries. Oriental Rug Cleaning Process all know that this step must be done
properly but the problem is that it requires a lot of time, so other companies just choose to vacuum the rug then go for the area rug cleaning. Our team of rug experts know if they need to put a lot of time into making sure all the dirt and dust is removed from the rug before tempting to clean it because if they don’t see clear water in the final stage when it goes into the wringer they have to rewash it. Let me tell you they don’t want to hand wash a 200 pound plus wet rug twice if they don’t have to. So skipping the soil and pet odor removal process isn’t an option. Next step treating stains and washing the rug.
Treating Stains and Washing Rug
As a professional rug cleaner we love the many challenges of cleaning a modern rug or even an oriental rug. The stains that are in the rug whether it is from a pet or even from the grandchild visiting and spilling your home made pieon it is one of the biggest challenges. We are here to remove the stains and get the rug back to looking new.
After the soil removal process is done, the next morning is the cleaning. The rug is laid out on the wash floor and the oriental rug is looked over for stains and to look for any damage to the rug before the cleaning begins. Sometimes this is when the plant manager is called into the floor to document any damages or to recommend any repair work needed.
Now it is time to treat the stains with the right treatment a stain so the stain doesn’t get sent into the fiber and becomes permanent. this is why we say not every rug is washed the same!
After treating the stains we then wet down the rug and apply the special soaps that are needed to get the rug properly cleaned. We do not use hot water or very aggressive detergents that could make the colors in the rugs unstable. We work the solution into the fibers then flip the rug over and repeat the process to the back. We let our special formula settle into the fiber to loosen up the stains before using a lot of freshwaters to remove all soaps. If our customer is needing us to do a guaranteed pet odor removal process this is an additional step that requires more work so we can return the rug back with no smells. The next step is fringe detailing.
Fringe Cleaning
Fringe cleaning puts a smile on my face, I love seeing the fringes look like new, especially when the rug comes into our shop looking dirty which is most of the time. Sometimes the fringes are so far gone the customers are having us put new fringes on them before returning them. We can do machine-made fringes or we can even do it by hand, where you can even notice that the new fringes are really new. We do a lot of this. Let me get back to the conversation of fringe detailing.
We apply a special formula to the fringes to loosen the dirt and we all this formula to have a long dwell time so the results are outstanding. Even after the rug is done if we aren’t happy with the way the fringe looks we re-clean the fringes. The next step is to neutralize the rug and put it in the wringer to have the the water squeezed out of the cotton foundation
Neutralize the Rug
Professional area rug cleaners are not created equal, this is what I know is the truth! After cleaning a rug we just don’t put it in the centrifuge and spin it around and add water. After the washing, we review the stain removal work that was done to the rug to make sure our goal of stain removal was accomplished then we examine the fringes. After the quality control is approved we apply a neutralizing agent to neutralize the soap and make the rug ph neutral.
We then put the rug into the wringer to squeeze the water out of the rug and most importantly squeeze out the cotton foundation which hides smells, this is why we always clean the backside of the rug even if the rug is in for yearly cleaning. When the rug is going in the wringer we are looking at the water making sure the water is clear. This is another step the separates us from the companies that claim to hand wash oriental rugs. We own a wringer! If we did see water that wasn’t clear we would re-clean it. Remember I said in the dusting section that our team of rug cleaning specialists takes the soil removal process seriously, this is why. The wringer is in the middle of our plant where our walk-in customers can easily see the rug going into the wringer and most importantly the plant manager who is in charge of quality control, come and see for yourself! The next step is a centrifuge and to dry.
Fringe Cleaning
When the rug comes out of the wringer we put the rug in the centrifuge to spin out any remaining water that might be in the rug and also to add some more freshwater to the spinning process before hanging the rug to dry. I wouldn’t the centrifuge is the most important piece of equipment we own but we do like the added advantage of having it so the rug dries faster.
By far the wringer is the most important equipment in the cleaning of a modern or oriental rug and let’s not forget about the men who are cleaning who have been with us for many years. The rug tech position is a position we highly respect and we treat our crew very well because they treat our customer’s rugs very well. Next step detailing the rug.
Detailing the Rug
The last step is detailing the rug after the rug has been dried. We look over the rug and make sure the stains come out that and if a stain is now permanent we still try getting it out. Our cut-off point in stain removal is if the final treatment option should compromise the dye in the wool, we then stop and consider it a permanent stain. We then pile brush the rug and put it in its numbered home so we can schedule it for delivery.
This is how we clean rugs and we love what we do, we invite all people from the West coast of Florida to tour our facility as well as people that live as far as Key West.