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How To Find A Oriental Rug Cleaner 

Oriental rugs come to people in many ways: an attic find, a family rug passed down through generations, or an antique gem unearthed at an auction or estate sale.

Often, the rug needs to be cleaned and perhaps repaired. But where and by whom? 

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De-mystifying oriental rug cleaning. 

It's your rug and rug cleaning shouldn't be a big mystery hidden behind closed doors. As a rug cleaner with over 35 years of experience, I'll guide you through what I think are important details of selecting a quality oriental and Persian rug cleaner where ever you may be located. 

Check out how we clean oriental rug here  

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Expert Persian Rug Rug Cleaning Service 

The Big Lie in Rug Cleaning 

This photo is from Dalworth Rug Cleaning in Fort Worth, Texas. Dalworth's is a beautiful well-run Oriental and area rug cleaning company. As you can see in this photo, a well-organized specialty rug cleaning operation, it's clean well lit, and very well organized. If they were closer and I didn't own a rug cleaning company I'd take my rugs here.  

 Oriental Rug Cleaning Workshop? 

I'm from the internet, I'm here to clean your rug!

This is also the most plagiarized rug photo in the rug-cleaning world.

 

Cleaners all across the country and internationally have lifted this photo and claimed it as their own websites and print ads.

A quick search with Tin eye pulls up 84 pages and over 1,199 users of this photo on rug cleaning websites. 

 

Why? Many cleaners offering oriental rug and Persian rug cleaning don't have wash plants they are cleaning your rug at their home in a garage, carport, or best case subbing cleaning out to a wash plant. 

Steam Cleaning & Shampooing Oriental Rugs 

Steam cleaning, hot water extraction, and shampooing of handwoven rugs are quick and much less labor-intensive, and it doesn't get rugs very clean. Most soils are hidden deep in the woven structures of rugs beyond the reach of Vacuumes, and steam cleaning machines. 

If you choose these methods to clean your rug willingly, I'm in favor of you making the right choice for you. My goal isn't to sell you on a service you don't want. I want you to make an informed decision and sometimes steam a rug is what the owner wants. 

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However, what's more, common is that the consumer believes that "Joe's Carpet cleaning service" has a rug wash plant that specializes in Persian rug cleaning. After all, The consumer went to the carpet and rug cleaners website and saw photos of his modern state-of-the-art rug wash plant. But Joe has no such plant he's using stock photos or one's lifted from another website like Dalworth Rug Cleaning. Joe is pretending he has a wash plant so you will hopefully use joe's cleaning service.

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Maybe you researched how to care for your family heirloom Persian oriental rugs and are dedicated to paying the higher cost of time, labor, and resources to have the rug properly washed. You choose Joe's cleaning based on his website and maybe a few google or yelp reviews. In reality, Joe takes your rug to his real wash plant home garage, carport, or back yard. maybe he will try to wash your rug at home or Joe steam cleans or shampoos the rug. You have paid for something you didn't get real rug washing. 

How to find a reputable rug cleaner 

Let's make sure this doesn't happen to you, let's make you into a street-smart, savvy rug cleaning shopper. None of these tips on their own are satisfactorily combining the seven tips you can weed out real rug wash plants from the posers. 

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  1. Call around town. Call local rug retailers, and ask neighbors who have cleaned rugs for people you know?  

  2. Google, Yelp, Angie's list, Next Door.  These are helpful but bear in mind there are some shenanigans. These are not immune from fake "purchased reviews," and Angie's list solicits us monthly to pay for placement that isn't driven by member reviews. None of these sites verify how your rug will be cleaned, business licenses, and liability insurance or if the photos on a website are real.   

  3. Call the cleaner to ask lots of questions; how do you clean rugs, how long have you been cleaning Oriental rugs, the Price for cleaning, Turnaround time, how long have you been in business, do you work with local retailers, and who are they, Do you have cash and carry drop-off? 

  4. Ask to visit the rug cleaners' workshop, does it match the photos is it a legitimate rug cleaning workshop or a home garage.

  5. Care custody and control do they have storage racks for rugs? The big thing I look for in a rug shop rugs should never be stored on the floor in a wash plant. How do they inventory to control your property, rugs tagged, and photo document your rugs?  

  6. Involvement in professional organizations for rug cleaners  ARCS (Association of Rug Care Specialists).  ARCS sets standards of care, education, and professional development for rug cleaning companies.  

  7. Finally, do you feel comfortable working with this company/person? Does the facility look secure? Do they seem knowledgeable and trustworthy with Grandma's antique Persian rug? 

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Rug Cleaing at Home 

Having thoroughly trashed rug cleaning at home there are a few small-scale rug washers working from residential properties that have built shops with small dedicated wash plants.

These types of facilities are small-scale professional rug cleaning workshops not to be lumped into the carpet cleaner steam cleaning your rug in his garage. These  are professional rug cleaning workshops 

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