Questions to Ask When Choosing an Area Rug Cleaning Company

Area rugs bring a room together, they are the centerpiece of the design. Selecting an area rug that will last a lifetime is important.  Some rugs come from an inheritance, some are purchased through travel to different countries around the world. Some are purchased through an interior designer or local rug dealers. And some are custom made to fit a style or décor.

High end area rugs can be very pricey. You can also buy inexpensive rugs at your local big box store, such as Walmart or Home Depot.

If your rug is a valuable Oriental rug, an heirloom, a set of rugs or just goes perfectly with your style, having it professionally cleaned is the RIGHT way to go. It will save you issues from arising down the road. This is something we deal with constantly!

Selecting a knowledgeable professional area rug cleaner will ensure you get great results and your beloved rug is cleaned in a safe environment.

Make sure to ask these questions when searching for an Oriental Rug Cleaning Company

Questions to Ask When Selecting an Area Rug Cleaning Company

1. How do you clean area rugs?

 Good Answer: We have several cleaning processes and we will use the one that is safest for your rug.

Bad Answer: We clean area rugs with hot water extraction also known as steam cleaning. (Hot water can damage natural fiber area rugs)

2. Cleaning Process is important, what is your method?

 Good Answer:

Hand Washing

 This process used either dry cleaning solvent or very little water and is done with a high-powered portable cleaning machine made for upholstery cleaning.

This process is used on rugs with unstable dyes to avoid the colors from bleeding together.

Silk and tapestries are delicate rugs that need hand washing.

Agitation Process

This type of machine loosens the soil in extra dirty rugs. They are then run through the rug wash machine to remove the soil and clean the fibers.

Bad Answer:

Using an in-home method that is usually used to clean carpet, not rugs.

We don’t recommend this process for several reasons:

• The flooring underneath the rug may get wet and discolored causing damage to your floors.
• Hot water, especially if there is pet urine, can cause colors to bleed or depending on the fiber, cause the rug to shrink.
• If not dried properly, rugs take a long time to dry. If the rug is not dry within 24 hours, it causes damage and mold can start to grow.

3. Do you provide pet odor removal?

 Good Answer

Yes, one of our treatments is topical and it removes light odors and light pet urine. The other one is a submersion odor remover that uses live enzymes to remove heavy odors and pet urine.

There is a 99% chance that odors will be removed.

Bad Answer

There is no way to completely remove pet odors and the regular cleaning process will remove all the odors.

4. How do you dry the rug?

 Good Answer

We dry the rugs in a large heated, humidity-controlled dry room that will allow the rugs to dry within 12 to 18 hours.

Bad Answer

The rugs are hung to dry, while also using air movers to help speed up drying. This might work with a small rug but larger ones need to be hung in a dry room to dry quicker.

Some rugs that dry quickly enough can do what is called cellulosic browning and require a special technique to remove the discoloration.

Make Sure to Ask These Questions

You don’t have to be an expert to know if an area rug cleaning company is the right choice for your rug.

By asking questions you will get a feel for whether they are experts or not. When all else fails, check out the good companies Google reviews. They tell the story. Not to brag, but we have over 1000 five stars reviews online.

If you have an area rug cleaning question, contact us, we would be happy to answer them.