Persian rug cleaning

[peppy]

Any good tips for cleaning Persian rugs. I have watched a few videos and figure it's not something I can do myself.

The big rugs are the ones I am concerned with. They are about 15X20 for the small one and there is another one that is bigger. I can barley move them much less when they are wet.

I folded them up and put them in a cedar closet a couple of years ago.

[peppy]

This is the bigger of the 2.

[Zeke]

If they don't need cleaning, don't. But if you do, take them to a rug dealer. Don't be surprised if they take a hose and broom to them because that's how it's done. Then they are hoisted up on a rack to air dry. They might take some of the water out with a shop vac just so they can get the rug up on the rack. They use very mild cleaners only spotting where they have to and they rinse thoroughly as that's the main problem with cleaning rugs and carpets, soap residue.

I have a slanted driveway and I clean rugs all the time and hang them over the fence. After seeing it done, I have no qualms.

[Zeke]

I don't no the value of the Chinese style rug and they are heavy bastards. What appears to be a Sarouk is quite nice. If it's tightly woven you have a very expensive rug there. And it looks like you could wad it up in your hand. I hope you have a pad under it and protectors on the legs of the table and chairs. No matter the protectors, the amount of weight of a chair with a person sitting in it will be over a 1000 lbs. per sq. inch.

They weren't made to be used like that.

[peppy]

Yes they have pads under the rug, but not under chair and table legs. Thanks I will be fixing that before they go back down.

[MRM]

I saw a show on Persian rugs a few years ago. The dealer who was being interviewed said that they experimented forever before they found the best way to do it. They spread the rugs on a driveway that has a slope to it, hose them down with a garden hose and then use bars of Ivory soap to scrub them down. He said they tried everything but bars of Ivory worked best and was mild enough not to harm the rugs. The hardest part is rinsing them so they are free of soap.

If it was me I'd just follow his advice in a driveway and hang them to dry.

The Chinese rugs have little value. True Persians, especially antiques, have limited supply and are expensive. Chinese rugs, even if they're high quality hand made, especially the modern ones, have an almost unlimited supply.

[craigster59]

Where's Tabs when you need him?

[RWebb]

find a specialty Persian (Iranian, Afghani, etc.) cleaning place - if you cannot find that go to a high end rug dealer

even in this small town, we have a place run by the family of our former Gov., a Persian immigrunt family

they will gut you like a fish if they find out you were hosing it down on a driveway - they have several special machines with rollers that will take great care of your rug and will use special detergents for no-color-fast dyes & woolens

this place will also give you a run-down on which tribe made the rug, where & approx. when - just by looking at it

it helps if they know the place of importation (NoLa for most of mine; one may have been thru Mobil) except for the Navaho rug (about which these guys also knew some history)

[peppy]

Thanks everyone.

I found this one on the internet and I'll give them a call tomorrow.

Rug cleaning carpet repair reweaving restoration - Hadeed Mercer Carpet and Rug - Carpet cleaning, Rug Repair, Free pick-up and delivery, truck mounted steam cleaner for wall to wall carpet cleaning. - best, good, local, sale, coupons, cleaner, orien

[rusnak]

Well good call on letting a specialist clean the rugs. I would not hose them down with water either. We have a few silk and a few wool rugs. I could not imagine hosing down a $14K rug on my driveway.

[MRM]

My advice is only for wool rugs. Silk requires a specialist. But washing it by hand in a driveway won't be any different than sending it through a fancy machine with rollers instead of your hands with scrub brushes.

[Zeke]

Anything mechanical can loosen the knots, especially the knots at the end of the warp threads that are tied into we know as the fringe . Never use an upright vac on them, only a tank vac with a hose. You can use the wide brush attachment.

A lot of rugs were ruined in the days of spike heals. Ladies would walk across the rug and the pressure on that little heel was said to be = to10,000 lbs per sq INCH.

Just ask rusnak about his rugs when he wore his high heels on them.

Hand made rugs need to be hand washed.

[porwolf]

I had help with a Persian friend when I washed a Persian rug once. He said the drive way, hose down, and scrub with a hand brush and some dish washing soap is the best way. He explained that is the way they do it in Persia. That's what we did and the rug came out beautiful.

[imcarthur]

We sent a small wool/silk Isfahan for cleaning. It did come back in perfect shape but the tone of the dyes darkened dramatically (and it wasn't THAT dirty). fwiw

Ian

[Zeke]

As noted, silk is not meant to be washed, or are at least tricky. Good rug cleaners check the dyes before starting.

[5String43]

Yep. Rug dealer. Just been going through this with a shop near us. Having them dry cleaned is really not at all good for them. I gather that they want to be washed carefully.

[yazhound]

The fellow I bought mine from showed me pics from his home (Iran), of rugs being cleaned in river and on what looked like boat ramp... hose and soap. Drying maybe iffy if live in a damp / humid climate...

[peppy]

I called today and they charge $2.50 a square foot to clean the rug. I guess I will try it and see how it turns out. The lady said it was a hand made rug and that machine made rugs are more expensive to clean.



anybody know about the tag?

[Zeke]

The tag means nothing to me. The knots are not quite as tight as an antique rug might be. It depends.

Frankly, I think the rug is totally worthless. Tie it back up and ship it to me freight collect. I'll clean it and find something to do with it. Probably put it under the car.

[peppy]

Originally Posted by Zeke

The tag means nothing to me. The knots are not quite as tight as an antique rug might be. It depends.

Frankly, I think the rug is totally worthless. Tie it back up and ship it to me freight collect. I'll clean it and find something to do with it. Probably put it under the car.

The rug is not that old about 20 years or so. My parents bought it sometime in the early 90's.

Thanks for the offer