Have you ever wondered why some Oriental rugs are dusted before washing, while other area rugs can be cleaned without this extra step? After more than 56 years in the carpet and upholstery cleaning business, I’ve learned that Oriental rug cleaning is not a one-size-fits-all process.
In fact, I think there are some misconceptions about this subject.
One misconception is that if a rug is going to be washed anyway, there is no reason to remove the dry soil first. Another is that every Oriental or hand-knotted rug automatically needs to be removed from the home, taken to a cleaning plant, dusted and then thoroughly washed.
Neither statement is necessarily correct.
The proper way to clean an area rug depends on the individual rug, how it has been used, what it has been exposed to, how well it has been maintained, how much soil is actually present, and what type of cleaning it requires.
Let me explain.
Where Does the Soil in an Area Rug Come From?
Most of the soil found in an area rug comes from ordinary everyday use. Foot traffic and pets are probably the two biggest contributors.
But spills can also play a major role, even when the spill appears to have been completely cleaned up.
Over the years, I’ve had many customers tell me, “I have stains growing out of my carpet.”
I’ll usually ask them, “Are these stains growing in the same places all the time, or are they randomly popping up in different places?”
When they tell me the spots are always returning in exactly the same locations, I’ll ask them, usually with a smile, “Have you ever spilled anything there?”
Sometimes they say yes.
Sometimes they say no.
But even when they say no, that doesn’t necessarily mean nothing was ever spilled there. Maybe their husband spilled something. Maybe the children did. Maybe someone cleaned it up years ago and they simply don’t know about it.
Take something as simple as ginger ale.
You spill some on a carpet or rug. It’s clear, so you blot it up and—wow—it’s gone.
Well, maybe not.
Some of that ginger ale may have penetrated farther into the carpet or rug than you realized. Even though you can no longer see the liquid, some of the sugary material may remain behind.
That sticky residue can attract soil.
Then people walk over the area, or dust settles on it, and that soil becomes attached to the residual material. Eventually, the area begins to look like a dark stain again.
You may wipe it with a damp cloth and remove the surface soil that was attracted to the residue. The rug looks fine again.
Maybe it stays that way for a week.
Maybe a month.
Then the dark area comes back.
The reason is simple: the original substance that caused the problem was never completely removed.
The spot didn’t magically come back, and a new stain didn’t simply appear. There was still residue there attracting new soil.
That’s an important part of understanding how rugs and carpets become soiled.
Not All Rugs Are Exposed to the Same Amount of Soil
Once you understand where soil comes from, you can see why two rugs in two different homes can have completely different cleaning requirements.
Consider a summer home near the beach.
People coming into the house may have a considerable amount of sand on their shoes. That sand can quickly work its way down between the fibers and into the backing of the rug.
Sand can also be abrasive. When people repeatedly walk over a rug containing those particles, the particles can move against the fibers and contribute to premature fiber wear and loss.
Now let’s consider a completely different situation.
Imagine an expensive hand-knotted rug in a high-end condominium on the fourth floor of a Boston high-rise.
By the time someone walks from the street into the building, gets into an elevator, rides up several floors and walks down a carpeted hallway, there may actually be very little soil remaining on their shoes.
If that homeowner also has a housekeeper who regularly vacuums and maintains the home, there may be remarkably little dry soil in the rug.
I’ve worked for many high-end clients over the years, and I’ve found that their homes are very often maintained extremely well. There may be no visible soiling, no pet hair and nothing that would make you think the rug even needs to be vacuumed.
In fact, chances are it was vacuumed shortly before I arrived.
So simply looking at an expensive Oriental or hand-knotted rug doesn’t tell me that it needs to be dusted.
There are always exceptions, of course.
Maintenance Can Make a Tremendous Difference
I’ve also seen the exact opposite.
I remember a client I worked for many years ago who lived at Rowes Wharf in Boston, right on the waterfront. He was a single professional man.
Every time I went there, the carpets were loaded with dust and dry soil—especially behind furniture and in areas that weren’t routinely maintained.
We would move his furniture and clean every square inch of carpeting. When we finished, the carpets looked like new.
One day he told me how much he loved our service.
Then he explained that because we did such a good job, he would rather have us clean his carpets about every four months than buy a vacuum cleaner.
Well, I suppose that was one solution.
I always wondered what a female date might have thought if she came over before we had cleaned the place.
But there is a serious point behind the story.
Where a carpet or rug is located doesn’t tell the whole story. How it is maintained matters enormously.
A rug in a relatively clean environment that is vacuumed two or three times a week may have very little accumulated dry soil.
Another rug in that same type of environment may contain a tremendous amount simply because it hasn’t been maintained.
So when I evaluate an area rug, I consider both sides of the equation: how much soil has entered the rug and how effectively that soil has been removed over time.
Dry Soil Should Be Removed Before Cleaning
This brings us to one of the most important points.
If a rug is going to be professionally cleaned, dry particulate soil should be removed before wet cleaning begins.
This is true even when there are spots or stains that need to be pretreated.
You don’t want to begin applying cleaning solutions to a rug that still contains a substantial amount of loose, dry soil. The first step should be to vacuum or otherwise remove as much dry soil as practical using an appropriate soil-removal system.
Once that has been done, the technician can deal with spots and stains and proceed with the appropriate cleaning process.
But there is an important distinction between vacuuming and dusting.
Regular vacuuming is routine rug maintenance.
Dusting is a much more intensive process used when there is a significant amount of deeply embedded dry soil that needs to be removed.
And this is where I think some of the misconceptions begin.
“Oriental Rug Cleaning: Does Every Oriental Rug Need to Be Dusted?”
No.
I’ve heard people say that every Oriental or hand-knotted rug contains deeply embedded soil and therefore must be taken to a professional rug-cleaning plant before it can be properly washed.
I don’t agree with making that statement as a blanket rule.
Yes, a rug can contain a tremendous amount of deeply embedded dry soil.
I’ve seen it many times.
But that doesn’t mean every rug does.
One of the demonstrations I used when training technicians was designed to show exactly how much dry soil can hide inside a rug.
We would take an area rug into our plant and vacuum the top surface several times until it appeared thoroughly vacuumed.
Then we’d turn it over and vacuum the underside several times.
Finally, we’d lift the rug and look at the floor.
There would be a pile of sandy dry soil sitting underneath it.
This material had been deeply embedded in the rug.
The rug could look relatively clean from the top, yet there was still a surprising amount of dry particulate soil trapped inside it.
When a rug contains that type of soil, thorough dry-soil removal before wet cleaning can make a great deal of sense.
But if a rug has been maintained exceptionally well and contains very little deeply embedded soil, an intensive dusting process may provide little additional benefit.
If Every Area Rug Needs to Go to a Plant, What About Wall-to-Wall Carpet?
This is another question I often think about.
Suppose someone tells me that every area rug must be removed from the home and taken to a cleaning plant because deeply embedded dry soil requires that level of cleaning.
I would ask:
What about the wall-to-wall carpet in that same house?
Think about it.
The area rug and the wall-to-wall carpet are exposed to the same household environment.
The same people walk across them.
The same pets may walk across them.
The same dust enters the home.
The same spills can occur.
The same environmental conditions affect both.
So if the presence of deeply embedded dry soil automatically means that an area rug must be removed and taken to a plant, shouldn’t the wall-to-wall carpet also have to be removed, transported to a plant, cleaned there and then reinstalled?
Of course, that’s not how professional wall-to-wall carpet cleaning is normally performed.
Professional cleaners routinely clean wall-to-wall carpeting right in the customer’s home.
We don’t remove the carpet, roll it up, transport it to a plant, clean it, dry it and then reinstall it simply because it may contain dry soil.
Why?
Because the mere presence of dry soil doesn’t automatically determine where something must be cleaned.
What matters is the amount and type of soil, the material and construction, the condition of the carpet or rug, the cleaning process required and what can be safely and effectively accomplished.
There are certainly area rugs that benefit from being taken to a professional rug-cleaning plant.
But that doesn’t mean every area rug requires that treatment.
So, Should My Area Rug Be Cleaned in My Home or Taken to a Plant?
Sometimes it should be cleaned in the home.
Sometimes it should be taken to a professional rug-cleaning plant.
I’ve cleaned thousands of area rugs in people’s homes over the years, and many of them never needed to be removed and taken to our plant for a thorough cleaning.
I’ve also taken thousands of rugs back to our plant because they really did need that level of cleaning.
The decision comes down to the individual rug.
An experienced technician should look at the rug and consider:
- How is the rug constructed?
- What condition is it in?
- How much dry soil is present?
- How deeply has that soil penetrated?
- What type of soil is it?
- Has the rug been exposed to sand?
- Are there pets in the home?
- How much foot traffic does it receive?
- How frequently has it been vacuumed?
- Have there been spills or previous cleaning attempts?
- Does the rug require procedures that are better performed at a professional cleaning plant?
All of these factors can influence the proper cleaning method.
After 56 Years, I’ve Learned That Every Rug Is Different
After more than 56 years in this business, I’ve learned that you can’t determine the proper way to clean every rug simply by looking at its price tag, its country of origin or whether it is hand-knotted.
Two rugs can look almost identical and require completely different cleaning procedures.
One may be in a meticulously maintained Boston condominium and receive regular vacuuming.
Another may be in a busy summer home near the beach where sand is constantly being brought inside.
One may have pets.
Another may never have had an animal in the house.
One may have been vacuumed just before I arrived.
Another may not have seen a vacuum cleaner in months.
And one may have a history of spills that left residues behind.
There are rules to good rug cleaning, but there are always exceptions.
That’s why I don’t believe in telling a homeowner that every Oriental or hand-knotted rug automatically has to be dusted, removed and taken to a cleaning plant.
Sometimes it does.
Sometimes it doesn’t.
The important thing is having an experienced technician examine the rug, understand its history and determine what it actually needs.
The goal isn’t to put every rug through the most elaborate cleaning procedure available.
The goal is to clean the rug properly without doing more to it than is necessary.
After 56 years of cleaning carpets, upholstery and area rugs, that’s the approach I’ve always believed in.
Every rug has its own story. The cleaning process should be based on that story—not on a one-size-fits-all rule.
If you’re wondering whether your Oriental, hand-knotted or other area rug can be properly cleaned in your home or would benefit from being brought to our professional rug-cleaning plant, give us a call. We’ll be happy to look at your rug and help determine what is appropriate for it.
Have Questions About Your Carpet, Upholstery or Area Rugs?
If you have questions about caring for your carpet, upholstery or area rugs—or you’re interested in any of our professional cleaning services—here are a few of the services we provide:
- Carpet Cleaning – Professional cleaning for wall-to-wall carpeting in homes and businesses.
- Upholstery Cleaning – Professional cleaning for sofas, chairs and other upholstered furnishings.
- Fabric Protection – Help protect your carpet and upholstery from future spills and soiling.
- Area Rug Cleaning – Cleaning of Oriental, hand-knotted and other area rugs, either in your home or at our professional cleaning plant when appropriate.
If you have a question about something you’ve read here, don’t hesitate to ask Alec. We’re always happy to help.
Call Alec’s Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning at 781-871-1415.