What Makes An Oriental Rug Valuable?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and with rugs, this is no exception. However, not all rugs are created equally, and there are many qualities that determine the value of an Oriental or Persian rug. Whether you’re interested in ascribing a value to your own favorite rug, or in the market for another one, our tips will help you find your way among the thousands of styles of beautiful Oriental rugs.

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What Should I Do With My Rug’s Fringe?

Oriental rug owners are united in our love of exquisitely constructed rugs. We love the rich colors, patterns, and textures, but if there’s one feature upon which we are divided, it’s the rug’s fringe. Some rug owners love the fringe, and others hate it. Fortunately, there are options for what to do with your rug’s fringe, regardless of which side of the fringe debate you are on!

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Protecting Your Rug From Moths

A genuine, hand-knotted Oriental rug will last for decades or more with the proper care and cleaning.  Vacuuming your rug regularly, cleaning up spills quickly and completely, and having your rug professionally cleaned will each help protect your rug and prolong the enjoyment you get from it.  Keeping your rug clean will also protect it from moth infestations, which could greatly damage your beautiful rug, or even ruin it. (more…)

Should I Take My Rug To My Dry Cleaner?

When it’s time to clean an Oriental or Persian rug, some homeowners wonder if they should have it dry cleaned. After all, we take our finest clothes and garments to the dry cleaner, so shouldn’t we take our finest rug there, too? The answer is a firm NO!

Dry Cleaning Does Not Get Your Rug Clean

The solvents used in dry cleaning, namely dry foam and dry chemicals and compounds, should not be used on most types of fine area rugs. (more…)

What Is My Persian Rug Telling Me? Learn How To “Read” Your Rug

We rug collectors and aficionados are drawn to rugs for a number of reasons. For some, we love the craftsmanship. After all, Oriental and Persian rugs are made of the finest silk or wool threads, meticulously hand knotted by artisans who have spent decades sharpening their skills. For others, it’s the quality of the rug, such as the rich dyes or high number of knots per square inch. Others consider a fine Oriental rug a piece of art, and may design the entire room around the rug’s colors and patterns. Still others love our rugs because they are sound investments that, with the proper care, will become even more valuable over time. All of these reasons make each Oriental rug a true treasure!

Perhaps the most important feature of a fine Oriental rug is its history. Rug weaving is an ancient craft, with roots in many countries and across many centuries. Oriental rugs have been woven by members of nomadic tribes as well as artisans of powerful dynasties. Rugs have been used to record histories, to tell the important stories of tribes or groups of people. They were woven to commemorate great celebrations or events, including weddings and coronations, or, like prayer rugs, were woven to be part of daily life. The rich storytelling of these rugs can be interpreted today by looking at the shapes and colors used. Little has changed during the past millennia in the method of rug weaving, and likewise, the symbolism remains the same. Current designs, indeed, are informed by history, so you can examine your own rug and “read” its meaning and history.

 

Color

Begin by making note of the colors used in your rug. Most rugs incorporate a myriad of colors, but may have 3-5 colors used more than others. Some rugs incorporate fewer colors. Still other rugs will have a field of 1-2 colors, but then a multitude of others used in smaller amounts. Each color has its own significance. Due to their significance and meaning, many of the colors used in ancient rugmaking still inform the color choices of rugs made today.

• Red represents beauty, courage, or wealth, and a vibrant life source.
• Orange represents piety or devotion.
• Gold represents power or wealth.
• Yellow represents the sun. Yellow came to be associated with rulers and royalty, and subsequently, reserved for them.
• Green represents hope, renewal, and life. Green is also the color associated with the Prophet Mohammed, and is therefore considered holy. Green was seldom used in areas of the rug that would be walked on.
• Blue represents power or truth. Also, motifs that represent the afterlife are often depicted in blue.
• Black represents mourning and destruction.
• Brown represents fertility, as well as soil and the earth.
• White represents peace or purity, but can also represent grief or mourning.

Continue getting to know your rug by examining its motifs and symbols.

 

Flowers, fruit, and trees:

• A cyprus tree represents immortality.
• A lily represents purity.
• A lotus flower represents rebirth.
• A peony represents power or wealth.
• A pomegranate represents fertility.
• A tulip represents prosperity.
• A very popular motif is the Tree of Life, which represents heaven or an eternal paradise.

 

Animals and birds:

• A camel represents wealth.
• A dog represents trust and protection. Dogs are also shown as the protectors of people and places of nobility.
• A dove represents peace.
• Fish represent prosperity and abundance.
• A lion represents victory.
• A parrot represents escape from danger.
• A peacock represents immortality or divine protection.
• A ram’s horn represents male fertility, strength, and bravery.
• A stag represents a long life.

When you take the time to “read” your rug, you’ll find it’s even more of a treasure than you thought! Finding symbolisms repeated in your rug that have been used for thousands of years creates a very literal connection to the past. Your rug tells a story, and chances are, the story is informed by a deep history and filled with rich symbolism and meaning.

 

Keep Your Treasured Oriental Rug Clean

The cardinal rule of rug ownership is that if you want to preserve your Oriental rug, you need to keep it clean. A professional deep cleaning followed by regular maintenance cleanings will keep dirt, dust, and debris at bay, and ensure your rug will be in the family for years, and most likely, for generations. If your heirloom Oriental rug has been bundled in the attic for the past decade, the best professional rug cleaner will know the best methods for restoring your rug so that it can be enjoyed again. If your rug is a mainstay in your home and used daily, you’ll want to get the dirt and dust removed regularly in order to protect and preserve the fine fibers. Even if your rug does not receive much foot traffic, or perhaps is even used as a wall hanging, it will still accumulate dust and allergens from the air, so having it regularly dusted will ensure your home stays even cleaner. Trust your own Persian or Oriental rug to a good Northeast Florida rug cleaning company that knows how to remove the dust from deep within the fibers, and provide a gentle but extremely thorough wash in a professional rug bath. If you live in downtown Jacksonville or the surrounding suburbs of San Marco, Mandarin, Riverside Ortega, or along the beaches, RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning is the best local rug cleaning service, and the company to trust with your Oriental rug.

How Should I Vacuum My Oriental Rug?

Regular vacuuming is one of the best measures you can take to preserve your Oriental rug and prolong its life. However, it’s just as important to vacuum your rug correctly as it is to vacuum it at all. How often you vacuum your Oriental rug and the technique you use depend on four major facets: the makeup of the rug, the location of the rug, the level of soil, and the type of vacuum you have.

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1. The Rug’s Makeup

The materials that make up your rug and its method of construction affect how you should vacuum and how often.

• Tufted Rugs: If your rug is tufted, avoid aggressive vacuuming and intense suction. The fibers and dyes used in tufted rugs are sometimes not of the same quality as those used in Oriental woven rugs and can be weaker, so intense suction can cause them to break. Instead, use your vacuum’s upholstery attachment and vacuum in the direction of the pile.
• Woven Rugs (flat woven): If your rug is flat woven or has very thin pile, use the upholstery attachment rather than the vacuum itself. If you do not have an upholstery attachment, adjust your vacuum so that the rotary brush is as high as it can go, so that the bristles will not make contact with the rug. If your rug has thin pile, vacuum in the same direction as the pile. If your rug is flat woven, vacuum across the width of the rug.
• Woven Rugs (pile): If your rug is woven but has a sturdy pile, first adjust your vacuum so that the bristles do not come into contact with the rug’s fibers, and then vacuum in the same direction as the pile. You want to utilize the suction of the vacuum, but avoid the damage that abrasive bristles can do. Fine Oriental rugs should be vacuumed weekly, and every 1-2 months be sure to vacuum the backside of your rug as well, in order to loosen dirt and debri from the underside.

 

2. The Rug’s Location

In general, we recommend vacuuming a minimum of once per week, but for rugs in areas of heavy foot traffic, vacuum several times per week. Rugs in lower traffic areas do not require as much upkeep, so the rug in your seldom used guest room may only need to be vacuumed once every few weeks, and after the room has been used by visitors. As a tip, don’t forget to dust any decorative wall hanging rugs. Though wall hangings do not get any foot traffic, their fibers still collect and store dust from the air. Remove your hanging from the wall and vacuum it once per year, and in the meantime, press a microfiber cloth to its surface, or use a very soft brush to gently brush off dust. Homeowners here in Northeast Florida, and elsewhere in the South will want to dust both sides of the rug, in order to deter bugs from making a home behind the hanging.

 

3. The Level of Soil

If your rug has recently received a deep cleaning from a professional rug cleaning company, then you will only need to lightly vacuum your rug in order to maintain it till its next cleaning. If you just inherited a rug from a dusty attic or yard sale, however, you will want to schedule a professional dusting from a good area rug cleaning service. Similarly, if you have neglected your rug for a year or more, the first step is to get it professionally dusted. In these cases, light maintenance vacuuming will be useless, and will not do anything to protect your rug from damage, since dirt and dust are already present. After having your rug professionally dusted, then you can take over its maintenance with vacuuming.

 

4. The Vacuum

The suction is what matters most in your vacuum. The ideal way to clean your rug is by vacuuming frequently, but with low suction and without the use of the brush or bristles. Overly strong suction will damage your rug, and bristles can dig into your rug and cause the fibers to tear and break. If you use an upright vacuum, be sure you can adjust the height of the rotary brush or turn off the rotation altogether. If your vacuum will not allow you to make these adjustments, then it’s best to only use the attachments.

 

Dangers Of Neglecting To Vacuum Your Rug

The fibers of your Oriental rug collect and trap dust. Professional rug cleaners often extract several pounds of dry soils from rugs that are brought in for dusting. This grit and dirt is highly corrosive to your rug’s fibers and will cause your rug to deteriorate. The bottom line is that if you’re serious about your Oriental rug, you need to be serious about its routine vacuuming. Keep a schedule for vacuuming and dusting your rug, and stick with it. By keeping the dust out of your rug’s fibers, you can be sure you’ll get to enjoy your rug for decades to come!

 

Hire Professionals And Take The Worry Out Of It!

If vacuuming your rug is beginning to sound like more of a chore than you’d like it to be, just find the best professional rug cleaners to do the job. This will take the burden off of you, but even more importantly, will ensure your rug gets the most thorough dusting possible. At RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning, for example, we specialize in dusting Oriental rugs of every kind. The patented rug dusting machine we use produces harmonic vibrations – 47,000 vibrations per minute, in fact – to remove even the deepest set dirt and dust from your rug, along with pet dander, hair, dirt, debris, and bacteria. We offer our professional dusting as a standalone service, or you can follow up the dusting with any of our other rug cleaning services, including deep cleaning in our state-of-the-art rug bath. We are the best Jacksonville FL rug cleaning company, serving homeowners and rug collectors throughout Mandarin and San Marco, Riverside and Ortega, Ponte Vedra Beach and St. Augustine, and we have the perfect rug cleaning team for your own rug’s needs!

Can My Oriental Rug Be Cleaned In My House?

Keeping your area rug clean is important to your home’s overall aesthetic and to your rug’s appearance, but even more importantly, to the rug’s material and makeup. Dust and dirt get tracked into your rug’s pile, and if allowed to accumulate and settle, can severely damage its fibers. Keeping your rug clean is crucial to maintaining it, but it’s just as important to clean your rug correctly as it is to clean it at all.

 

Rug Cleaning Methods

When the time comes to have your Persian or Oriental rug cleaned, you need to choose the rug cleaning process that is right for you and best for your rug. For the optimal results and the highest level of care for your rug, the choice is simple: schedule a cleaning appointment with the best professional rug cleaning company and let the specialists design a customized cleaning regimen for your rug.

There are alternative cleaning methods that are cheaper, quicker, and therefore tempting to consider when your Oriental rug is in need of cleaning. For example, it is tempting to want to clean your rug as a do-it-yourself project. It’s easy enough to gather a few tools, pick up a gallon of cleaning solution at the hardware store, and go to work on your rug right there on the floor. Unfortunately, a D-I-Y project like this will end in disaster, and the finer your Oriental rug, the more damage it will sustain. These cleaning solutions often make claims that most likely will not come to pass. For example, the label may claim that it will rid your rug of pet odor, when in reality it will simply mask the odor with perfumes and chemicals. The cleaning solution will not have been customized for your individual rug, so it will likely leave your rug’s pile in sticky clumps. Perhaps worst of all, the solutions can cause the dyes in your rug to bleed, causing irreparable damage to the rug as well as the floor underneath.

It’s also tempting to call a carpet cleaning company to clean your area rug. After all, it would be very convenient to have carpet cleaners come right to your home to clean your rug, rather than have your rug bundled and taken to a workshop to be cleaned. Many carpet cleaning companies are skilled at cleaning wall-to-wall carpeting, but your rug is completely different and requires a different cleaning method. Carpet cleaning machinery and cleaning solutions are designed for standard wall-to-wall synthetic fiber carpets, but your Oriental rug is made of wool, silk, or other natural fiber, and would be greatly damaged if it were subjected to the standard carpet cleaning process.

In some very rare cases, exceedingly large rugs do need to be cleaned in place, rather than in the rug cleaning workshop. In these rare but important situations, a carpet cleaning company or a D-I-Y project will simply not do, and a professional rug cleaning expert will need to perform the cleaning process. The rug expert will have a specific protocol for oversized rugs, and will take all the precautions to thoroughly clean your rug while protecting the underlying floor and surrounding area. Even extremely large rugs can be thoroughly deep cleaned if you find the right professional rug cleaners! Regardless of what size your rug is, and whatever its fiber, pile, and origin, a professional rug cleaner will have it thoroughly cleaned, rid of dirt and bacteria, and looking great.

 

Jacksonville’s Oriental Rug Cleaning Experts

RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning is the company to trust with your fine area rugs. We offer the most thorough deep cleaning process available, and most importantly, we handle your beautiful rugs with the highest possible standard of care. We are rug experts, and have the training, experience, and deep industry knowledge to gently and thoroughly clean all types of Oriental rugs, including your finest antique Persian rug. Our state-of-the-art rug cleaning facility is located just east of downtown Jacksonville, and we serve clients throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding suburbs of Riverside Avondale, Ortega, Fleming Island, Ponte Vedra Beach, and more. Call us today to schedule your rug cleaning with the best professional rug cleaners in the business.

Benefits Of An Area Rug Stain Protectant

Your beautiful Oriental rug may be the centerpiece of a room, or perhaps even the pièce de résistance of your home’s overall design. You already know there are steps to take to ensure your rug is cared for properly, such as having it hand-washed in a rug bath by professional rug cleaners, scheduling routine dustings, and of course laying a rug pad beneath it and replacing the pad with each cleaning. Another important step you can take in protecting your rug is to have a stain protectant applied to its surface.   (more…)

How to Know if Your Oriental Rugs Need to Be Cleaned

 

One of the many great features of an Oriental rug is its ability to conceal dirt and dust. The traditional dark colors and complex patterns on most Oriental rugs can mask decades of dust buildup. Of course, just because we can’t see the dust doesn’t mean it’s not there! Another earmark of fine Oriental area rugs is their plushness and dense fiber content, and when the dust settles deep into the carpet fibers it can damage your rug if left unattended.

How Dirty Is My Rug? Due to your rug’s ability to conceal dirt and dust, it can be hard to tell when it needs to be cleaned. The dust in your rug may be hidden from the naked eye, so you’ll need to get down on the floor with your rug to properly investigate the soil level. We recommend the following techniques for gauging how dirty your rug really is:

• Hold up a corner of your rug and swiftly kick the center of the back of the rug. Be careful how hard you do this, especially if the rug is delicate or brittle.  If a cloud of dust appears, it’s time for your rug to be cleaned.
• Vigorously rub the surface of your rug with the palm of our hand for several seconds. Don’t rub too hard or you may distort the fibers.  After rubbing, assess your palm, and if it is covered in grime, it’s time to clean the rug.
• Investigate the base of your rug’s pile. You will need to look very closely at your rug’s foundation and examine a line of the knotting. If you see dust and dirt along the warp and weft, then your rug needs to be cleaned. No vacuum cleaner can reach the dirt at that level.

Note: To get a close look at the warp and weft, it helps to gently fold back the rug and examine the knots right along the fold.

 

There are certain measures you can take to keep your oriental rug as clean as possible. For example, take off your shoes when you enter your house to keep from tracking in dirt and debris. Vacuum your rugs regularly, especially those in high traffic areas, and vacuum the underside of the rug as well as the top. However, even when you take these steps to keep your rug tidy, it still needs to be professionally cleaned and hand washed from time to time. Find the best professional area rug cleaners and schedule a dusting, hand wash, or deep cleaning for your rug.

 

Jacksonville FL Oriental Rug Cleaning

RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning is the best professional rug cleaning company in Jacksonville. When your rug needs to be cleaned, we will take care of everything, including dusting, hand washing, fringe brightening, and more! Our highly trained rug experts have treated nearly every type of stain on any type of rug, using the best cleaning solutions and tools in the industry. We offer deep cleaning for stubborn stains and highly soiled rugs, and routine cleaning to keep your rugs looking their best throughout the year. Customers throughout Jacksonville, Ortega, Mandarin, Ponte Vedra Beach, and Atlantic Beach trust us with their treasured wool rugs because we clean and care for them just as we would for our own rugs. Let us do the same for yours!

Why It’s Better To Clean Area Rugs By Hand

The terms “handmade,” “hand-knotted,” and “handsewn” are often synonymous with quality, and when you have an article made by hand, it is unique and personalized. Persian and Oriental rugs are some of the best examples of this, as each rug is meticulously crafted by hand over the course of many weeks, months, or even years. Cleaning rugs by hand, likewise, provides a unique level of care that is suited for your rug and its particular needs. After investing in a handmade Oriental rug of the utmost quality, why would you have it cleaned any other way than by hand?

 

Machine-Washing Rugs vs. Hand Washing Rugs

High quality Persian and Oriental rugs last for decades and are really quite resilient. After all, we walk on them, spill liquids on them, arrange heavy furniture on them, our pets and children play on them, and they are subjected to all the rigors of daily use. With routine maintenance, a high quality rug can last for generations, but a single trip to the wrong rug cleaning service can wreak havoc on it. The best indicator of a good quality rug cleaning service is its method of washing. Find the rug cleaning service that hand washes rugs, and you’ll find the best choice for your rug!

Machine-Washing Rugs

Many rug cleaning companies cut corners by batch washing rugs, or washing multiple rugs sequentially in industrial sized washing machines. This method is not as effective as hand cleaning and can be quite harmful to the rugs. Here’s how:

• Machine washing rugs does not provide individualized care. As your rug tumbles around in the wash, the dirt and grime from your neighbor’s rug is being mixed into your own rug!
• If the dye in one rug bleeds during machine cleaning, the dye will transfer right into your rug.
• The mechanical process of machine-washing can be brutal on any rug, and the finer the rug, the more damage the washing machine will do. Older Oriental rugs can begin to fall apart in a washing machine, and antique rugs can disintegrate.

 

Hand Washing Rugs

Hand washing is the safest, most effective, and most thorough method of cleaning Oriental and Persian rugs. A rug bath allows each rug to have individualized care in these ways:

• The soil level and the types of stains can each be addressed uniquely, paying close attention to the fiber content, the type of the rug, the age of the rug, and other details that would affect the process.
• The temperature of the water and the pH levels of the cleaning solution are all formulated for the individual rug.
• A dye test is performed for each rug to ensure that the dye will not bleed or transfer when the cleaning solution is applied and the rug is immersed.
• Each rug goes through a detailed process of cleaning. It is fully immersed, shampooed on both sides, rinsed in a constant flow of water, and allowed to thoroughly air dry.
• The fringe is cleaned separately so no dye is transferred from the rug, and no graying occurs.

The hand-cleaning process involves multiple steps and is not as easy as loading rugs into a giant washing machine and pressing the “start” button. The process also involves training in order for technicians to be able to do it correctly, and requires special tools for the job, including a specially constructed rug bath. These features mean that cleaning rugs by hand takes extra time, and that the cost will be higher than the production oriented rug cleaners charge for sending your rug through the washing machine. However, this also means that our rugs are cleaned more thoroughly and more safely, and with the quality and attention to detail that will preserve the rug for years to come.

 

The Best Jacksonville FL Area Rug Cleaning Company

At RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning, we clean your rugs only the way we would want our own rugs to be cleaned: one by one, in the old world style, by hand. We have invested in rug bath equipment that is truly the best in the industry, outfitting us to thoroughly and safely clean even the finest and rarest of Persian carpets and Oriental rugs. To say we train our technicians is an understatement; we rigorously instruct and coach each technician to expertly clean your rug while handling it with the utmost care. Rug owners as well as collectors and aficionados in the greater Jacksonville area, surrounding neighborhoods of Riverside, Avondale, San Marco, an Ortega, and along the Ponte Vedra and Atlantic Beaches trust only us with their fine heirloom rugs. Schedule an appointment with us, and know your rug will be given the absolute highest possible level of cleaning, service, and care.