Persian Rug Cleaning

When you decorate your home with a thick and classy Persian rug, with no doubt you’ll end up with a stylish home. Persian rugs just add a touch of elegance to anyone’s home in an instant. Stepping on it makes you feel that you’re on a magical journey where imagination can instantly come to life. There is an element of mystery with Persian rugs that can captivate one’s imagination with a flick of a finger.

Persian rugs, for starters, are a welcome addition to an aesthetic home. Cleaning it is another set of stories. Maintaining your Persian rug to keep its beauty and artistic feels entails a lot of effort because of its weight and mass. If you decide to clean it less often, it would accumulate lots of dirt and it would lose its classy vibe. Cleaning it more often would wear the fibers out and would again, loses its classy vibe.

Either way, not cleaning it and cleaning it more often would prove disastrous for a Persian rug. As suggested by experts, there should be a middle ground that we need to adhere to. There should be a well-balanced routine on when to get it cleaned. Cleaning it once every two weeks would be sufficient if it is not being stepped on all the time. Its location would play a factor in the frequency of cleaning.

Can I clean my Persian rug myself?

You can do Persian rug cleaning using vinegar and other PH-neutral detergents. If your oriental or Persian rug is not heavily soiled, you can manage cleaning it without too much reliance on professional cleaners. The material of choice for Persian or Oriental rugs is cotton and wool, but lately, other materials like synthetic ones or silk are being used as a material construction for Persian rugs.

Understanding how the materials react to substances is one great advantage when you want to perform the cleaning yourself. For instance, wool and cotton may react differently compared to synthetic Persian rugs or vice versa. Giving considerations to those things would allow you to take precautions to ensure that no damage that resulted from cleaning would come to your Persian rug’s way.

With brief discussion, a hand-knotted Persian rug collects a sizeable amount of dust compared to other materials. Persian rug cleaning involving a hand-knotted Persian rug would entail a greater amount of effort compared to a not so intricately designed one. We understand you love to move that vacuum on the rug’s surfaces and see how it changes its complexion from dark to a lighter one.

Where you put your hand-knotted Persian rug would also dictate the frequency of cleaning. If it is in your bedroom and you’re the only one stepping on it, it would require fewer cleaning sessions. But if it is in your living room, and it receives high foot traffic, then you will have a much different scenario.

Getting it fewer vacuum sessions and having it vacuumed all the time would dictate the amount of damage its fibers would have to endure. With that information, it tells you that a Persian rug is a unique and delicate item. You need to trust your instincts and your senses when to have it cleaned by yourself and the good thing is with common things you have at home. You can clean your Persin rug and have it looking fresh all the time.

Your Persian rug cleaning routine may need you to remove all the accumulated dust and debris that is stuck on your rug. You can do it by laying your rug on the floor and run your vacuum nice and easy on both sides. Use the preferred attachment when dealing with edges and other areas that need a much more thorough back-and-forth stroke.

Remove all visible things like dust, pet hairs, and other forms of debris. Be wary of your vacuum strength and the amount of pressure you use in using the vacuum. If your vacuum is a little aggressive, use gentle sweeping motion. Use a broom with soft straw bristles and sweep from one side until the other side in the fiber’s direction.

Or you can take your rug outside, give it a shake and give your rug a beating just like how it’s done the old fashion way. Use a spray bottle or a garden hose to moisten or wet the sides of your rug. Make a concoction of water, rug shampoo, or a gentle PH-neutral detergent and gently brush it on the rug using a soft brush or a cloth while crawling slowly in the fiber’s direction.

Squirt your rug with water gently and get all the detergent that is absorbed by the rug using a squeegee. Air-dry or if there is sunlight, then let it dry out completely. But if you are drying it indoors, have it stayed on a well-ventilated. room and let it dry completely before using it. Cleaning your Persian rug with vinegar can also be a good idea that smells funny. Vinegar can also remove some stains, so using it would be ideal.

Cleaning stained Persian or Oriental rugs using home remedies solution

Dog piss, fallen food bits and grease, and other not-so-good stains would seem disastrous for a Persian or Oriental rug. Getting it done, and getting it done fast, should be a priority. Vinegar and warm solution can help you get off with some headache with those annoying stains on your rug. A mixture of one-half of a teaspoon of PH-neutral detergent with one-fourth of a cup of vinegar with warm water can remove grease and other spills.

Is it okay to steam clean a Persian or Oriental rug?

While it is tempting to steam a Persian or Oriental rug for a better cleaning experience, but sad to say, having it steam clean is not advisable. While it’s true during the past, they performed steamed cleaning on carpets, but they had found it out that it actually causes damage to old rugs. Bottom line is, don’t steam clean your rugs like you would do your carpet.

When you steam clean your Persian rug, a sizeable amount of water deposits on your rug. Water will settle into the rug’s fiber and pockets and would stay there with no means of escape. It could have been a lesser issue if a home would have a facility to dry a rug properly, but if there is none, it would going to create some problems that would cause headaches in the future.

When a rug does not dry out completely, it becomes a breeding ground for mold and would actually to cause it to rot. It even extends its damage to your floors and getting rid of a funky smell that was caused by a wet rug would leave you with a sore headache and a runny nose. The different material construction between a carpet and rug makes a wide difference in steaming the two items.

Synthetic fibers are materials made for carpets that allow for easy removal of water when cleaned by steam. While wool is the most common material construction for a Persian or Oriental rug, wool absorbs water but does not expel it easily like that of synthetic fiber. When wool gets wet and does not completely dry, it traps water and soil and it becomes dirtier since soil would become mud and would make it harder to remove.

With so much said about steam cleaning a Persian or Oriental rug, I would like to stick with what experts agree to not have a wool-made Persian rug get steamed clean. Cleaning it using a vacuum as needed can be your best option. Refrain having it vacuumed clean more often as wool fibers would pack down with constant vacuum cleaning.

Caring for your Persian or Oriental rug

Vacuum clean only as needed. Do not overdo cleaning your Persian or Oriental rug. Too much vacuum cleaning would damage the wool fiber and, as much as possible, minimize the rugs’ exposure to direct sunlight. Too much exposure to sunlight can damage the rich and intricate color of your Persian or Oriental rug.

You can control the amount of dirt your rug could absorb by keeping off shoes and pets away from your Persian rug. Shoes bring a lot of dirt and mud from outside. Same also with pets, your pets can drag a considerable amount of mud and dirt from outside and into your rug and your pet can add a bit of poop and pee on your rug and it won’t be very nice. And besides, your pet would love to scratch your rug until it gets a fiber out of place.

How much would it cost to have a professional cleaning service of Persian or Oriental rug?

For 2021, an estimated average cost of $50 and $300 or $75 to $150 for a rug that measures 4 feet x 8 feet, and 6 feet by 10 feet, respectively. If you have to compute it by square foot, it would give you figures of $1.25 and $8 for every square foot. And the cost may increase depending on the method of cleaning or scrubbing and the type of material.

Additional factors like extra treatment or extra effort in removing a stain can give additional expenses on top of the average estimate. A much clearer picture of the following would be:

• High cost of cleaning is $300.
• Average cost for cleaning is $100.
• Low cost of cleaning is $50

As earlier mentioned, when there is an extra treatment done, expect an increase in those numbers and it still depends on the Cleaning company. There might be a slight variation in their cost of operation, but cleaning packages are priced competitively since there are several players that will do the cleaning job and are trying to keep and lure clients into getting their service, especially in these tough times.

The cost would also vary by method. For instance, Dry cleaning differs from cleaning by hand. An estimated $1.25 to $8 for every square foot is being computed differently as cleaning professionals charges. Rug cleaning cost for every square foot would have to cost based on these figures:

• Dry/Chemical method – priced at $1.50 to $5 for every square foot
• Steam – priced at $1.25 to $4 for every square foot
• Cleaning by hand – priced at $4 – $8 for every square foot

Why are they priced like that?

• You’ll pay between $1.50 and $5 for every square foot when having your rug dry clean because the cleaning professional would have to use dry or low-moisture wash. They use a chemical detergent together with a special machine that works into fiber. They can then vacuum the chemical detergent to work out to remove any soil and when it dried out it.

• You’ll be paying between $1.25 and $4 for every square foot when you have your rug steam cleaned. Carpet manufacturers recommend this method: it can clean deeply and remove any soil and dirt that stuck to the carpet doing no damage on any of its fibers.

• You’ll be paying between $4 and $8 for every square foot when you have your rug clean using this method. It uses more time as it requires operation to be separated, like shampooing the rug, scrubbing it and then rinsing it. It is the most advisable method for working on delicate and unique materials that can easily get damaged with ordinary cleaning method. This is not a common cleaning method because they seldom require it for cleaning most rugs. You need to consult the cleaners if they still providing this kind of cleaning service for your rugs.

Price of cleaning according to materials

• Synthetic – $1.25 – $3.50
• Cotton – $2 – $5
• Machine-made wool – $3 – $5.50
• Handmade wool – $4 – $7
• Specialty and oriental – $5 – $8

Why are they priced like that?

The type of rug material construction would also determine how you are going to pay for the cleaning job. If you can see, they are cheaply priced synthetic fibers compared to other materials because synthetic fibers are durable and cost so little to maintain. While other materials like Oriental and wool are much more delicate and need more care in maintaining.

• You’ll pay between $3 and $7 for every square foot for wool-made rug because wool would have to be hand-washed as it is only the only option for this kind of material construction.

• You’ll pay between $5 and $8 for every square foot for Oriental rug or tapestry because the cleaners would have to be careful with the knitting and delicate materials that would require careful hand washing. The cleaners would have to use sensitive cleaners with no harsh chemicals.

• You’ll pay between $5 and $8 for every square foot for Persian rugs because it uses the same care and method like the Oriental materials.

There you have it, having your Persian rug cleaning and Oriental rug cleaning prices. As you can see, we have detailed the expenses of having your rugs cleaned professionally. You know that different material construction, different prices. The more intricate the design and the material construction, the greater would be the cost.

The cost of cleaning would also vary depending on the size of your rug. The bigger the rug, the more costly it would be, and the thicker your rug, as usual, the greater the cost. Other services would also come into play on how the expenses would appear, added cost on these services like:

• Removing of heavy stain-  $10 – $40
• Anti-odor treatment- $15 – $35
• Stain Protection– $1.50 – $2.50 for every square foot
• Moth protection – $1 – $1.75 for every square foot
• Wool treatment – $1 – $1.50 for eery square foot
• Anti-microbial disinfectant -$2 – $2.50 for every square foot

Some professional cleaning companies may charge you a minimum cost of $50, while others may charge a minimum of $75. Always ask cleaning companies about their “minimum” charge, doing the extra mile of inquiring may end up having you save a couple of dollars. If you can perform a bit of DIY with your Persian rug, it would be better because, as you can see, referring your rugs to professionals would be costly.

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