Vintage rugs. What is the safest way to clean them?
Luv-A-Rug answers a question that reveals why you should NEVER let your antique or vintage rug be cleaned in a tub with other rugs.
Dear Dusty,
I recently inherited a Persian rug that my great grandfather bought when he was stationed in Persia during the early 1900’s.
According to my Grandmother who gave me this rug, it’s a hand-knotted Kerman and quite valuable. Because this is such a special family heirloom, I want to be really careful about who I get to clean it.
After doing a bit of research, I discovered there are places that clean rugs in a tub - calling it a “rug bath”.
Dusty, is it safe to wash my antique vintage rug in a tub filled with water and other dirty rugs?
Loving my Kerman Rug
Dear Kerman Rug Lover,
You’re extremely wise to question if a rug bath would be an appropriate way to clean your Persian rug.
On paper the idea sounds like a day at the spa for your rugs, but the reality is a bit more shocking.
1) The truth is your antique or vintage rug will be soaking in a tub with other people’s rugs many of which are filled with pet accidents and other filth. It would be like you taking a bath in someone else’s dirty, urine filled, feces laden bathwater.
And if you’ve ever had to clean a bathtub ring after someone had a bath, can you imagine how much filth must be in a tub after dozens of dirty rugs were soaking in the same water?
An example of a ruined rug because it was not properly prepared before washing
2) The water is not changed after each individual rug. Instead of emptying the tub after every wash like your washing machine does, companies who wash rugs in tubs reuse the dirty water over and over again.
It’s cheaper for them to cut corners and use Dichlor (aka pool shock) to “sanitize” the water instead of losing time and money waiting 1.5 hours to drain and refill a 1200 gallon tub each time.
3) Dichlor is not safe on 100% safe for wool rugs. If extreme care is not used with Dichlor, it can cause wool rugs to yellow, lose color and even breakdown their fibers.
Because people make mistakes, get distracted or become careless, it’s easy for concentrations of chemicals put in the water to be high enough to damage your rugs.
It’s for this reason many organizations that promote the best practices & products for wool rug maintenance, do NOT really approve the use of chlorine based bleaches like Dichlor especially on wool antique or vintage rugs.
The Only Local Victoria Company That Cleans Antique and Vintage Rugs Properly
While many companies claim they clean area rugs, the truth is very few have the knowledge, expertise or the equipment to do it right.
To clean your Persian Kerman vintage rug safely, it needs to be carefully hand-washed by itself, from the front, the back and all the way through using a flat sloped floor that guarantees no cross contamination from other rugs can happen.
Also only fresh clean water and gentle cleansers safe for wool and other materials should ever be used on rugs.
This is where Luv-A-Rug Services Inc. comes in.
We here at Luv-A-Rug not only understand all the unique strengths, weaknesses, history and construction of rugs - including your Kerman vintage rug...
...but we‘ve even designed and built special equipment for the industry to clean rugs without compromise.
Luv-A-Rug’s method of washing rugs never exposes your rug to the filth of someone else's rugs or endangers the integrity of your rug with chemicals.
Our process is so amazingly efficient we can confidently promise “You’ll fall in love with your rug all over again.”
In fact, we invite you to watch us cleaning all area rugs including antique and vintage rugs by going to our live webcam over at: Luvarug.com/real
There you will see how each rug is individually inspected and cleaned without exposure to Dichlor, the contaminates of someone else’s dirty rug or any other types of shenanigans lazy rug washers like to use.
