In this video, David uses a century old Persian Saruk Rug to demonstrate the proper method of cleaning handmade Persian and Oriental rugs. This rug was hand woven with 100% wool and all colors are derived from vegetal dyes.
Hand woven rugs are considered by many to be valuable works of art and as one can understand special care is essential in prolonging their lifespan, beauty and value.
Before cleaning a rug, whether the rug was made with vegetal, natural or synthetic dyes must be determined. Once this has been established, the appropriate natural product can be selected for shampooing the rug as well as the ideal amount of pressure that needs to be applied to the rug with the imported specialized 'scrubber' tool.
When this tool is pressed and pushed against the rug, it promotes the release of dirt and dust particles from the foundation of the carpet. Notice during this rug cleaning process that every time the tool is used it loosens the rug just enough for the dust and dirt to be pushed away and drop underneath the carpet. This 'scrubbing' procedure is repeated for as many times as is required until the dust and dirt are minimal. This method is essential to the cleaning of the carpet as it is impossible for any vacuum to suck up the dirt and dust trapped in-between the woven material. Once loosened, the particles can easily be vacuumed or swept up.
Once all the dry 'dusting' and 'scrubbing' has been completed, it is time to soak the rug by letting the water run on the top and bottom of the rug to remove the remaining dust and dirt. During this process more scrubbing is required until the water running from the rug begins to look clean.
Now the rug is carefully shampooed using a specialized natural soap (the one used in the video is imported from Iran) and scrubbed with a hand brush. Due to the thorough dry scrubbing and wet scrubbing with the specialized tool, you will notice that shampooing produces off-white suds rather than dark, dirty suds. This indicates the proper cleaning and effective shampooing of your valuable rug.
As the rug cleaning process continues through this video, notice that lots of water and scrubbing are used continuously until the soap is fully removed from both sides and the rug is brought to a "close-to-dry" state. At this point the rug is raised and hung in the dry room until it is fully dry and ready to be packaged for delivery.
When searching for rug cleaning in Toronto, rug cleaning in Kingston or rug cleaning in general, remember that handmade rugs require expert handmade rug cleaning. At Royal Antique Rugs we take your rugs very seriously and offer the expert care they deserve.