Bellingham Rug Cleaning Services

Whatcom County’s only in-plant care facility.

Oriental Rug Cleaning & Washing Processes

We clean and wash rugs from all over the world including Persian, Afghan, Chinese, Karastan, Turkish, Pakistani, Tibetan, Moroccan, Flat weave, Needlepoint, Braided, Hand knotted, Machine woven, Tufted, Hooked, all Oriental carpets and other specialty rugs.

Pre-Rug Cleaning Inspection

• We make every effort to determine the origin of your Oriental carpet.
• A close inspection of the foundation, knots, fringe, kilim, colors, patterns, pile fiber, and pile density can reveal clues of origin.
• Determining the correct wool shampoo requires an experts evaluation of colorfastness as it relates to composition and PH.
• The overall condition, origin, colorfastness and construction will provide us with the information we need to determine the correct area rug cleaning process.
• Unlike clothing we do not have the luxury of referencing a tag for instructions. Our certified IICRC rug cleaner will outline the rug cleaning instructions once a pre-cleaning inspection has been completed.

We Dust Rugs Before Cleaning

Dusting Oriental Carpets

• It’s a “matter of fact”, however with wool fibers it’s a “fact of particulate matter”. Wool is designed by mother nature to hide insoluble substances such as hair, dust, dirt, sand, fiber and many more substances we call “particulate matter” dust.
• Could you imagine washing a pair of jeans with out empting the pockets first especially when their full of dirt. On ten foot wool carpets we routinely remove literally pounds of old dead broken fiber and dust lodged deep into the rugs foundation.

Wool Captures Dust Naturally

• More than 75% of all soil found in wool rugs is particulate matter and it gets buried deep into millions of tiny pockets called fiber cuticles. If not removed, particulate matter will reduce the useful life of your Oriental carpet. The abrasive damage caused to hardwood floors by sand is similar to in destructive nature as dust and particulates are to wool and silk fibers.

Our Big Blue Tumble Dusting Machine

• Our Tumble Duster creates a gentle old-world process for preparing woven wool and silk rugs for washing.  She gently tumbles rugs around and around until all the dust, bugs, animal hair and other accumulated particulate matter is gone.  We have removed thousands of pounds of stuff from rugs with this amazing piece of equipment. Our Tumble Duster (Big Blue) dislodges dead broken wool fibers lodged deep into the rugs foundation. Dusting is a critical step in area rug cleaning and rug washing practices.

Rug Cleaning/Washing

Submersion Washing

• We actually immerse area rugs completely in a mild solution designed specifically for oriental wool’s and silk. Washing is the most thorough cleaning process in the whole world. Not all rugs can be washed using traditional methods primarily because many Oriental carpets are not constructed using tratition techniques. We wash 80% of the time.

Rotary Shampoo in combination with Fresh Water Extraction

• This process can be utilized when Oriental’s  don’t meet guidelines for submersion washing. We incorporate this standard with bound carpeting carpets or cheap Oriental knock-offs, it’s a cost effective process for lightly soiled synthetic pieces.

Dry Foam Shampoo

• We use Dry Foam on many specialty fibers such as Rayon (fake silk) or when concerns of buckling, dimensional stability, or possible dye bleed exist. Many modern Afghan rugs fall into this category of potential having dimensional stability concerns and or dye bleeding.

Mist and Brush

• A technique used when dye bleed is a real issue. This is also a post cleaning technique. Moroccan rugs with turquoise colors are prone to bleed, just one example

Absorbent Pad Cleaning

• We may incorporate this technique as a post process when wick up is a concern. Modern contemporary construction or a large bound shag.

Rinsing Process

Fresh Water

• Rinsing and flushing with fresh clean cold water is 100% natural.
• We keep pumping clear the water until it running clean and clear.
• No wool shampoo, sticky residues, grime or dirt behind. It’s cleaner than when it was new in many cases.
• In-home surface cleaners leave behind chemical residue that can lead to fading, discoloration, quick re-soiling, and possible dye bleed.
• Without getting too technical, it’s very important to complete the rug cleaning process by leaving your rug in a state in which the dyes remain set.
• Have you ever left shampoo residue in your hair after showering? Leaving residue in a fine rug for an extended period will damage it.

Grooming Prior to Drying.

• After being washed, rinsed, and extracted we groom the fibers in the correct position to prepare for the drying stage of the rug cleaning process.
• The “nap” or pile direction must be corrected by grooming.
•  Have you ever allowed your hair to dry straight out of the shower without brushing or combing? It may be clean but is sure doesn’t look good.

Tower Drying

• Temperature, humidity, and airflow are critical factors when drying wool rugs.
• Our Drying Tower allows warm dry air to encircle the entire rug, expediting the process.
• Some rugs need to be dried flat.
• We utilize increased air flow in combination with heat and low humidity to accelerate the procedure.
• The area rug cleaning process is not complete until your completely dry.
• If you’ve ever left your laundry in the washer for a couple days you understand the importance of speeding up the drying process.
• Our Rugs dry in 24 hrs.

Area Rugs with Cotton Fringe

Before

After

Special attention is given to cotton fringe preceding the drying process.