Written from what we see every week at 44 Executive Blvd
26 guides on what we see every week at the Farmingdale plant, written so you can tell what your rug is, what it needs, what it costs, and when to call. Grouped by what you are trying to work out. New guides are added as the questions come in from Nassau and Suffolk.
Get my quoteMost Long Island owners call every hand‑knotted rug "Persian." Many are Turkish, Afghan, Pakistani or Indian, and the difference matters at the wash pit. Here…
Read the guideIdentificationWe are asked "is my rug real silk?" every week, and we tell the truth every time, which is usually "no." Here are the tests, in order of how sure they make…
Read the guideIdentificationEstate rugs come to the plant from Garden City, Rockville Centre, the Five Towns and Huntington every week, usually with a family story and a question: what is…
Read the guideIdentificationEvery week someone in Nassau or Suffolk brings us a "Persian rug" that is tufted, or a "cheap rug" that turns out to be a hand‑knotted Heriz. The back of the…
Read the guideTwo very different services are sold under the words "rug cleaning" on Long Island, and they cost very different amounts because they are not the same thing.…
Read the guideCostWe get asked this every day at the plant, and the honest answer is sometimes no. Here is how we decide, so you can decide before you…
Read the guideCostRug cleaning is priced by the square foot, so a quote starts with two numbers. Here is how to get them right, and what else to tell us so the estimate is close…
Read the guideThis is not a question of skill. A carpet cleaner in a driveway with a truck‑mount unit cannot do five things a rug needs, because the equipment does not exist…
Read the guideProcessPeople ask whether they should vacuum, roll, or clear the room before we arrive. Mostly, no. Here is the short list of what helps and the two things that…
Read the guideThe rug that comes to the plant looking scorched, stiff and shedding, with an owner who was told it was silk, is almost always viscose. Here is what it is, why…
Read the guideProblemsA pink halo around a red border on an ivory field is the most common damage we see on Persian rugs from Long Island homes, and it is almost never the rug's…
Read the guideProblemsMoth damage is the most common damage we find on rugs that were stored, and the second most common on rugs that were not moved for years. Here is how to…
Read the guideProblemsAfter every heavy rain on the South Shore and every winter pipe burst on the North Shore, the phone rings with the same question. The answer depends almost…
Read the guideProblemsMost of the wine stains we cannot fully remove were not set by the wine. They were set by what the owner did in the next five minutes. Here is what to do…
Read the guideProblemsDry rot is the one condition that can turn a wash into a disaster, and it is invisible until the rug is wet and lifted. Here is how we find it first, and how…
Read the guideProblemsIt is one of the most common calls we get: "I had the rug cleaned and now it smells." Four things cause it, and none of them is…
Read the guideProblemsYou cleaned it. You used the enzyme spray, then the carpet cleaner came and "did the rug too," and for a month it was fine. Then July, and the smell is back.…
Read the guideHalf the fringe repairs we do at the plant were caused by a vacuum cleaner. Here is the right way to vacuum a hand‑knotted rug, and what vacuuming will never…
Read the guideCareRenovation, a move, a summer house closing for the winter: every rug that goes into storage is a candidate for moths and mildew. Here is the method that…
Read the guideCareWe remove more bad pads from Long Island floors than we deliver good ones. Here is what a pad should do, which kind to use where, and the one to throw away…
Read the guideCareThe Beni Ourain is in more new Long Island living rooms than any other rug, and it is the hardest‑working sand trap we clean. Here is how to keep it looking…
Read the guideCareA rug in a beach house lives a harder life than the same rug anywhere else on Long Island. Sand, salt, damp and a closed house every winter each do their own…
Read the guideCareThe fringe is the first part of a hand‑knotted rug to go and the cheapest part to save, if it is saved in time. Here is what it is, what damages it, and what…
Read the guideCareThe Oushak is the decorator rug of the North Shore and the Hamptons, and its two best qualities, soft wool and soft color, are also its two vulnerabilities.…
Read the guideCareThe honest answer is "when it is dirty underneath," which is earlier than most people think and later than some cleaning companies say. Here is how we advise…
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