Oriental rug cleaning questions, answered

$4 to $6 per square foot at our Farmingdale plant, with free pickup and delivery in Nassau and Suffolk. An 8×10 wool rug is roughly $320 to $480; a 9×12 is $430 to $650. Silk, antique and urine‑contaminated rugs are at the top of the range. The price is set at inspection and does not change.

Because we do something different. A carpet cleaner runs a wand over the rug on your floor; we dust the dry soil out of the foundation, wash the whole rug in water, rinse it clear, spin it and dry it flat in a plant. The price is the price of the rug actually being clean.

No, anywhere in Nassau or Suffolk, both directions, no minimum. Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan carry a small fee.

No fixed minimum; small pieces are priced by the square foot like any rug, and very small pieces are quoted by the piece.

On delivery, after you have seen the rug. Cards, checks and cash.

An estimate from the size and type, yes. The firm price is set at inspection at the plant, because condition and soil load are only visible there, and it does not change afterward.

Wall‑to‑wall carpet is cleaned in place with hot‑water extraction because it cannot be moved. An area rug can be moved, so it should be: dusted dry, washed in water, rinsed clear and dried flat. A rug cleaned in place with a carpet wand is cleaned on the surface only.

The rug goes face‑down through a machine that vibrates the foundation and shakes out the dry sand and grit a vacuum never reaches, often pounds of it from a room‑size rug. Wet cleaning a rug that has not been dusted turns that soil into mud inside the knots.

For hand‑knotted wool rugs with sound foundations and tested dyes, yes; it is how they were washed where they were made. Silk is hand‑washed flat; viscose, jute and hides are cleaned with low‑moisture methods; fragile antiques are stabilized first. The fiber decides the method.

Every rug is dye‑tested before it is wetted. Rugs with unstable dyes are washed cold with a stabilizer and dried fast. Bleeding almost always comes from rugs being wet‑cleaned hot on a floor without a test.

Seven to ten days from pickup to delivery for most rugs; ten to fourteen for silk and for urine‑contaminated rugs; about two weeks door to door from eastern Suffolk and two to three from the East End.

No. Everything is done at 44 Executive Blvd in Farmingdale by our own staff.

Yes. Bring the rug in any day (call ahead) and stay for the inspection and dye test.

Turn it over. Design visible on the back with slight irregularities: hand‑knotted. A plain fabric backing glued on: tufted. Perfectly regular rows and a stiff synthetic back: machine‑made. Our guide on reading the back of a rug walks through it.

Often it is viscose (also sold as art silk, bamboo silk or tencel). Real silk shifts color as you walk around it and a burned fiber smells like hair; viscose smells like paper and yellows and stiffens when wet. We test at inspection and clean accordingly.

Yes, with a low‑moisture method built for the fiber: dry soil removal, a mildly acidic cleaning, uniform extraction and fast drying. What viscose cannot survive is immersion, steam and hot alkaline cleaning.

Yes. The foundation is checked for dry rot and the dyes tested before any water touches the rug; ends are secured; the wash is short and cool. If a rug cannot be washed safely, we say so.

Yes, low‑moisture only; these fibers brown when wet. Browning and colored stains on sisal may be permanent and we tell you at inspection.

Yes, by hand on the hair side with leather‑safe solutions, never soaked, then conditioned and dried flat.

On wool and tufted rugs, yes: the rug is soaked in a decontamination bath that dissolves the urine salts in the foundation before the wash, so the smell has no source left. Replace the pad. On viscose, jute and hides, results are partial and we say so first.

Humidity reactivates dried urine salts in the foundation. Sprays and floor cleaning only treat the surface.

Usually, if it has not been set by heat or a home spot cleaner. Blot, don't rub, don't add water, and call.

Often, if it is recent: a stabilizing wash and a bleed‑correction treatment draw much of the migrated dye back out. Old, set bleeds improve less. We test a small area and tell you.

Bare patches down to the foundation in areas that were covered or dark, sand‑like granules matching the rug color, fine webbing. Washing removes larvae and eggs; bare areas are rewoven.

Get it off the wet floor, unroll it flat somewhere dry, do not fold it or put it in the sun, and call. Water‑damaged rugs are picked up the same week and washed ahead of routine work. Days matter.

44 Executive Blvd, Farmingdale, NY 11735, just off Route 110 between the Long Island Expressway and the Southern State, on the Nassau–Suffolk line.

Every town in Nassau County and Suffolk County, from Great Neck and the Five Towns to Riverhead, the Hamptons and Montauk. The East End is on a weekly route; western and central Long Island usually within two to four days; the towns nearest the plant often within a day.

No. We move the furniture, roll the rug on a tube and put everything back on delivery. If you roll it yourself, roll pile‑out and never fold.

Yes. We are open 24 hours, 7 days, and weekend pickups and deliveries are scheduled like any other.

Yes; whole‑house pickups are the most common, priced together and returned together.

Yes; clean, wrapped rugs can be stored at the plant and delivered when a summer house reopens.

Every one to three years in a family room or hall, three to five in a formal room, every year with pets or in a beach house. Fold a corner and tap the back: if dust comes out, it is time.

Suction only, no beater bar, especially on fringes and flatweaves; vacuum the back occasionally; rotate the rug once a year.

Blot with a white towel immediately and stop. No rubbing, no heat, no store spot cleaner. Most stains we cannot remove were set by home treatment.

Yes. It stops the rug creeping, cushions the knots against the floor, and lets the vacuum work. Avoid PVC waffle pads, which discolor floor finishes; use felt with a natural‑rubber face.

Wash it first, roll it pile‑out, wrap in breathable cotton or Tyvek rather than plastic, and store somewhere dry and lit. Never store a soiled rug in a dark closet.