Oriental Rug Cleaning in Mott Haven, Bronx

Walk down the restored blocks off Alexander Avenue and you will see why a fine rug suits these homes. The parlor floors have high ceilings, carved mantels and long windows, and a handmade carpet in the middle of the room is part of the look. Plenty of apartments nearby hold one too, often a family piece that has moved with its owners more than once.

Because every knot on these rugs is tied by hand, often with plant-based colors, a regular machine clean can make dyes run or leave the wool stiff. We handle them a different way.

Our crew collects the rug, takes it to our plant for a hand wash, and returns it. You pay nothing extra for either trip.

Before anything else, our rug technician turns the piece over and reads the back. The knot count, the warp and weft, and any repairs tell us how it was made and how much handling it can take. Worn patches, moth trails and frayed ends get noted for you.

A heavy beating and vacuum come next. Parlor rugs sit in the main room for years, and the grit that falls between the knots works like sandpaper on the wool every time someone walks across it.

Then a damp white cloth is pressed on each color. If any dye lifts, the wash is changed, with cooler water and a milder solution. The rug is soaked and gently worked by hand, rinsed until nothing more comes out, and dried flat in moving air.

The fringe is washed and combed straight. If we find moth activity, a common thing when a rug has spent a season rolled in storage, it can be treated before the rug comes home.

Strong afternoon sun through tall front windows bleaches wool slowly. We point out sun fade when we examine the rug, since washing brightens colors but cannot restore what light has taken away. A quarter turn every few months spreads the exposure.

Flat-woven kilims and soumaks are thinner than pile rugs and want to curl or skew as they dry, so they are blocked square on the drying floor.

Machine-made and modern rugs are covered on our area rug cleaning in Mott Haven page.

Arrange collection of an oriental rug in Mott Haven, 10454, at 1-800-589-4364, or request a free quote online. A first cleaning is 10% off. Everything else we do here is listed under our Mott Haven page.