Are Your Area Rugs
Dirty Enough to Clean?

Are your area rugs dirty enough to clean? When the sun comes streaming in the windows, especially during and after a long and cold winter, you may be quite certain your wall-to-wall carpets need cleaning. But what about that beautiful oriental or area rug? The patterns and bright or dark colors of these rugs could be harboring soil that may not be apparent at first glance.

What Types of Soil
Should You Look For?

Your oriental and other area rugs are vulnerable to the same damage that salt and snow can cause to the underside of your cars. Pets and shoes can bring all that slush into the house. Additionally, homes are closed tight during the cold weather months and can pick up and store ordinary household and cooking odors. Even air fresheners and scented candle odors can add to the film that can land on the rugs. 

What is the Best Way to Determine if Your Rugs are Dirty?

The best way to determine if your rugs are dirty enough to clean is to make sure to look closely at both the back and the front of the rugs for evidence of dirt (and moths and other insects as well). 

Separate the fibers and look down into the foundation.  The time to clean an oriental or area rug is before it is saturated with soil.  Gritty soil, especially, can abrade the foundation and break down the face pile.

The only way to prevent damage or further damage to the fibers and foundation of your oriental and area rugs is to have them thoroughly and professionally cleaned in a rug cleaning plant by rug cleaning professionals. 

So, Are Your Rugs Dirty Enough to Clean if there is no Obvious Soiling?

If  your oriental or area rug it is not obviously dirty, then check to see when it was last cleaned. Area rugs should be cleaned every 3 to 5 years (more if they are subject to a lot of traffic).  Thus, the answer to the question, “Are my rugs dirty enough to clean?” is still definitely a “Yes” if it has been more than 3-5 years since they were last cleaned.

They must be thoroughly dusted, cleaned on the front and the back, rinsed completely, and hung to dry as quickly as possibly in a temperature-controlled drying room.  An area rug cannot be cleaned properly on site in a home or business.

Why Contact ABC?

ABC Oriental Rug and Carpet Cleaning Co. has been cleaning rugs for more than 50 years in Ithaca and Tompkins County and surrounding areas.  We have a full-service rug cleaning and repair plant on our premises. 

We are listed as a Certified Wool Care Specialist by The Wools of New Zealand, an international company that provides a commercial range of branding, technology, and design services to the carpet and rug industry for both producers and users of their product.

ABC is a also a founding member of the the Association of Rug Care Specialists (ARCS), an international association of rug cleaners dedicated to the industry and science of area rug cleaning in specialized rug cleaning plants.

We have expanded our free pick up and delivery rug service 60 miles to the North of Ithaca, now serving Onondaga County as well. Your rugs will be cleaned to perfection and, if you wish, repaired to our highest standards. Depending on the services needed, your rugs will be returned to you in approximately 1 week. 

You can receive a price quote over the phone (call or text @607-272-1566) based on your knowledge of your rug and its measurements. We can answer any questions you may have about our cleaning and repair procedures. You may also contact us here.

Please click here for our Pick Up and Delivery Policy and our Pick Up and Delivery Service Areas.

If you do not live in our service area, please feel free to call or text our office at 607-272-1566 and arrange to send us your rugs by mail or through a delivery service such as Fed Ex or UPS.

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