What kind of dirt is in my oriental rug?

Pretend you're in a desert tent on your oriental rug (only it probably won't smell like sheep).

What is in the dirt that is in your oriental rug?  You may not care, but knowing what is inside your rug, scratching the threads when you walk on it may motivate you to look harder at your valuable rugs.

An oriental rug is made of thousands of tiny knots.  Rugs are judged based on the knots per square inch, with up to 500 or more knots in a 1″ x 1″ area.  Dirt can filter off shoes and out of the air, onto the rug.

Frequent vacuuming is your best defense against dirt damage to your rugs.   Vacuum thoroughly with a beater bar (stay away from fringes!) and flip the rug over to vacuum the back.  Sweep up any dirt that was beaten out of the rug onto the floor below. Then vacuum the top again.

The dust collected by vacuum cleaner from the carpet was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy.

EXRD spectra of the dust showed that the main components of the dirt were inorganic substances of mineral origin, namely quartz, albite, calcite and dolomite.

All that science shows that even 150 year old rugs can be cleaned, repaired, restored and look beautiful again (but hang it on a wall so you don’t ruin it again!) 

There is a great article on the cleaning and restoration of this beautiful rug from the University of Cairo that you can see here: http://e-conservationline.com/content/view/972

You probably won’t try to hand down to your kids a rug that is stained and holey, so keep them looking great with professional cleaning at least every two years and repairs as needed.  Leave a legacy!

We carefully inspect and clean your oriental rugs, employing the industry’s best practices to individually care for each one.  They will be cleaned by hand, not by machine using certified WoolSafe solutions.  Rugs are carefully washed and rinsed to remove dirt and improve the brightness and lengthen the life of the fibers.  We always protect your treasured rugs to keep them cleaning up for you easily and help you remove any spots with a damp cloth.

Yes, they are durable, long-lasting, expensive and worth taking care of — so keep them vacuumed and they will give you years of pleasure.