Kashan Rug Cleaning and Repair

A customer brought in a pair of dirty Kashan rugs, ca. 5' x 7' 5" for cleaning and repair. The fringes on both ends were severely damaged by using them on the floor for many years and also by vacuum cleaner. We first cleaned the rugs and then re-fringed them. Our customer was overwhelmed when he came in just a few minutes ago to pick them up. For a business, nothing is more gratifying than having happy and satisfied customers.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

A Response to a Very Irresponsible Comment

In my earlier post, I cited an anonymous comment  from a reader of my blog criticizing me for cleaning rugs for " a bunch of white Americans that have their noses high up in the air." I did not see that comment worth responding. But another follower of my blog, Mary, a very respected lady who manages a well established rug cleaning company in B.C. Canada, took time to respond to this comment.

You can visit this link to read Mary's point of view.
http://ruglovermary.blogspot.com/2011/04/narrow-point-of-view.html

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

You drive around like a pizza delivery guy

I received this anonymous comment on one of my recent posts on tapestry cleaning, tapestry repair/restoration. I don't intend to reply to this comment. It may be from a competitor or someone that I do not care about.  

"Sorry, but what kind of life is this you live as an "American-Iranian" in USA? You drive around like a pizza delivery guy, to a bunch of white Americans that has their noses high up in the air, to pick up their carpets. Then you work hard like an animal, trying taking away the piss and shit that their dogs have done in their carpets. I mean, life could have been better at your age. At this age, you still do this? Where do you find your motivation? Especially when the right winged fundamentalist Americans talk so bad, and tell so many lies about Iran. Im from Sweden, maybe thats why i dont like USA. We are very "anti-America" in Sweden, which im proud of. I love Persian carpets, but i would never go to a Persian carpet dealer here and ask him to wash my carpet. I show Iranians in Sweden respect, and only buy carpets of them instead."



Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Iranian African American Named Tehran!

I watched this video at work. Although long, I could not stop watching it. This post and this video has nothing to do with carpets, but it is worth watching. Great job by an Iranian African American.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Tapestry Cleaning Tapestry Repair and Restoration

We have been working on the restoration of a big 10' x 14' antique French tapestry. Probably 2/3 of the repair is done. I have assigned two of our master weavers to work on this  beautiful 18th century masterpiece. The construction is made of cotton, wool and silk. The foundation of this tapestry is very weak and it gets damaged whenever we wrap and un-wrap it. We will sew and attach a canvas backing to it for extra support. Repair and restoration of old and antique tapestries is one of our specialties.

I spent a couple of hours this Saturday afternoon inspecting the tapestry, taking pictures and videos. I am posting few pictures of the repair here. I will have to post the video later in another post after it is edited.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

BNI Membership Extravaganza

In earlier posts I had written about my membership with Business Network International AKA BNI. Our Money Makers chapter which is very active in Los Angeles meets every Thursday morning at about 7:45 am in Rancho Park's Golf Restaurant. This is a referral organization and a new way of marketing. 

Last Thursday, we had a bigger event called BNI Membership Extravaganza. Many members had invited guests to see if they would like to join BNI.  Our chapter along with another chapter was the host so we had to be in the meeting by 6:10 am. Yes, 6:10 am to be ready for the guests who would show up at 7:00 am. Sys Bronner and Dave Rittenhouse did the rehearsal to make sure that all the committee members knew their roles. There was plenty of coffee to make sure that those who were not morning persons could stay awake. There was also plenty of food for every taste.

The meeting went very well and it was a good opportunity for all the members and guests to network and find new friends and prospects. We finished almost by 9:00 am. I like that our BNI meetings do not interfere with my working hours which is 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Animal Carpets

In an earlier post I mentioned that I have made a blog which specifically deals with animal carpets. This has been a topic of interest for me for a long time. Lately I wanted to do some research on this subject and the more I read about it, the more fascinated I become. I have gotten some interesting findings regarding the early examples of animal design carpets.

This new blog had no rankings when I established it a couple of weeks ago. It is now on the third page of Google if you search for animal carpets. I guess Google has noticed my passion for this subject!

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Tapestry, To Cover It By Heavy Fabric

I stumbled upon an interesting blog on tapestries. It is full of information on different aspects of tapestries.  It shows the top 50 tapestry blogs. It is definitely worth visiting. You can click on this link to be directed to this blog. Enjoy it. On the top, you will read this:

Sewn Together by a Thread: Top 50 Tapestry Blogs
What did people do before digital cameras or even photography? Back in the 1400’s, they used to make tapestries, a form of art using textiles woven on a wooden device called a loom. Derived from French, tapestry means “to cover with heavy fabric.” The subjects of tapestries included everything from religious works to landscapes.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Carpet Rug Workshop Los Angeles

A lady named Charlene called me two months ago from San Diego to see if I could have a Persian carpet workshop for her Persian (Farsi) language students, all adults in my rug gallery. She wanted to expose her students to other artistic, cultural and historical aspects of Iran and the role Persian carpets could play a in this context. My answer was yes. We did the planning for last Saturday April 4th, 2011 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. We had 45 people who drove from San Diego to Los Angeles to attend and participate in the unique experience.

We started with playing three exclusive video clips on Qashqai rugs (13 minutes), Afshar rugs and kilims (9 minutes), and a video of Ardabil carpet cleaning (15 minutes). At the end of each video, we had questions and answers. I also has a power-point presentation on the oldest rug ever, the Pazyryk carpet which is being kept in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in Russia with the analysis of the design and dye. This rug is only 2500 years old! I showed some pictures of the biggest carpet made ever. This rug was made in Iran for a mosque in an Arabic country in the Persian Gulf. The size is around 65,000 square feet, a little bigger than a football stadium! We talked about rug buying and how prices are determined and many more subjects and issues. We had live rug repair and restoration show and these men and women asked whatever they wanted on carpets and related matters.

They all signed beautiful thank you cards and some wrote on the cards in Farsi. We appreciated them by having raffles and giving a 3' x 5' handmade rug and two rug books as the prizes. Everybody seemed to be very pleased and happy. I will write more on this carpet workshop in another post. My sons, my wife and a couple of staff accompanied me and helped me with all the work.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Rug Cleaning, Rug Repair promotions

We love our customers and sometimes we legally bribe them by giving them good promotional items. They also love these free of charge gifts. Who doesn't like free stuff these days?A couple of weeks ago, we ordered durable bags/tote with our website and telephone numbers on them. We received the bags today. I love them. They look great. As usual, Teresa, a BNI friend who has a promotional company named Gifted Creative Marketing Solutions does and makes these items for our company.

In Santa Monica and in other neighboring cities of Los Angeles, there will be a ban on using plastic bags and giving them to customers in the stores and in the supermarkets. This is to save the environment and we will help our customers to joint this green movement. So far, I have given few of these bags to few customers who have stopped by to pick up their cleaned and repaired rugs. They all loved the bags.

I am a Trojan and a USC (University of Southern California) alumni. These bags, like USC logo and other stuff, have burgundy and gold colors. I like the bags to remind me of my great university from which I got my second master's degree and my Ph.D.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Poot, A Beautiful Persian Carpet Documentary

I stumbled upon this beautiful documentary on Persian carpet. I would like to share it here with my viewers. It is made by Elham a documentary film maker in Tehran. She is only 29 years old. This is a 40-minute documentary which drew a lot of attention. It was shown and screened in Amsterdam International Film Festival ADFA  last November. I have a less than 2-minute trailer of the film here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Bokhara Rugs Bokhara Carpets and Turkmen Gul Design

Bokhara Carpet Design

Bokhara is a province in Uzbekistan. This country has 14 provinces with the total population of 30 million. Bokhara province has a population of around 2 million. Bokhara was a center for the trade of Turkmen carpets. These carpets had and still have a design with repetitive stylized geometric octagonal flower called Gul. Turkmen weavers used guls in rows and columns in their carpets. This design has been used in many other regions and countries around the world. It has been called Bokhara and Pakistan has been producing Bokhara design carpets since many decades ago probably from the 50’s.

Pakistani carpets with Bokhara designs were very popular in the 60’s and 70’s. Many of our customers who have Bokhara carpets made in Pakistan have bought these rugs in the 60’s and 70’s. Some people still like Pakistani Bokhara carpets and we receive these rugs quite often for cleaning and repair. Some of these rugs are made with New Zealand imported wool which has a silky and shiny look. Others are made with local Pakistani wool with less sheen, and luster with high pile.

This Gul design is also widely used in Afghan rugs. The Afghan rugs mostly have wool foundations while the Pakistani's have cotton foundations. 

These Bokhara Pakistani rugs were hot items in the 70’s, but there is no such a high demand for these rugs anymore. Pakistani producers and weavers have now shifted their attention to other types of rugs with less geometric, but more relaxed designs with big flowers and motifs.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Animal Carpets, Animal Rugs; I Finally Made It!

For a long time, I was thinking of writing about animal rugs and animal carpets. Animals have been part of human lives from the beginning. We haven't been alone on this plant by ourselves. The pictures of animals have been used on almost everything.

I was and still am fascinated by carpets with animal themes.  Some of the rugs we sell, clean or repair have pictures of animals. Some of them look real animals; some of these animals look exotic, fantastic, or mythical. Some of these animals on carpets are sitting idle doing nothing while some are in motion, flying, swimming, jumping or even more exciting fighting and combating each other.

I launched a new blog called Animal Carpets yesterday. I exclusively deal with carpets with animal themes on this new blog. Will I have time to write on two blogs, manage my rug gallery and its two very active and well optimized web sites, spend time with my family and friends, do personal stuff, and more? I believe yes. Life is too short and we have to work hard and do something. We have to contribute to our fields of study and profession. With a little touch and spice of love, almost anything is achievable.

Well; good luck. It is 7:30 am. I will have a very busy day. I better get ready for work.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Malibu Rug Cleaning, Rug Repair, and Rug Appraisal

Today I went to a customer's house in Malibu, California to appraise six Oriental rugs. Her rugs were in good condition and did not need professional carpet cleaning or rug repair at this time. The rugs were laid out next to each other so I could appraise them. I really enjoyed the appraisal because as I was appraising her rugs, I had a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean in front of me. While I was there, I saw a lot of dolphins in the water swimming not too far from her house. When her Oriental rugs need to be professionally cleaned and repaired, I will pick them up myself so I can enjoy the ocean view again.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

No Carpets, No Rugs Today!

By looking at the pictures, it is obvious that I did not go to work today which was Sunday. Therefore, today, I had no story of carpets and rugs to write about. Instead, I went for a walk and hiking in Temascal Canyon with my wife, and my younger son Kash. First we went for breakfast to a small restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway by the Ocean on the way to Malibu. Then we went for an hour of walk.

It is always good to sneak out to go to nature specially if you can go with your friends, family members or your loved ones. This would detox your body and soul. In the afternoon, I went shopping with my older son Ashkan to buy suits, jackets and shirts. This was long overdue as each of us have been very busy lately; so we took a couple of hours off to check out a store to buy suits. Ashkan and I both hate shopping, therefore once in a while that we go to shop pants, suits or jackets, we buy few pieces to be able to skip shopping for a while!

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085