Saying Goodbye to Your Beloved Rug

Today, we made our last rug sales of 2010. A customer brought a 2 x 8 runner for us to clean. Her aunt who recently passed away had given her the rug a while back. Unfortunately, the rug was too dirty and stained to be worth cleaning. She ended up buying a higher quality brand new rug to replace the old one. We gave her a very good deal since she was our last customer of 2010. She told us to put her old rug outside for a homeless to take, but before we did that she asked us if she could talk to the rug. She told her aunt through the rug how appreciative she was of having the rug and being able to use it. She continued for couple of minutes and talked to the rug about other things. I found it very interesting that someone cared so much about a rug that she was having a hard time letting go.

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

ATT and It's Poor Services

Our fax and DSL are disconnected as of last week after the heavy rain in Los Angeles. Att is our service provider. Their customer services and response is the poorest. We have no Internet and no fax. We cannot charge our customers' credit card and this is very inconvenient.

When we call Att, we have to stay on the line for almost one hour while we have to listen to a boring elevator music and after that we have to explain the situation to several employees. They promised to send their technicians who never showed up.

We are switching to Time Warner. Having a business and a rug store and being disconnected from the world in the Christmas time is unbelievable!! Att is bad. Very bad.

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

Dirtiest rugs of 2010

We are approaching the end of 2010. During the year of 2010 we have gotten hundreds of rugs for cleaning, rugs for repair, and rugs for appraisal. We have seen some dirty rugs during this year that we haven't seen before in our 57 years in business. We really thought we have seen it all, until today. Today 4 different clients dropped of a rug each for cleaning. It has been the dirtiest day of 2010. We used up almost an entire bottle of sanitizer, 8 pairs of gloves, and washed our hands about 10 times. These oriental rugs definitely need professional deep cleaning and pet stain removal, as they are the dustiest and dirtiest oriental carpets I have personally seen in my lifetime. But since this is what we do and rug is our passion, this is another challenge that my company is taking. We have come to a conclusion that no stain is tough enough to withstand our professional deep cleaning. Our customers will be very happy with the results of these rugs. We also sold a 3 X 12 handmade Persian Hamedan runner.

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

Rugs and Trust Issues

It is Saturday morning 9:00 am and I was browsing the Internet. I stumbled upon a credible rug website with this promotion: Holiday Super Sale. Save Up to 90% Save an Additional 35% Off all rugs

Does this make sense to you? 90% plus another 35%?! Do people really believe this? Does this really work?

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

Rug Cleaning Rug Cleaners Los Angeles

What are we doing these days and before the holidays? Well; we sell hand made rugs of medium quality, and some area rugs (machine made carpets). We have done pick ups of some rugs for cleaning and repair during the past couple of days. We have been pretty busy with delivering rugs which we have had for deep cleaning in the past few weeks.

As a new service in these last remaining days of 2010, we have been offering free distant rug delivery for our customers. Usually, we do free local pick up and delivery. But to make room and to encourage our customers to receive their cleaned and repaired rugs, we deliver their rugs to their homes free of charge where ever they are. Now, our repair and cleaning inventory has reached it's lowest level in 2010.

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

A Sunday Without Rug

Since the beginning of 2010, we do not open our rug gallery on Sundays. Therefore, Sunday is to rest and to be with family and friends. My wife loves and I hate shopping. So we cannot get along by going shopping together most of the times. We go out sometimes on Sundays. Sometimes our sons accompany us and sometimes they don't.

This past Sunday, we went to Manhattan Beach, 15 miles south of Los Angeles. It was summer in the winter. Many people were swimming and some were surf riding. While the rest of the country was in snow and had cold/freezing weather, it was 83 degrees (29 degrees in Celsius) in Manhattan Beach. We had lunch and noticed that the police had closed down the street and people were gathering and sitting down on the street waiting for a concert to start.

There were few bands playing Christmas songs and after that there was a beautiful fireworks. It was fun. This was one of those days without rugs!

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

Iranian of the Day

www.Iranian.com is a very well visited website which is educational, cultural and full of articles/news on Iran and Iranians. Mr. Ari Siletz of Iranian.com visited our rug gallery in Los Angeles last week with a mutual friend. My helpers were redecorating the store and Ari spoke with me for half an hour while he was scanning the surroundings with his sharp eyes. He also took some notes. He was interested in Persian rugs which are art on the floor and asked many good questions.

I am subscribed to Google alerts and received an e-mail notification this morning on the article that Iranian.com has published on me. Apparently this well liked website has a section named "Iranian of the day" and they decided to publish a report on what I do in that section.

The ranking of the Iranian.com is very high as it stands around 26,000 out of roughly 300 million websites on the Internet.

I wish them success and hope they can write an article on the Persian carpet embargo to let the policy makers know that these objects of art are made by the individual weavers in Iran who have nothing to do with politics.

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

Rug Repair: A cosmetic Sergury

We picked up a rug from the home of a Hollywood famous filmmaker. The rug was severely damaged. Apparently a plant was placed on this rug for a long time and each time they watered the plant, few drops were spilled on the rug. It was dry rot. We did a cosmetic repair and cut out the damaged areas and jointed the healthy parts together.

Our client was very happy with the quality of the repair and restoration job. When our customers are happy, we're happy. Here, I am posting few pictures of the rug before and after repair.

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

Rug Repair: A cosmetic Sergury

Making Pancakes as Breakfast and Flokati Rugs From Bakersfield

Last night, my wife wanted me to make pancakes for breakfast this Saturday morning. I like cooking when I have time and feel like cooking. I did that and decorated the breakfast table so others can see my artwork! My younger son Kash who is a freshman at California State University Northridge (CSUN) was first to join me.

Right after we finished our breakfast with the rest of the family, a customer who had called me few days ago from Bakersfield (120 miles north of Los Angeles) for two Flokati rugs to be cleaned called me. She wanted to make sure that I would be at work before our usual working hours so she could drop off the rugs and go to a baseball match.

Our working hours on Saturdays is from 12:00 to 4:00 pm and many of our customers who come to Los Angeles from the neighboring towns and cities can visit us on Saturdays in which there is no traffic on the freeways.

We are expert in Flokati and Shag rug cleaning and repair. We receive these types of rugs all the time. Shag and Flokati rugs are beautiful and soft but difficult to maintain and clean.

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

Senneh, Seneh, Senna Kilims, rugs and Carpets

I do not really know where the term “Senneh”, “Senna”, or “Seneh” comes from. All I know is that Senneh rugs and kilims come from the Iranian Kurdistan, on north west of Iran and from the neighboring towns and villages of Sanandadj, which is the capital of Kurdistan province. Some scholars believe that Senneh was the name of Sanandadj hundreds of years ago. That maybe or may not be true, but whatever the truth is, Senneh kilims and flat weaves are the most delicate and finely woven kilims of Iran or maybe the world.

Some of these beautiful kilims and even Senneh rugs are made on silk foundation. This can be seen on very old and antique pieces and the rainbow silk warps are usually in seven colors and shades. Occasionally, we have the great pleasure of receiving these pieces for cleaning and restoration.

Here, I am posting pictures of an antique Senneh carpet and another antique very delicate tapestry type Senneh kilim which we cleaned and restored recently. Each piece belonged to a different customer. I enjoyed having them in my possession for a couple of weeks. The Senneh kilim was badly damaged on several spots on the background. The fringes at the ends were also falling apart. We did “overcastting” to secure the fringes and the ends. The Senneh rug was very dirty with moth and larvae in it. The fringes were damaged and lose. Both of our customers who had these treasures were very happy with our hand cleaning and cosmetic rug repair jobs.

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

Green Rugs Los Angeles

Many of our customers, when they come in to drop off their rugs for cleaning and repair or if they want to buy rugs, ask us what the "These are all Green Rugs." sign means.
Green Rugs basically mean rugs that are 100% environmentally friendly. This means that the pile of the rug is wool and it's hand spun, the dye of the wool is natural, the foundation is also cotton, wool or some other natural product, and of course it is hand-knotted. Handmade rugs might not necessarily be Green Rugs as handmade might mean that it was tufted which requires a use of a handgun to make the rug.

Green Rugs have many benefits. The main one is that they will not be any harm to your health as they don't have any chemicals in them. Another benefit is that since there are no chemicals, the fiber will not be damaged, therefore they will last longer and stay healthier. And of curse, they are art on the ground.


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

Christmas Rug Cleaning Beverlywood

Today we picked up a 7 x 10 Oriental rug from a customer's house in Beverlywood, Los Angeles. The rug is damaged on the sides, so we have to repair the selvages. It is also very dirty so it has to be professionally washed. The customer told us that she is getting ready for Christmas and wants to have everything fixed up and cleaned for the New Year. She also very nicely and patiently has decorated her house.

We are getting good amount of calls these days from people who are getting ready for 2011 and want to have their rugs cleaned and repaired for the New Year.

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

Oriental Rugs and Heavy Objects

I am highly against people putting heavy objects on their beautiful handmade oriental rugs, however many do so. We went to a customer's house today to pick up her rug for cleaning and repair and they had a very heavy glass plate coffee table on their Persian Rugs. I took 3 workers and we still had a hard time picking up the table. The disturbing part was once the table was removed. The spots on the rug where the table was put on was completely matted; the pile was greatly damaged. There were also many moths flying around and enjoying the wool piles. Where the table is heavy and it cannot be removed so underneath of it is vacuumed, is the perfect housing for moth.

Whenever we go to a customer's house and see heavy objects on their rugs, we highly recommend them to remove them so the rug can has less pressure to handle.

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

Rug Store in Los Angeles

Yesterday we redecorated our rug store. There were Persian Handmade Rugs on the wall for a while, so we took those down and put some new ones up. Even though these hand made rugs are made to last for generations, it is still not recommended for them to be hung from the same side for a long period of time. It's not healthy to put too much pressure on the hand knotted rugs. That's why we take our rugs down every few months to maintain their condition and health. Besides that, many of our customers are old time returning customers and we want them to see different rugs each time they come in.

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

Manhattan Beach Rug Cleaning and Rug Repair

Today we picked up two oriental 9 x 12 rugs from Manhattan Beach for cleaning and repair. They were beautiful Persian handmade rugs, but not in great conditions. We have to re-secure the fringes and selvages and do deep cleaning for both rugs.
We get many calls from Manhattan Beach for rug cleaning, rug repair, pet urine stain removal, and rug appraisal. Almost all of them are for pick ups, unless the owners had to come to Los Angeles anyway. We have had many good customers from there, so whenever we get a call from Manhattan Beach, we are always willing to drive the distance there to pick up their rugs and clean them. Once professionally cleaned and repaired, we give the owners a call and schedule the delivery time.

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

Successful Black Friday Rug Tent Sale 2010

The 3 Day Black Friday Rug Tent Sale we had last week went well. It started on Friday, 26th and ended Sunday, 28th. It was held from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.

We got rugs for cleaning and repair. We also received several rugs for appraisal. We sold few Persian handmade Rugs and some Oriental Rugs. We really had some great deals on the Oriental Rugs since we didn't trick our customers by raising the prices and then putting 50% off the prices. What our customers found more amusing was that we let them take the rugs home and see how it looks risk free. "Are you sure we don't have to pay anything?" a customer said. And thankfully, all of them who took the Persian and Oriental Rugs home absolutely loved the rugs. They gave us a call telling us that they would keep them.

The Rug Tent Sale was good for us, because other than the sale, we had a lot of excitement and got to move some rugs around. We also did some rug repair beside the tent so our customers saw how fringes and selvages are repaired and secured.

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

Black Friday Rug sale: NOT DARK FOR US

We came to work on Friday Nov. 26 at 8:00 am to set up the tent for a 3-day rug tent sale. We were ready by 10:00 am as planned. We were busy on the Black Friday and yesterday. We sold several hand knotted Persian and oriental rugs. No area rugs (machine made rugs) were sold. We also received several rug cleaning and repair jobs from returning and new customers.

Today is Sunday and the last day of our 3-day sale. Up to now, we're plus. We have covered our expenses with some profits. We hope to have few more customers today to buy rugs or give us rug repair and cleaning. It is cold and a little windy today in Los Angeles. But it is beautiful and sunny with clear skies.

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