Ten Commandments of Rug Care & Maintenance

What do you do with your valuables? You take care of them. Why not do the same thing to your Persian and Oriental rugs? They are expensive and can last for many years and maybe for generations. The more you take care of them, the better they look and the longer they last in your home.

Here at Rug Ideas we present you with some simple and general ideas for your rug protection, care and maintenance. For more precise and detailed instructions, please contact us or consult a professional.
1- Depending on the foot traffic, you should rotate your rug and turn it around maybe once a year for even and balanced wear.
2- Do not let your rug be exposed to direct sunlight. The colors will fade away through time. Use appropriate curtains and draperies
3- Vacuum your rug regularly. Do not wait until it gets dirty. Dust and soil would damage the fiber of your rug resulting in its shorter life. When you vacuum your rug, be careful with the fringe.
4- When something (liquid or …) is spilled or dropped on your rug, act quick before it sets in, absorbed or dried.  Scoop us the spill as much as you can and then use dry cloths, or paper towel to blotter and absorb the liquid as much as you can.
5- Do not try to remove the stains with unknown and un-tested chemicals bought from the stores. Stain removal is a little complicated and depends on the nature of the stains, construction and material of the rug, dye used in the rug and different other variables. This is not a do it yourself job.
6- If the stain is solid (chewing gum, wax and …) use a spoon to remove it and follow the step #4 above.
7- Do not ask wall-wall carpet cleaners to wash your rugs or remove stains from your hand knotted carpets. They do not know the construction of wool/silk rugs and may damage your rugs buy using harsh/strong chemicals.
8- We at Rug Ideas provide special expert rug cleaning with local free pick up and delivery. Contact us for free estimate and more details (tel. 310-860-0460).
9- If your Persian carpet or Oriental rug is damaged, have it fixed by us by expert repairer. It will extend the life of your lovely rug. The damage will progress if you do not take care of it in time.
10- Take different pictures of your rugs and place them where you can find them. Having other information such as size, the country of origin and … may help in the case of theft, fire or other unexpected events.

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

Kerman Repair - An Inside Look

Today's post shows us an inside glance at just how the magic happens when doing a rug reweave. The Kerman rug in question can be seen below, which show major damage that has happened to one of the corners of the rug.

This damage is major and only could  be fixed with the help of a master weaver. We had one of our master weavers go to work on and we'll even give you a sneek peek of how the process went. A loom had to be created around the damaged area so that the reconstruction could begin. Take a look below:

Only a handful of people have the skills to do such work, and we are proud to have a team of master weavers that can handle very delicate jobs. Take a look at how the Kerman reweaving came out below:

The reweave came out terrific and the damage is not only totally gone but the rug looks absolutely original because of the high quality workmanship. If you have a delicate job for a handmade rug that needs repair or reweaving come to Rug Ideas where we can give you the absolute highest quality service!

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

Moth Season Is Upon Us! :(

This is the time of year when carpet moths show up in your home looking to snack on Oriental and Persian rugs. We are not the only ones who like the longer days, warm temperatures, and sunny weather.  Moths love warm conditions and this is the season to be especially vigilant with respect to our woolen goods, including our cherished wool rugs and kilims.  These moths are tiny things, hardly noticable as they flutter about. Tineola Bisselliella, they’re called.

Carpet moths rarely cause trouble to rugs that are regularly walked on and vacuumed, so try to keep them as clean as possible and vacuum once a week. On the other hand, they gravitate to dark, undisturbed places where they can eat in peace and often they cause really serious damage. They prefer rugs stored in places like basements and closets, but they will settle for Oriental rugs under sofas or beds or where rugs abut walls and are neither vacuumed or walked on and rarely disturbed. Often they chew away at the backs of rugs rather than their fronts. Strangely, the carpet moth seems to prefer dirty rugs, often avoiding clean rugs.

Be careful with moths.  They will literally eat your woolen goods, as wool is protein, and moths just love it.  And although repairing and/or restoring a moth damaged wool kilim rug, dhurrie, or kilim is always possible (we offer reweaving services for this type of damage), the best route would be not to have them damaged at all.  Some steps you can take:  never store woolen goods in plastic, dark, humid, or enclosed spaces; inspect your wool rugs and kilims periodically; expose your wool rug or kilim to the sun; keep wool kilims or rugs in well ventilated areas; never place wool rugs or kilims in areas known to be infested with moths.

If you do happen to have a moth infestation, call us immediately so we can first get the infested carpets deep cleaned to remove all moths and larvae. We can then offer our moth proofing service, which a bittorent that makes the wool taste bad to moths. So no matter what situation you are having with moths and your rugs, Rug Ideas is here to help. 

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

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

Custom Rug Job - Fringes Turn Into Binding

A Nepal Rug was brought in to our showroom by a customer who needed it cleaned recently. It is a beautiful 9 x 13 handmade rug that we had set up to go through our deep cleaning to bring back the color vibrancy as well as bring back the fluffiness to the pile. While our customer was filling our her paperwork she mentioned how much she hated the fringes on both ends, which had slowly been eaten away by many years of vacuuming and foot traffic. Take a look below:

We let our customer know that she could do a custom job on the rug to remove the fringes and sew binding on both ends. She was amazed that we could do that type of custom job and immediately placed the order to make it happen. The rug first went through our deep cleaning to get it totally cleaned, sanitized  and  deodorized. Once it was completely dry and ready we started to work on the binding. All the work was done by hand by one of our master weavers. We color matched the yarn(we use top of the line New Zealand wool) and the results came out fantastic. Take a look below:

Our customer was thrilled with how the rug turned out and cannot wait to get it back onto her living room floor. It is now clean, vibrant and now is a totally unique piece to be enjoyed for many years to come. Bring your custom jobs to Rug Ideas where our expertise translates into smiles for our customers!

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

Video Testimonial - Area Rug Cleaning/Repair

An area rug was brought in by a customer who first wanted to have the rug deep cleaned, sanitized and deodorized. There was also a pretty larger hole in the middle of the rug she wanted repaired. Once we started talking in our showroom she also mentioned how the fringes on her rug were quite an eyesore and asked if there was anything we could do about it. We have seen this problem many times and had a few options for her, for which she opted to have the fringes replaced so as to improve the aesthetics of the rug. Take a look at the before pics below:

We did the deep cleaning right away so when it came back we could start the repairs. Once the rug was cleaned the hole was the first thing patched. Now that the rug was mostly in one piece we went to work on replacing the fringes. One of our master weavers did the attaching all by hand and the results came out great. Take a look below:

Our customer was so happy with the results she offered to give us a video testimonial (see top of page). We love being able to help our customers with whatever their rug needs are. If you have a rug that needs cleaning or repair come in and talk to us to see what options are available to you. Smiles are all around at Rug Ideas!

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

Bokhara Cleaning/Repair - The Works

This week a lot of TLC went into a Handknotted Bokhara Design Rug, which a customer brought in after having a great experience with us cleaning & repairing a Sarouk that had been in her family. The Afghan Bokhara design rug had seen better days; it had not been cleaned in over 6 years and the ends and sides were started to fall apart. Take a look below:

As you can see the rug was in dire need of attention, and Rug Ideas was the absolute best place the customer could have taken it. First we did a deep cleaning of the rug to take of of all the dust, dirt & stains that had accumulated over the last 6 years. Once it was done with cleaning it was sanitized and deodorized, which was a great time to now proceed with the repairs. All 4 sides were to be repaired by the hands of one  of our master weavers. All the work was done by hand and we took great care to make sure the yarn colors used matched the rug perfectly so we could get a great finished repair. Take a look at how the cleaning/repair came out below:

The deep cleaning brought back the red vibrancy it once had and just leaps out now. The ends were secured so that no more damage was done to the design of the rug and the selvages(sides) were done perfectly in a great complementary red. This Bokhara now has a new lease on life and our customer is ecstatic with the results and cannot wait to put it back down in her home. If you have a rug that needs the complete Rug Ideas cleaning/repair package contact us anytime so we can step you through your options to bring back the life of your rug!

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)

Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)

www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com

www.RugIdea.com

Tel. 310-770-9085

Downsizing - Rug from Florida PT1

Today's post involves a rug that has been shipped to us from Florida and was referred to us by one of our repeat customers. The rug is a beautiful handknotted piece that unfortunately had some water damage to part of it and developed dry rot. Dry rot on a rug is extremely fragile and breaks apart just by touching it. This rug meant a lot to the customer so he has opted for a custom repair job of downsizing the rug to remove the rotted parts. Take a look below:

The dry rot look horrible and makes those parts of the rug unusable as it will start disintegrating when touched. We are going remove 1 foot from each side to remove the damaged areas, then do binding all the way around to secure the newly sized rug. This will all be done by hand by one of our master weavers. Stay tuned for a follow up on how the repair goes. Custom jobs are just another ordinary day for us at Rug Ideas; if you have one in mind, talk to us so we can help you through all of your options!

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)

Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)

www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com

www.RugIdea.com

Tel. 310-770-9085

Keeping It Clean For The Kids

Once a child enters the family it is common to see the parents go out of their way to make sure everything around the house is clean and safety inspected. That brings us to today's post which involves a pink area rug that was used in a child's room. During the course of use in their home for about a year the rug had seen a LOT of foot/crawl traffic and had picked up loads of dirt. Take a look below:

It was actually hard to tell just how dirty the rug was since it had been completely covered in a layer of dust and dirt. We proceeded to give the rug our deep cleaning process and it did wonders. Not only was it deep cleaned but also sanitized and deodorized. And at Rug Ideas we use no harsh chemicals in the process so it was safe to use in a baby's room afterwards. Take a look at the results below:

The rug looks absolutely brand new now and is ready to be rolled out in our customers house. The owner was extremely happy and was also surprised at how dirty the rug actually was. We scheduled a yearly reminder to check in on the foot traffic of the rug which is a courtesy we offer to all of our customers. If you have a child in your home and are looking to make sure your rugs are free of dust and dirt come to Rug Ideas where we can help you keep your rugs in pristine condition!

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

Foot Traffic Woes - Deep Cleaning on Tufted Rugs

Last week 2 Tufted Rugs were brought in by a customer who had been using them in his living room and den. These contemporary pieces have great design and color but look a bit wore down because of the stains foot traffic has left behind. Take a look below:

These rugs had a lot of foot traffic stains so our customer opted for a deep cleaning to get them back into shape. Take a look at the results below:

All of the stains were removed with the deep cleaning and our customer was happy that he now had brand new looking pieces that have been sanitized and deodorized. Foot traffic dirt making your rugs look old and worn? Bring them to Rug Ideas so we can say, "hasta la vista" to those stains/foot traffic!

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)

Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)

www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com

www.RugIdea.com

Tel. 310-770-9085