What every rug owner needs to know

Supermarket hired machines and cleaning solutions can permanently damage your rug.

Rugs are an investment for your home and can be expensive. You would not clean a Picasso painting with washing up liquid so why use a cheap cleaner on your expensive rug.
Poor rug cleaning can lead to dye bleeding, shrinkage and odor. This isn't always easily corrected. Find out how to avoid these problems and not destroy your expensive rug. If your thinking about being your own rug doctor it could lead to disaster.

A few key points when cleaning rugs successfully,

* Dry soil removal
* Check colours don't bleed
* Rapid drying


Don't Turn It Muddy
Why hired cleaning machines don't give a rug a full deep clean that your rug deserves, is simple. The main important process in rug cleaning is dry soil removal. If you don't remove the dry soil from a rug before cleaning, all your are doing is spraying water and cleaning solution down on top of "dust".
What happens when dust gets wet? it turns to mud. And mud is very difficult to remove from rugs and carpets.

What we do at Plymouth Rug Cleaning is very simple but highly effective for full cleaning of rugs. We use our Rugbadger to vibrate out up to 80% of all dry soil in your rug. This means we are cleaning the fibres of the rug and not making mud.

Don't let it  Bleed
Its very important to check the fastness of dyes in the rug. Yes on the label of your chosen machine and cleaning products, it will say test in an inconspicuous area before cleaning. But lets be honest here how many people would do this.

We test every colour in the rug, starting with the colours most likely to bleed, reds,blues and blacks. We then set the dyes as best we can and then clean the rug. The non-colour fast dyes will set in lighter colours, ie ivory, in the drying process if they are not treated.

Dry It Quick
It's very important to make sure the rug after cleaning is dried quickly. If you have used hot water to clean with, the theory is it will dry faster, but, hot water will make the colours bleed more then cold water.

No matter how much water you put on the rug to clean it, the water has to be extracted out. This will avoid dye bleed, shrinkage, odour, mould, mildew and damage to the structure of your rug.

Its always safer for your rug to have it professionally cleaned by someone who has been trained and understands the structure, fibre and cleaning techniques.

Find out more about how and why we clean rugs the way we do at our YouTube channel. Please follow this link Rug Cleaning Videos

You can also find more information at our website follow the link here to take you too it Rug Cleaning.

 Sourced from: http://www.plymouthrugcleaning.co.uk

For the finest rugs you need to employ the finest, qualified and educated rug cleaners.  Art of clean are proud to be the only registered Master Rug Cleaners in Cambridge.  If you would like some more information about our professional rug cleaning services please contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk.

We are a professional cleaning company who specialise in Carpet Cleaning, Rug Cleaning, Hardwood Floor Cleaning, Stone floor Cleaning, Upholstery Cleaning and Leather Furniture Cleaning for domestic and commercial clients through out Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

Beautiful rug from Marks & Spencers

Whilst doing a little online Christmas shopping I came accross this beautiful ethnic look rug from Marks & Spencers.  Though it may make a great Christmas gift idea for someone out there!


For the finest rugs you need to employ the finest, qualified and educated rug cleaners.  Art of clean are proud to be the only registered Master Rug Cleaners in Cambridge.  If you would like some more information about our professional rug cleaning services please contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk.

We are a professional cleaning company who specialise in Carpet Cleaning, Rug Cleaning, Hardwood Floor Cleaning, Stone floor Cleaning, Upholstery Cleaning and Leather Furniture Cleaning for domestic an commercial clients through out Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

Art of Clean rug cleaning Cambridgeshire UK

How to tell if your silk rug is genuine

Buying a silk rug?

When buying a silk rug you'd expect to pay a fair price for a quality piece.  But how do you know if it is real? We've had some unfortunate customers who have sadly be sold a rug claiming to be silk but in reality have just been good imitations.

Here's a short video that should help you make an informed decision.

Art of Clean are proud members of the Mater Rug Cleaners Association.  If you would like any further information on our rug cleaning service please contact our friendly team on 01223 863632, or see our website for more details www.artofclean.co.uk.

How to get rid of moths in your rug?

Moth damage to rugs was as a high this year due to the warmer winter we had last year.

What is moth damage?

Have patches of your rug started to disappear?  This is moth damage.  Moths have laid their eggs in the carpet, deep down where it is dark and dirty. The larva then hatch and start eating the dirt and fibers in the rug.  The larva will continue to eat away until they turn to moths and the whole process repeats itself.

How do you stop this?

Prevention – Vacuum your rug regularly, and give all areas of your home, including the darker less accessible areas such as under and  behind furniture , a serious vacuuming as moths like to bread in dark undisturbed places. A quick once over will remove some of the food and dirt that attract the moths, however a thorough cleaning is needed to try to catch the eggs.

Protection – Use a moth repellent spray on the rug, this will make it less appealing to the moths, however this is not 100% effective. *Always read the instructions carefully and ensure the product is suitable for your rug*

Professional help – if you have noticed the larva in your rug (they are very small, white caterpillar like creatures) or bald patches appearing on your rug you will need expert help immediately as vacuuming will not remove the whole infestation and it will persist.  To treat your we us a safe method of carefully freezing the rugs to -15 degrees.  The cold temperature successfully kills all the larva and eggs.  We would then thoroughly clean the rug thoroughly to remove any dirt, and apply a moth repellent.

Important fact

If you have found moths in your house you must inspect your whole home.  They are the same moths that you'd call carpet moths or clothes moths, and will live in any fiber including clothes, upholstery and carpets.  Any eggs or larva left elsewhere in your home may result in the return of the moths to the rug.




See our video below of Pierre inspecting a moth infested rug:

Art of Clean are proud members of the Mater Rug Cleaners Association.  If you would like any further information on our rug cleaning service please contact our friendly team on 01223 863632, or see our website for more details www.artofclean.co.uk.

How do you know if your rug is antique?

An antique rug can be a beautiful, eye catching accessory to your home.  A practical piece of art that welcomes visitors to your home whilst protecting the floor below.  Once only available to the wealthy, antique rugs have in more recent years become available to a broader spectrum of consumers.   When buying an antique rug, like with all art, you are making a financial investment.

But how can you be sure of you are investing wisely?

Aesthetic appeal and quality greatly define the rugs worth, and will possibly be the primary connection you make with the item as you consider its potential in your home.  However the age of a rug is the indicator of its antiquity.  And this definition as Antique makes a significant difference to the value.

What is the defining age of an old rug before it transcend to the status of antique?

Principally, it is very difficult to determine the exact year the rug was made, so only a rough ageing is determined.  But with in-depth knowledge of the history of rug making a trained professional calculate an estimated date of production by the type, colour, size and style.  Like a wine connoisseur, a rug expert can “read” the rug: where the rug was woven, the language or dialect of the weaver, and often her religion. Generally, antique status is given to a rug that is determined to be over 100 years old.

When buying your rug it would be wise to perform some research to educate yourself on some of the key points in rug making history so that you can be prepared to question the seller on details about the rug, allowing you to make your own informed decision on your investment.

Art of clean is proud to be the only Mater Rug Cleaners in Cambridge, one of only 14 companies in the UK.  If you would like some more information about our rug cleaning service please contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk.

My rug has got colours change throughout? Has it been bleached? What is it?

What is abrash? It is when colours change in horizontal bands throughout the rugs. A band of light pink, for instance, may lie between larger areas of dark pink. The colour-variation is called abrash.

Most often abrash is caused by variation in dye lots and often happened when the rug is woven in relatively primitive conditions. It can also be that the wool absorbs dye a little differently.

The light pink on the picture may result from a batch of loosely spun wool that absorbed less dye.

We sometimes get rugs that are so dirty that it is not possible to see the abrash. After the clean, the dirt is removed and you can see the lines of colours very clearly. 

If you are not sure if this is abrash or not, you just need to check the back of the rug and if you also see the colour variation at the back, then this is definitely abrash.

Art of Clean at Temple Newsam in Leeds - Rugs

We visited Temple Newsam and it was a great experience. Leeds City Council bought it from Lord Halifax in 1922.

We saw some beautiful rugs,paintings and tapestries.

Amazing needle work armchair that is made from colored wools and silk with panels showing biblical scenes.

It is amazing to look at real old items like this and wonder... how did they keep it clean so many years ago... They must have done a great job as we have the privilage of still visiting places like Temple Newsam and admire these items.

Many of them show their age but I am asure a lot of the things we fill our houses with these days wil not stand the test of time as these items have done.

Key to achieving this is the teams of people that take care of these places.

We had the pleasure of meeting the team at Temple Newsam.

It was amazing listerning to the stories they had to tell to the groups of visitors while we where there.

The Scouts and Guides clearly had a good time

Looking forward to our next visit