Oriental rug weaving is a great skill which is passed down through generations. Rug hand weavers must maintain vast knowledge and skills with various weaving techniques. There’s a wide range of different patterns and weaving techniques, from kilims to piled rugs. In this blog post, the NJ oriental rug cleaning service team here at Aladdin Oriental Rug will detail some of the different common weaving designs for oriental rugs, and what defines them.
Sometimes rugs are improperly stored and end up becoming a meal for bugs. This can even happen to rugs sitting on a floor for years without being moved. Carpet beetles and moths regularly make full meals out of undisturbed areas. Sometimes, however, light bug infestation can be remedied, and the carpet or rug can be restored. Here’s Aladdin’s tips to protect rugs from being eaten by insects.
If you’re putting a rug in storage, here’s how to properly take care of it to protect it from bugs.
Washing will remove any bugs that may have stuck onto the rug, while also removing any impacted contaminants or dirt – that can also eventually dry out the cotton foundations of the rug, and potentially cause dry rot. You can usually tell if a rug has dry rot based on if it cracks when you roll it up. Dry rot can also be caused by improper washing out of any soap residue. Most professional rug washers will apply an insect repellent to the rug as a final step to washing.
We don’t recommend folding up rugs, as it stresses out their foundational fibers. It’s best to roll rugs tight from the bottom end first (when you pet the rug, if you’re going with the grain it will lead you to the bottom end.) We recommend rolling silk or older wool rugs with pile pointing outwards, and wrap in plastic for protection. If you’re rolling your rug with the pile inwards, wrap it in paper as opposed to plastic – but choose Tyvek paper rather than regular brown paper. NEVER WRAP WOOL WITH PLASTIC. Wool carries a lot of natural moisture, and wool wrapped in plastic can start “sweating” causing mildew.
Make sure to keep rugs stored in high areas, far from the possibility of being affected by a flood. Never store heavy items in top of a rug, as the weight over time can cause extreme foundational damage to the rugs. Always check any rugs in storage on an annual basis to make sure that all packaging is securely intact. If the rug was truly professionally cleaned and had insect repellent placed on it, you can check up maybe once every two years, but you will need to reapply repellent every two to three years. Tyvek paper, however, can be rescued.
If you’re unlucky enough to suffer a fire in your home – or if your neighbor suffers one – smoke and ash in the air can easily affect rugs and carpets. Particulates are dangerous for humans – and any sort of natural fabric. Here’s Aladdin’s guide on how to tackle removing smoke and soot damage from rugs and carpets.
Dry rot is one of the worst things that can happen to a rug. Mildew, dry rot, and mold are all various stages and types of fungi – and while mildew and mold can sometimes be removed, dry rot cannot be countered. Dry rot causes the foundational fibers of rugs to deteriorate and fall apart, and ruining its structural integrity. Sometimes, if stopped early enough, mildew and mold can be stopped, and you can go through with carpet restoration. Here’s Aladdin’s guide to dry rot, mold, and mildew.
Dry rot is caused by either too much or too little moisture. Floods, leaks, or evaporation through improper storage in plastic can cause it. Pets can also cause dry rot by urinating on rugs. Buildup of residue from cleaning products can dry up rugs and cause dry rot, as well as any sort of peroxide or bleach.
First of all, look for any color discoloration, especially areas with bluish mold. If there’s sources of water near rugs, look for any problems near that area of the rug. Common culprits are plants, water coolers, or ceiling leaks. Once mold reaches the inner foundational fibers of a rug, it’s pretty much impossible to remove it. If an area of a rug is stiff, or cracks when you bend it, or gives you a hard wood like knocking sound when you hit it with your knuckles, you’re dealing with dry rot.
Antique rug fibers can become brittle over time, and should not just be bent to check up on dry rot. With these rugs, look for any signs of moisture or spills. Common telltale signs are any splits or severe cracks across the borders of rugs.
Many carpet owners understand that the severity of stains vary based on what kind of liquid caused the stain to start with. While dirt and mud can pose one problem, red wine or oil can be a whole different nightmare. Some kinds of stains can be removed with relative ease, while some other kinds of stains require quite a bit more effort, as well as some specialized cleaning tactics. Then there’s the worst kinds of stains – that really do require intervention from a carpet and rug cleaning professional. In this blog entry, I’ll review the 5 worst possible carpet stains – and how to deal with them.
Even if red wine has been proven to contribute to heart health, it certainly won’t help your heart when your carpet becomes immersed in the red liquid. We recommend blotting up fresh wine spills to remove as much liquid as possible, and then using a clean cloth to dab away the stain with a cleaning solution made of a tablespoon of hand safe dishwashing liquid, a tablespoon of white vinegar, and two cups of warm water. Make sure to sponge off the carpet with water after using the solution to avoid making it smell like vinegar. If this stain is proving extremely tough, use a mixture of one part handwashing liquid, two parts hydrogen peroxide, and extreme elbow grease – just make sure to test it on a small area of the carpet first to make sure it doesn’t damage or bleach it – and always make sure to wipe it off with a slightly wet cloth after using it.
If your pet follows the call of nature on your carpet or rug, soak up as much of the liquid with newspaper or towels as soon as possible, wash it with cold water, and let it dry. We recommend using a store-bought cleaner or odor neutralizer – however, some stains might require a bit more effort. Don’t use any stain removal tools that add any heat to the carpet, as heat will set the stain in place. If this strategy doesn’t work initially, then re wet the carpet, and spray it with an enzyme cleaner (you can find these at many pet stores) directly on the stain. Let the cleaner soak in overnight, then soak it all up with paper towels. If none of these work, consider using a wet vac.
We recommend dabbing blood stains with a solution made of two cups of cold water and a tablespoon of hand dishwashing soap. If this doesn’t work, dampen it with a teeny amount of hydrogen peroxide – of course, making sure that it doesn’t stain or bleach your carpet or rug. Leave the hydrogen peroxide on the stain for up to an hour, and dab at it with a cloth – try repeating this as many times as you can. If hydrogen peroxide doesn’t lift up the stain, contact a professional cleaner – the sooner you deal with a blood stain, the better, as it’s much easier to remove before it dries and sets in.
If you have a stain that’s remained on a carpet or rug since before you can remember, make sure to enlist the efforts of hydrogen peroxide based cleaning products – and if this doesn’t work, a professional wet vac cleaning service. We can’t promise that even these strategies will work on stains that have long established their home on carpets or rugs, but we can say that in these situations, hiring a professional cleaner is the best bet. The only other alternative is to place furniture on top of the stain to hide it.
This is the worst possible stain. Put protective rubber gloves on, soak up the bleach stain with a cloth, and then use the cold water and dishwashing liquid solution to dab the stain up from the outside. Bleach will lighten the color of your carpet, so it needs to be diluted, removed, and soaked up as soon as possible if you want to avoid any long lasting damage. So if you see bleach spill on your carpet or rug, spring into action as soon as possible – otherwise, prepare to get used to an oddly colored blotch that you can always cover up with furniture.
As the thermometer creeps up and Spring and Summer arrive, many people will begin sneezing – a sign that allergy season has officially started. While the warmth of the sun surely will be welcome over the freeze of a few months ago, it also brings about a large amount of allergens – namely pollen which can make it’s way into the home, and stick inside upholstery and carpets. By utilizing regular carpet cleaning to eliminate impacted allergens and grout cleaning to remove any mold from tiles, you can prevent your allergies from getting that bad, so that instead of suffering from clogged up sinuses and a runny nose, you can get outside and enjoy the much nicer weather. Here’s some great tips for keeping your home healthier and allergy free.
It’s important to learn what allergens trigger allergic reactions in you or your family members. The most common allergy triggers are animal dander, pollen, dust mites, mold spores, and cockroaches. If your triggers are outdoor alxlergens, keep your windows closed. If they are indoor allergens, open all the windows in order to air out the entire house.
Draught markings are dark, dirty, or soiled spots that appear on carpets on the edges of the walls or under doorways. Sometimes they can even be found in other areas of the rug along the pattern of the floorboards.
Draught markings are otherwise known as filtration soiling, fogging, or dust markings. They are caused by contaminated air with microscopic dirt particles – the carpet filters the dirt from the air, causing an ugly stain on the carpet or rug.
The most effective way of preventing these unsightly marks from marring your carpets is to draught proof your carpet – this can be accomplished by putting hardwood sheets above the existing floorboards, taping their joints together to prevent air leaks, putting paper on top of it for extra protection, and using a flexable weather stripping like mastic to seal any space between the floor and the board. If all these steps are followed it’s highly unlikely you’ll have the necessary air currents to create draught markings.
Unfortunately it’s quite hard to completely remove evidence of a draught marking. Since the soiling of the rug happens on a microscopic level, the oil of the dirt might remain bonded to the fibers of the carpet. The ability to remove the stain depends on what kind of soil it’s made of and how long it has been on the carpet. The fresher the stain, the easier it is to remove. Venting marks – the marks that run the perimeter of rooms or rugged stairs, is caused by the limitation of upright vacuum cleaners to get right up to the carpet’s edge – prevented from doing so by bulky casing. Eventually all the unvacuumed dirt in the edges accumulates and becomes a serious black stain. We recommend the use of a crevice vacuum, or vacuum plug in to help suck up all the dirt caught up in the corners of your rug.
Picture this: you’re relaxing at home, enjoying a glass of red wine on the couch – allowing yourself to decompress after a long workday or busy weekend – when the worst happens. You slip. A noise startles you. You trip. The important thing is that the glass slips out of your grib, and it’s almost like it’s happening in slow motion – you watch, dejected, as a giant red stain appears on your perfect, (formerly) immaculate carpet.
What should you do? What emergency measures should you take? Should you be reaching for the bleach? Does cold water take out stains… or is it hot water? Try not to panic. It may look like dire circumstances but you can absolutely remedy the situation. Here’s the steps to follow so you can do that.
Before you reach for any other cleaning solutions, grab an absorbent cloth and start blotting the stain, using a fresh (not absorbed yet) area of the cloth each time you blot down – the goal is to absorb as much liquid as you possibly can from the carpet. After you’ve absorbed as much liquid as you can, pour some clean water on the stain, and continue blotting it. Repeat this a few times – but you don’t want to completely saturate the couch with water, rather make sure that as much of the surface stain transfers onto the blotting cloth as possible. This will make the entire cleanup process much more effective.
If you have a dark colored carpet, or a delicate antique rug, you don’t want to be using a harsh or intense cleaning solution that could degrade or abrade the fabric, damaging it. We recommend testing a small hidden spot of the fabrics reaction the solution before using it on the rest of it – this makes sure that the quality and color of the carpet won’t be affected by it – which could be irreversible.
The directions for this plan varies based on whatever brand you’re using – we recommend simply following the directions on the label if you don’t want to encounter any accidents.
Baking Soda
Mix baking soda and water on a 3:1 ratio until it’s a paste, and pat some of the paste into the stain completely. Once dry, vacuum off; keep in mind that for extra power try mixing baking soda with hydrogen peroxide.
The internal carbonation in a bottle of club soda helps it remove stains efficiently – we recommend using it when you’re blotting (instead of water.)
Vinegar works great on red wine stains – mix it with a bit of water and blot the stain – when you’ve done all that you can, blot afterwards with a bit of dish soap.
Mix soap and hydrogen peroxide, apply it to the stain, allow it to rest and penetrate the stain and then blot it away.
Poar a huge amount of salt onto the stain and give it some time as it absorbs the time – this should be a fantastic immediate post-stain therapy – simply vacuum to finish up.
If you were not able to get rid of the entire stain (as many people are) it’s wise to call in professional assistance. The expert cleaners at Aladdin are prepared with top-of-the-line equipment to clean up all stains – including red wine. Although nothing beats a professional carpet cleaning, these tips should do you well in the event of an emergency, It’s wise to keep these items around the house.
Here’s a great guide for buying rugs, full of tips and valuable information that can help you make your decision about finding the perfect one for your home or business. Are you looking for a traditional design – or a modern one? Today, many traditional rugs blend traditional and modern patterns. Here are a list of questions that you can ask yourself to help get a picture of the kind of rugs that you should purchase.
Match the carpet to the room’s general color – you can choose a single square of color or a subtle pattern. If the room needs a centerpiece, use a center focused medallion design – and if there’s another centerpiece in the room, use an all over design.
If the room has a lot of preexisting patterns in it’s furniture or walls, it might be a tasteful choice to choose a solid color rug in a single neutral color. If you want your room to seem cozier, choose a darker color. Bright color rugs make rooms appear larger than they are.
Do you have children? How about pets? Rugs vary in their durability – if there’s constant traffic, wool flatweave rugs preserve very well. Busy patterns are good for camouflaging footprints and stains.
Wool is more expensive than cotton, but lasts much longer. Machine made rugs are cheaper than handmade ones.
Once you have an idea about the answer to these questions, it helps to know a few of these words and terms – details about the material and make of carpets.
All kinds of material have different textures and feels. It’s up to you to decide which rug material is best for your room.
This material is easily dyed, so it’s available in a huge range of colors. It’s soft, and a more relaxed and affordable than wool. Cotton rugs are usually braided or flat-weaves.
This is the traditional material choice for rugs. It’s durable, soft on feet, and as time passes takes on a finish that contributes to it’s surrounding environment. These rugs are thicker than those of other materials. Wool from sheep raised in high altitudes have the strongest fiber. These rugs are best when they get professionally cleaned.
These materials are durable and perfect for floor coverings. Sisal is the strongest. while Jute is the softest. None of them are as soft as cotton or wool – but they boast special textures that other materials can’t quite match. If you’re allergic to wool, these rugs are an excellent choice – however they should be protected from both the sun and damp environments. These rugs are not easily cleaned.
This synthetic fabric is stain-resistant, making it a good choice for outdoor rugs.
This material is usually blended with wool in combination rugs – the addition of this material often contributes to the design by adding a light quality.
This pattern is complicated, and takes artisans much labor and maneuver. The pile is made by knotting yarn around pairs of warps all along the rug’s length. Both the asymmetric/open Persian knot and the symmetric Turkish knot patterns can be used. The more individual knots, the more long-lasting the rug will be.
This pattern can be completed by people or machinery – it involves loops being pulled through a attached backing material and trimmed to make a smooth surface. Then another layer is connected to the back of the rug to hold all the loops in place.
Similarly to in tufted rugs, yarn is here attached to a backing under an additional cloth layer – however the pile is not cut to create a smooth appearance.
This rug doesn’t have any knots or any pile – these rugs are created on looms and put through warps.
Well made carpets or rugs contribute huge amounts of beauty to the decor of any abode or business. With their patterns, colors, and designs, rugs add to the aesthetic of any surrounding furniture, and completes a space really well without being overwhelming. They add a sense of vitality and life to homes – and their placement inside living rooms, the traditional center of family life, can really contribute to the emotional and performative dynamic of homes.
It would be totally logical to assume that these rare rugs cost more than the Home Depot machine manufactured alternative. Oriental and Persian rugs are inherently valuable and pricey do to their intricate craftsmanship and limited availability. It’s no surprise that these rugs often sell for lofty price points comparable to rare artworks or sculptures – that’s because these rugs demonstrate the attention to detail that goes into any special work of art.
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