Area and oriental rugs
Rugs washed in a bath, not on your floor
Picked up, tagged and measured, washed in a submersion bath at the warehouse, dried in a controlled room and re-delivered.
Tagged, measured and photographed before anything is washed
An oriental rug is rarely just a floor covering. It is wool and dye and decades of use, and the first job is to know exactly what came in. At the Spectrum warehouse, every rug is tagged, invoiced, measured and photographed, so the rug that goes home matches the rug that left.
Then comes the pre-inspection, where the crew looks for urine and mold. That check decides the wash. Heavy urine gets its own decontamination bath later, and a rug that needs more than a standard wash is identified before it is in the water, not after.
Red and navy oriental rug lying flat under rippling clear rinse water
Dust out first, then the hand-wash bath
Much of what makes a rug look dull is dry soil, not wet dirt, so the dry particulate soil is evacuated with compressed air before water touches the pile. Pull the grit out first and the wash has far less to push around.
The rug then goes into a submersion hand-wash bath, with compressed air working underwater, an effect the crew describes as Jacuzzi-like. After the wash comes the rinse, and it runs until the rinse water is near-drinkable. Almost, to borrow the crew's own wording.
Controlled drying, combed fringe, back to your door
A rug dries best when air and temperature are kept in check, so the drying happens in a controlled-atmosphere drying room. Once it is dry, the rug gets its post-detailing: the fringes are hand-combed, and the rug is rolled and wrapped in plastic for the trip home.
Spectrum picks up and re-delivers. For pick-up the crew asks that you roll your rugs; rolling and resetting are offered for an extra charge. Call (301) 662-8200 to talk through a rug before it leaves the room.
Spectrum rug cleaning is done at the company warehouse by IICRC-certified technicians, with pick-up and re-delivery. Call (301) 662-8200 to schedule.
From your front door to the drying room
- Pick-up
Roll your rugs before the technician arrives. Rolling and resetting are offered for an extra charge if you would rather not.
- Intake
At the warehouse each rug is tagged, invoiced, measured and photographed, so what goes home matches what came in.
- Pre-inspection
The crew checks the rug for urine and mold before it goes near the water, because that finding decides the wash.
- Dry soil
Dry particulate soil is evacuated with compressed air, pulling grit out of the pile before it can turn to mud.
- Hand-wash bath
The rug goes into a submersion hand-wash bath, with compressed air working underwater.
- Decontamination
A rug with heavy urine gets a decontamination bath of its own before the rinse.
- Rinse
Rinsed until the rinse water is near-drinkable. Almost, as the crew puts it.
- Drying room
Dried in a controlled-atmosphere drying room, not left to whatever the weather is doing.
- Post-detailing
Fringes are hand-combed, then the rug is rolled and wrapped in plastic for the trip home.
- Re-delivery
Spectrum brings the rug back to you, the same way it came: no hauling a wet or heavy rug yourself.
Near-drinkable rinse water (almost!)
“He also took two of my Oriental rugs to be cleaned and just brought them back the other day. I am incredibly pleased with the results”
Rugs often travel alongside the rest of the room. Ask about carpet cleaning, upholstery or a washable rug that fits the Ruggables service, or browse everything on the services page.