It is only natural for rugs to absorb dust and grime that not only penetrates the fiber (wool or silk) on the top of the rug but also into the foundation of the rug, losing their original luster and clarity of design. A hand knotted rug with more than 32 colors when dirty, only 5 or 6 colors will be visible

Washing Oriental rugs should be left to the professionals and there’s no one better at that than Azhar’s Oriental Rugs.

Azhar’s Oriental Rugs has invested in building customized machinery that is designed specifically to simulate the techniques of cleaning of Oriental rugs that have been utilized for centuries.

For achieving a successful quality washing in the first round it help to understand the most important step. Thoroughly removing all size of particles from the rug before commencing washing. If you do not successfully remove the dust you are merely scrubbing the dust into the rug.

All rugs contains many sizes of dust particles located on the surface, deep inside the pile in and around the foundation also very fine dust with time that is embedded in the fat cell of the organic wool or silk materials.

Exclusive Cleaning & Washing Process

Full Immersion

• Each rug is transferred into an individual machine and completely immersed in a vinegar solution.
• It then rotates at a slow speed (below 10 RPM) at a water temperature that goes up to 140 degree F when required.
• The process is monitored closely by an operator who changes the water a number of times until the water flowing in the machine is absolutely clean (see video).
• Our exclusive immersion washing process ensures complete removal of all type of stains as well as bacteria, allergens and other organic materials that may be present in the rugs.

This machinery was designed to mimic the ancient process of washing rugs on river banks and utilizing the powerful current of the river to extract dust particles.

Please watch videos of our washing process/immersion process,

Shampooing & Rinsing

Back of the rug:

• Rugs are laid upside down in a washing pit as an automatic rotating machine equipped with four 20” soft scrubbers (made from natural plant based material) gently scrubs them.
• The machine moves back and forth at a very slow speed continuously dispensing water and shampoo.
• Two additional employees monitor the machine, 1 stands in the front and the other remains behind the machine with large 24” scrubbers. Please view video of the machine in operation.

Front of the rug:

• When the water coming out of the rug looks clear, the rug is placed right side up.
• The dust embedded in the rug surfaces to the front of the rug, where it is squeezed out.
• This process is repeated with shampoo and water until there is a visible difference in the brightness of the colors of the rug and the water coming out from the sides of  the machine is absolutely clear.
• Note that we only use all-natural vinegar andenvironmentally-friendly shampoo made specially for wool & silk products to clean Oriental Rugs (See video)
• Most fringes are made of cotton and we use special soap that are made specially for cleaning cotton fabric.

Thoroughly removing residual shampoo and soap.

• Each rug is rinsed again using the same scrubbing machine, using a special “rinser” with an alkaline pH of 8.5.
• The best way to remove dust from the cells of wool, silk and other natural materials is to use vinegar and other shampoos made specifically for wool & silk that have a slightly acidic pH of 5.5 to 6.5.
• Unless the rug is  is neutralized to a pH of more than 7 (stable alkaline), it will cause a “browning effect (staining)” on the rug, even a few days. Inexperienced rug cleaning companies commonly skip this rinsing step making the mistake of leaving the rug  in an acidic pH below 7

Final Washing out of residual Shampoo, Soap & Rinser

• We use a specially designed pressure washing machine that dispenses high volume of water at low to moderate pressure to remove residual soap, shampoo and rinser.
• After the colors of the rug are bright and all the stains (stains of rust, paint, Gatorade, paint, ink, wine, food, pets) are removed, the rug is absolutely clean and it is placed in the centrifuge. (See video)

Removing all water from the Rug within five minutes utlizing different types of centrifuges:

• We have 4 centrifuges, one circular centrifuge for flat weave rugs and 3 rotary centrifuges for various sizes.
• The centrifuges operate between 1200-1400 RPM extracting large quantities of water from the rug within 5 minutes, preparing it for the drying process. (See video). At this point, all water is removed from the rug and the rug is slightly moist to the touch.

The Drying Process:

• Rugs are removed from the centrifuges and their pile is set up by brushing it at one direction.
  The rugs are placed in a drying room that is equipped with 5 large humidifier and fans. These regulate the air, removing all moisture and they dry the rugs overnight.
• The humidifiers remove an additional 20 gallons of water.

Rugs dry in the sun:

• The final step to complete the washing process is to place the rug in the sun for at least 5 to 6 hours.
• The gradueal warmth from the sunlight helps to further release fat in the organic wool and silk and also very minute dust particles embedded over of the years. It is only after the removal of these particles in Azhar’s finishing process, assisted by the sun, does the rug achieve its glossy shiny luster in fine antique rug, desired by customers.

Final inspection and Finishing Process before delivery to customers:

Finishing Process

The rugs are placed pile side up and the piles are lifted with a pile lifter. The pile lifter is equipped with soft, natural plant based material brushes rotating against the pile and simultaneously vacuuming the rugs. This process ensures that the pile, either of wool or silk is completely open and does not stick together thus making the rug soft to the touch.

Buffing process:

By exposing the rug to the sun, fat from the fibers of the wool or silk and minute particles of dust that are embedded in the cells are brought to the surface. Our exclusive hi-tech buffing process remove the dust particles from the fat cells of the wool or silk resulting in a shinier, glossier look and a smoother texture to the pile of the rug, exactly like the original colors of the rugs. Please see video of the buffing process.

Dry steam the rug – The final step

Azhar’s Oriental Rugs uses a unique, special dry steaming process for the rugs. This process ensures that any residual bacteria, allergens, antigens, dander, pollen, etc is completely removed from the rug and the pile of the rug is set to a uniform angle akin to ironing wool & silk suits. Please see video of our dry steaming process.