I just got off the phone with a lady who called to inquire about getting a rug picked up and repairing some corner damage. Not only did I mention that we can pick her rug up as early as tomorrow (Saturday we offer no-charge pick up and delivery in most areas of Victoria and surrounding areas) but also that we could repair the damage. She than mentioned that her rug was too big you her new home and that she also has one in her bedroom folded in half to fit the room.
I mentioned that depending on the type of rug she has we can trim them down to a usable size for her. She was thrilled that this could be done because it never occurred to her to have them trimmed down.
Here is my video on making your rug perfect by trimming it to the right size and getting it re-edged.
Now this is best to do on machine woven rugs, more so than hand-knotted rugs. Bring your rug in to Luv-A-Rug at 445 Beta St Victoria BC and we can let you know if your rug can be trimmed down to fit your room. We can also trim wall to wall carpet ends into any shape you need to fit around a fireplace, boat, or vents.
Luv-A-Rug does more than just clean area rugs. Thanks for reading RugloverMary
After a dull, wet winter our area rugs have taken a beating. They have trapped in lot of loose dirty, salt, sand, and mud and after a few months of this they look really grubby. At Luv-A-Rug, in Victoria BC, we clean area rugs that barely look dirty to ones that are more dirt than rug.
Here is one runner that came in very dirty, you can barely see the original colours of the rug. This rug will get a lot of badgering (which is where we vibrate your rugs upside down to remove the deep down dirt), and many cleanings to restore this rug.
After we clean this rug I will do a follow-up blog post to show how it cleans up.
Luv-A-Rug understands that you can be embarrassing by the shape of your rugs, don’t be, we have seen rugs in all states of dirtiness. We care about restoring your rugs to a lovable state and making you happy. We take care of every type of spill, pet accident, moth damage, mold, odours, and dirt.
If you never had to hire a carpet or rug cleaner, it can be hard to sort through the countless companies in your city.
How can you choose one that is reputable, does a professional job, stands behind what they do, and won’t price scam you?
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a place to find a list of pre-screened rug and carpet cleaning companies?
Well I am here to tell you that such a place exists.
Your first place to search for a rug and carpet cleaner in the USA, Canada and even the UK is the Persian Carpet Guide, scroll down the page until you find your city.
Barry O’Connell from SpongoBongo.com has done the hard work for you. He has chosen the best cleaners in many cities using a strict list of guidelines. The companies must be ethical, have the correct training to clean rugs, have a functional website, professional, and clean with the correct methods.
If you don’t find a cleaner in your city, call one from a city close to you to see if they also clean in your area.
In Victoria BC, Luv-A-Rug is your Wool Safe certified area rug cleaners. We care about your rugs and are trained to care for them, making your rugs clean and healthy for your home.
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary- passionate about your rugs
I just got off the phone with a lady from Vancouver BC, which is just across the water from Victoria BC. She was a bit frustrated at the lack of information and companies that take care of moth infested rugs in her area. One short 8 minute call with me, RugloverMary, and she feels much better that her rug can be saved. She has an Indu-Gabbeh that was purchased at the Swedish Home store and it is in the perfect colours for her new home, unfortunately it has moth damage.
I told her that Gabbeh rugs are my favorite all time rugs. I explained to her how the life cycle and feeding needs of the moths works, and what we do to eliminate moth infestations here at Luv-A-Rug, and I gave her a couple of names of companies in Vancouver area that might be able to help her.
Because I was very helpful, friendly and knew how to care for her rug, we are getting her rug brought over to us by courier for cleaning and moth control. Just because we are not in her immediate neighbourhood doesn’t mean that we cannot care for her rug.
If you do not live on Vancouver Island, or near Victoria, BC Luv-A-Rug can still clean and repair your rugs. Our courier is safe, insured and does overnight or next day delivery to most areas.
Here is my video showing a different Gabbeh rug that was a moth feast:
It is nice being the wool moth expert. We all have to be good at something and I like the odd stuff. Moths gross people out, but for me they help me educate clients and the world about how to care, store, and save their beloved rugs
Here is the latest victim of moths to come to our shop. This rug had huge sentimental value to the client, but it was peed on by their dog and then rolled up and stored away without being cleaned. The moth larva had a good feast and were still feasting when I filmed them. This rug was unfortunately too far gone to be saved, so please always get pet accidents professionally cleaned right away.
So if you don’t live in Victoria BC, but find me, RugloverMary, or anything I wrote/filmed about moths contact me. I can help. Either we can get the rug to us here at Luv-A-rug or help you find the right professionals in your area.
Here are a few tips to protect your rugs from moth infestations:
Always clean your rugs after a pet accident and storing for even a short time.
Vacuum your entire rug and under the edges to eliminate the dirt moths need to survive.
Clean your air ducts every year before using them.
Clean away any old wasp, bird, rodent nests from outside your home and the attic.
Get your rugs professionally cleaned by a Wool Safe Certified company every 1-3 years.
To contact Luv-A-Rug you can call us at 250-590-6210/800-886-2802 or e-mail me directly at mary.luvarug@shaw.ca or luvvie@shaw.ca
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary-helping protect wool rugs from Moths!
…but I am not a fan of Modern Shag rugs and here’s why.
The longer I work at Luv-A-Rug the more I get annoyed. I am annoyed at all the rug manufactures that make rugs out of fibers that cannot be cleaned. Some rugs once they get dirty and stained that is it they cannot be cleaned to look new and clean again.
I was looking at some rug selling websites this week and I was shocked at what they are using as fibers on some of these rugs. It looks like someone went to a craft store and bought all the fancy string, ribbon, felt, and cloth and then went and made rugs with it.
Don’t get me wrong the rugs look amazing, beautiful and modern, but they aren’t made to be walked on.
Shag rugs are not a bad rug choice when they are used properly. It would also be nice if not all shag rugs were off white, cream, or beige, at least the ones sold in Victoria BC.
I call Shag rugs the Divas of the rug world. They need to vacuumed and cleaned more often that other rugs, they are also sensitive to spills and pet urine. Plus some don’t like to be walked on.
My lack of appreciation for shag rugs may stem from the fact that even though I was born in the 70’s, I did not grow up with shag carpet in my home. Plus I am now looking at rugs from a cleaning point of view and an environmental one too.
When you are out looking for rugs think about vacuuming and cleaning it. If you don’t know how it can be vacuumed easily or how you would clean up a messy spill, you may want to keep looking for a more useable rug.
I know that in Victoria BC, because shag rugs are not expensive to buy that a lot end up getting tossed out and replaced, usually by another shag. I wrote about how we are a disposable/green society and the shag rugs I see fit right into that.
This is my plea to area rug makers to start making rugs that stand up to being used everyday and from fibers and products that last and are not harmful to humans, pets or the environment, Please!
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary- healthy, beautiful rug and environment lover
When you start expanding your online presence, either with Facebook, online directories, blogs, or any other social media don’t just do local ones. Having friends and links to websites in other cities, provinces/states and other countries.
You maybe asking why would this be important since you are a localized company. Well Luv-A-Rug just had a phone call from a lady here in Victoria BC and she found us through a company in England. She has these amazing bags that she bought in the 1970’s here in Victoria and they became victims of moths a year ago.
I am hoping that once we see the bags that we can repair them or at least stabilize them and then clean them. It is sad to hear when beloved items are eaten by moths. This lady was gone one month and that is all it took for moth larva to do a lot of damage.
It is not always easy to find the perfect rug, whether it is the right colour or right shape and size. There are ways to find the perfect rug, or you can make a rug into the perfect rug. when looking for good area rugs don’t forget about going to reputable auction houses.
In Victoria BC we have two very good auction houses where you can get a great deal on area rugs, Lund’s Auction and Kilshaw’s Auctioneer. Luv-A-Rug gets a lot of rugs brought in for cleaning and repairs that were bought at either Auction House. We had one such rug find brought to us by a lady who frequence the auctions a couple of weeks ago, but it wasn’t quite perfect.
Her rug is a 7×11 Turkish rug and it is not in perfect condition, but she got it for a steal of a price. The rug is a bit too big for the space where she wants to use, so Luv-A-Rug is going clean her rug and trim it down to the size that fits. Here is my video showing what we are going to do to her Turkish rug.
Now I will note that Luv-A-Rug will not do this to any old rug. We respect and care about rugs, so if you brought us a valuable rug we would refuse to cut it up, but we can always do an authentic hand repair to restore your antique rugs to a usable and lovable state.
Have you ever found the perfect rug that wasn’t quite the right size or shape? Did you buy it and get it tweaked? I would love to see how you made not so perfect rugs work in your home. Leave me a comment on what you did to make it work or send me pictures to mary.luvarug@shaw.ca with the subject line “How I made my rug perfect”
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary- I look forward to your rugs.
There a many reasons why you may stop using an area rug:
decor change
downsizing or up-sizing your living space
inherited a rug
damage from puppy chewing
pet accidents
water damage from flooding.
Just because you cannot use your rug on the floor any more doesn’t mean it is ready to be tossed away. There are many other ways to enjoy rugs and that is furniture coverings or wall art.
Here is my video showing you how you can reuse an area rug:
The rugs in the video are flat woven rugs and are easy to turn into chair or ottoman coverings and even decorative pillows. When it comes to antique rugs you don’t want to be chopping them up into pillows and such.
Since area rugs are works of art to begin with there is no reason why they shouldn’t be used as wall art. It is easy to turn a rug into a wall hanging, you just have to do it correctly so there is no damage done to the rug.
To turn an area rug into a wall hanging:
Get a 4 inch wide piece of good quality cotton the width of the rug minus 2 inches (if your rug is 4 feet wide your cotton needs to be 3′ 11″ in width)
Fold cotton in half width wise and sew together with good strong thread into a circle
Sew cotton sleeve to the back of rug. Sew the cotton sleeve top and bottom to rug-see photo. This allows the full weight of the rug to not pull or warp your rug.
Attach decorative curtain rod hangers to wall, insert 1 to 1 1/2 inch dowel into cotton sleeve, hang and enjoy
Remember to vacuum rug front and back at least once a month to remove the dust
Another creative way to use an area rug is as a mock headboard. This idea came to me when I was doing an inspection on a Viscose rug. Since Viscose rugs are beautiful and thin it is easy to turn into a mock headboard.
I am a creative minded person so I look at objects as what they can be used for other than their intended purpose. For centuries area rugs were used as wall hangings as well as floor coverings and there is no reason for them to not be used that way today.
Important note: When thinking about using a wool rug get it evaluated by an area rug professional. The last thing you want to do is destroy a valuable antique rug.
When you have a rug you can no longer use on the floor think about what other things it can be used for before you toss it out.
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary-trying to save rugs from the landfill
This is one of the most asked questions we get here at Luv-A-Rug. Our answer is this:
If you like the rug and have a place to use it than any rug s worth getting cleaned.
Price enters the equation when you think about the cost of replacing the rug. We also honestly let you know when it is not worth cleaning or repairing. Some rugs do get past the point of restoration.
Here is a recent example of a rug that is getting near time to replace an why the client is not doing so just yet.
This is not the first time we have cleaned this rug for the clients, we receive it for cleaning once a year. When I called the client to let them know the cleaning expectations and final cost I asked her if she noticed any white dust on the floor after they rolled up the rug. She responded that there was so much dust it looked like she had a beach in her living room. She asked if there was anything that could be done except replace the rug. Unfortunately there is not anything that can stop the latex from further shedding.
They do not want to get a new rug at this time because they have dogs and they like to lay on the carpet. The dogs are in their mature years and the clients want to wait until they pass on to invest in a new rug. Luv-A-Rug hears that a lot from pet owners that they are waiting until their pets either get older or until they pass on before investing in a new rug.
She also said that she absolutely loved us, just loved us that we make her rug look good every time we clean it and she was happy that it cost the same to clean it as last year.
Most of us may have given up on a rug that sheds latex glue and looks dull where it is used, but instead of just tossing a rug sometimes a little love will make it useable again. Luv-A-Rug sees a lot of rugs that look like they are unusable, but after some good old fashion cleaning and maybe some repairs a rug can have a new lease on life.
Here is a video I did highlighting a rug that again most of us wouldn’t bother with, but it was sentimental to the client
If you have such a rug that you think is not worth it because it is too dirty or the sides are fraying bring it to Luv-A-Rug at 445 Beta St, Victoria BC and we will give you an evaluation on how it can be made loveable again. 250-590-6210/800-886-2802 www.luvarug.com.
Fresh & Clean Rugs 