>Area Rug Cleaning Gone for the Weekend

>So , it is Friday May 20th and the long weekend has started here for a lot of people in Victoria, BC. The community plaza where our office is has been pretty dead today, so how does one pass the time and be productive when all I really want is to be out enjoying the day?

Well first I vacuum and clean and organize everything I can, second I browse rug blogs and leave comments on ones that appeal to me and third I read one of the most definitive area rug books by Ellen Amirkhan and Aaron Groseclose, A Comprehensive Guide to Oriental & Specialty Rug Cleaning. I am trying to learn how to identify all the different types of Persian rugs.

I am having a hard time retaining all the different characteristics of Heriz, Shiraz, Tabriz, Bijar and many more Persian and Tribal rugs. To learn more about these Persian rugs the best website is by Barry O’Connell and that is where the above link will take you to.

I may never be able to remember how to tell the different Persian rugs apart, but just the fact that I know to identify between Persian, Turkish, Chinese, British Indian, Belgium is more than most people can do. I do know what a Hamadan Persian rug is and sometime I see a Nain Persian come in for cleaning, but because I don’t see every type of Persian every day I tend to lose the identifying factors after I read them.

I, however, do not have a favorite type of Persian rug. I am embarrassed to admit this, but I like a Persian rug based mostly on the colours and design. Being in the rug cleaning business I feel like I should love all Persians because of the history and workmanship and I do appreciate that about Persian rugs. What I don’t like is the almost over use of the colours of red and navy. After you see a hundred or so of red and navy Persians in a few months you grow bored of that combination no matter quality and history.

Now for those of you who own a Persian rug with the red and navy colour palette don’t think that I hate your rug it is just not my choice of rug to personally own. We all have reasons for liking the area rugs we do and that is one of mine.

Here is to a nice and safe long weekend for those who get one, RugloverMary- picky Persian lover

>Qashqai, Gashgay, Kashkay, Qasqa’i?? Rugs

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Qashqai area rugs: There are many different spellings for this type of hand knotted wool rug. I found out a little bit about these unique rugs. They have been making Qashqai rugs since before the 16th century or 13th or 19th depending on what website you believe. I love finding conflicting information about a subject. Everyone seems right until you read another website, then no one seems right.
These rugs are very well made by what was a nomadic tribe of Iran. After many wars and many years the nomadic tribe has settled mostly in the vicinity of Shiraz. The Qashqai tribe is possibly one of the largest and most prosperous tribes of Iran. The rugs they weave are geometric in design and the weavers use bright vibrant colours.
Instead of me regurgitating what others have already written about Qashqai area rugs, I will send you to one of Barry O’Connell’s sites. His pages will give you more information then you will know what to do with.
The rug in the picture came to us a couple of weeks ago. It has had a colourful life I am sure. There a couple of previous repairs. Whoever did the repair did a pretty good job at finding a matching donor rug. It can never be prefect when using another rug to repair a hole. It blends enough that you don’t notice it right away. On the back it is much more noticeable, but that is the back. When we do our visual inspections with the clients I also let them know that sometime the stains or spots may remain on the back of their rugs. About ninety five percent say that it is the back of the rug and they never look there.
When doing rug repairs that involves using another rug it has to be understood that it will be noticeable. The other option for fixing a hole is to hand weave it. Expensive, yes, but it keeps the look of the rug uniform. It all comes down to sentimental value and how much you want to invest in the rug. Never let your first thought be that the rug is not worth it, that it is too far gone to get fixed. We have done some great repairs over the years here at Luv-a-rug cleaners in Victoria BC. Let us give you our professional opinion before it becomes part of our landfills. Luv-A-Rug 250-475-3922/1-800-886-2802, #2-4144 Wilkinson Rd.
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary, your local Victoria BC, Sooke to Sidney rug cleaning expert!

>Fall back in love with your Persian Area Rug

>Two weeks ago today we had this Persian area rug brought in. It belonged to the husband’s mother and she had it for years.

They were now taking ownership of it and needed to have it cleaned and repaired. The wife also wanted to know how old the rug was and what kind of Persian it was. I did my magic of posting a picture of it on the Rug hub. It is the site for rug cleaners to ask questions and share their rug knowledge.

The response I got was that it was probably made in the 1920’s, so it is almost an antique, and is a Heriz. To learn more about Persian Heriz rugs visit www.spongobongo.com/Perk3.htm

The Heriz is just under 8 feet by 11.5 feet. The ends were fraying to the point where the body of the area rug was getting damaged. Our hand repair guy evened up the ends and did an over stitch to stop the rug from fraying anymore.

The owners of the rug were very happy with the results. After we cleaned the rug, the colours brightened and it became soft again.

It wasn’t hard to fall back in love with their Persian Heriz area rug. They have brought us the rest of their area rugs for cleaning and some we did a machine repair to. We edged them with binding and surging.

Another happy client and another example that your area rug may not be ready to retire just yet.

Thanks for reading, RugloverMary

A Persian even I love

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later a Persian area rug that even I would like. Getting this area rug for cleaning was a nice treat. It is just under 9 feet by 12.5 feet.

I must admit it did surprise me that it was a Persian rug. I haven’t seen this type of design before, the tag on the rug said it was ?Kashan?. I probably spelt that wrong. I am not to sure what the pattern is called, so if anyone does now please let me know. I have been searching Barry O’Connell’s websites to figure out the rug design, but it is going to take me awhile to search through all the area rug types to find this diamond pattern. Just knowing that the rug is a Persian isn’t enough.

Someday I will know the different types of rug designs and be able to tell the approximate age of area rugs. Those are my two main areas of area rug identification that I am weakest at, but a few area rug classes is all it would take.

Okay just a bit of a side rant, across the street there is a guy at the bus stop wearing a SANTA hat!!!!!that is just wrong, wrong, wrong. I am not sure what it is this year, but I am not in the mood for Christmas. Everyone else seems to be into it, my neighbour, for instance, put her tree up last week. She was actually late putting it up this year, last year it went up on the first of November. I don’t think about putting up the Christmas tree until December 10th or so. Sorry, but it is just too early to be decorating. A lot of people have turned on their Christmas lights already as well. I say turned on because we know that no one ever takes them down. Obviously I have not been visited by the Christmas fairy yet.

Back to the Persian area rug:
The colours also appeal to me, since they are not the traditional red and blue of course. The rug is very beautiful and after it is cleaned the details will pop and it will be loved again. The area rug has been in storage for a while, so it now gets a renewed life. The blue’s are more vibrate and the warm tan brown accents the blue’s perfectly.

The picture of the back shows the colours off more. I really like the pattern of the rug. I once crocheted a baby blanket using a similar star pattern.
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary

….but it is just a Rug!

Some days the call volume I answer varies from 15-40 calls a day. Most calls are people wanting to know how much to clean their area rug. It seems like a simple question, but we had to go and make it complicated. Luv-A-Rug pricing for area rug cleaning is based on the type of area rug to be cleaned. First we need to know what type of fiber the rug is made with ie. wool, synthetic, cotton, jute, then we need to know the size and finally we try to determine how the rug is constructed. This is the tricky part because when we buy rugs we usually buy based on colours, size and price, not always there are people who have area rug knowledge.

I am writing today to help you become rug educated. The blog/website of Rug Rag has just the tools and information to help you know a little bit more about the area rug you love so much.

Last Saturday I had the honour of having dinner with Barry O’Connell, who is the human encyclopedia of rug knowledge. His website www.spongbongo.com has very in-depth information about rugs. It isn’t for the novice, but it is a great source to expand your area rug knowledge, just try not to get overwhelmed and lost in the expanse of the information he writes.
The rainy season has started today with a determination. It started raining last night and hasn’t stopped. I wasn’t quite a drowned rat, but I felt like it.

This means that in the next week Luv-A-Rug may see some area rugs that also look like a drowned rat. You would think that with it being known that Victoria gets a lot of rain and flooding occurs that houses would be built differently, but that doesn’t seem to be a concern for builders.

Anyway, off topic…back to area rugs. I sometimes get sad when I see an area rug that got flooded. It reminds me of a stuffed toy that got left outside and got rained on. Silly I know, but when you think about it there are similarities. The rug didn’t choose to be the victim of water, neither did the toy, the texture of each gets a crusty feeling, you can feel like there isn’t anything that can be done to save either. I know that there can be something done for the area rug and so does my boss.

He was in New Orleans just after the hurricane and he helped gather up rugs people were throwing out because they didn’t think anything could be done. He made a lot of people very happy when he told them that they could be saved. Victoria flooding is much milder than that of a hurricane, Luv-A-Rug can help you love your area rug again after it gets an unexpected bath. Call us at 250-475-3922 or bring in your area rugs to 445 Beta St Victoria BC
Thanks for reading RugloverMary