Area Rug Cleaning - Quote

[Anonymous]

Trying to understand if the price that was just quoted to us for area rug cleaning, and one 200sqft area of wall to wall is in the ballpark or way out in left field. I'm asking because the price seems outrageously high.

I should add that I'm not in the DMV, so this is not a local company. That said they are a highly rated company in my high COLA area. Nice man, but the sales pitch was pretty heavy on the "we have been cleaning the carpets for the Ritz and Disney hotels for decades".

Here are the details[u]:

- There are 6 rugs total

- We are choosing to have the rugs hauled away and cleaned at their location, so as to ensure a deep cleaning. This costs more than in-home cleaning, but according to him in-home cleaning somewhat limits how deeply they can actually clean because of the machines needed.

- We are a pet-free, smoke-free home. We generally don't wear shoes on these rugs but once in a while it does happen. There are no visible stains, but there is of course dirt, dust etc. We vacuum once a week.

- Two of the rugs are high quality 9x12 area rugs. One silk and wool. One viscose, cotton, and poly. According to the rep, viscose is really difficult to clean and requires special care and special techniques.

- Two of the rugs are cotton or cotton poly blend. Not terribly expensive but nice enough. Both are 8x10

- Two rugs are average quality 4x6, probably don't need to be cleaned at their location but since they're taking the others away - might as well.

Total for all - $2300 They will have them for 2 weeks.

Now, is this nuts, or is this pretty average?

I should add I'm going to get another estimate.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I'm cheap. I just power washed mine outside and scrubbed with detergent. They came out great.

[Anonymous]

6 rugs, plus cleaning wall to wall carpet in situ, comes to an average of $328 per item, including pick up and delivery for the rugs. I’ve had some experience having rugs cleaned and that doesn’t seem out of line to me. Most of these places have specialized equipment for cleaning as well as drying, and it takes a lot of space. TBH, it’s why I only have quality “heirloom” rugs cleaned professionally. The others I clean myself and toss when they get too worn & grubby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm cheap. I just power washed mine outside and scrubbed with detergent. They came out great.

I just posted above. It’s pretty easy to clean most quality rugs. If you’ve ever seen video of the traditional method of making hand knotted Oriental rugs, they literally throw them in the river to rinse them after they’re finished.

The issue is generally having a large enough clean space to do the washing, and even harder, a clean place to lay them out while they dry.

[Anonymous]

OP here- thank you. I'm going to get one more estimate so I have something to compare the first one to - not just for price but also for the process they're going to use to clean them.

[Anonymous]

I was also given really high quotes. You can buy a new rug from Pottery Barn for the prices I was quoted. In the past I've cleaned them myself, but this time our little dog pissed on the rug, and I need to make sure it's thoroughly cleaned. So I'm not sure if I'm just going to buy a new rug, or wait for warmer weather and try cleaning it myself.

[Anonymous]

I pay 3-400 per big rug including pick up and delivery. I’m shocked every time lol. I only do it every few years and the less trafficked rugs maybe every five years. I periodically use a little machine, which only wets the surface.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was also given really high quotes. You can buy a new rug from Pottery Barn for the prices I was quoted. In the past I've cleaned them myself, but this time our little dog pissed on the rug, and I need to make sure it's thoroughly cleaned. So I'm not sure if I'm just going to buy a new rug, or wait for warmer weather and try cleaning it myself.

OP here - DH and I tend to agree on this now seeing the quote. Although it is worth getting our wool + silk rug cleaned by them. The viscose one forget about it. When it's in bad shape we will just toss it. We had no idea how fragile those rugs are, and that they are basically considered throw-away rugs by interior designers. It's a beautiful rug, but the damage from cleaning it will render the rug useless. So we will just continue vacuuming and not walking on it with shoes or dirty feet. The other less expensive rugs can just be cleaned here at the house, with their equipment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was also given really high quotes. You can buy a new rug from Pottery Barn for the prices I was quoted. In the past I've cleaned them myself, but this time our little dog pissed on the rug, and I need to make sure it's thoroughly cleaned. So I'm not sure if I'm just going to buy a new rug, or wait for warmer weather and try cleaning it myself.

OP here - DH and I tend to agree on this now seeing the quote. Although it is worth getting our wool + silk rug cleaned by them. The viscose one forget about it. When it's in bad shape we will just toss it. We had no idea how fragile those rugs are, and that they are basically considered throw-away rugs by interior designers. It's a beautiful rug, but the damage from cleaning it will render the rug useless. So we will just continue vacuuming and not walking on it with shoes or dirty feet. The other less expensive rugs can just be cleaned here at the house, with their equipment.

You can buy a spot cleaner or even use a spray cleaner to try to clean it but for the cheap ones wait till the weather is warm, take it outside, hose or power wash, use a detergent - I used simple green as I had it in a spray bottle, scrub with a brush, rinse and squeegee out what you can. Then hang dry outside as long as you can (in the spring or summer) and then let dry inside before putting it down again. I was amazed at how nice ours came out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was also given really high quotes. You can buy a new rug from Pottery Barn for the prices I was quoted. In the past I've cleaned them myself, but this time our little dog pissed on the rug, and I need to make sure it's thoroughly cleaned. So I'm not sure if I'm just going to buy a new rug, or wait for warmer weather and try cleaning it myself.

OP here - DH and I tend to agree on this now seeing the quote. Although it is worth getting our wool + silk rug cleaned by them. The viscose one forget about it. When it's in bad shape we will just toss it. We had no idea how fragile those rugs are, and that they are basically considered throw-away rugs by interior designers. It's a beautiful rug, but the damage from cleaning it will render the rug useless. So we will just continue vacuuming and not walking on it with shoes or dirty feet. The other less expensive rugs can just be cleaned here at the house, with their equipment.

You can buy a spot cleaner or even use a spray cleaner to try to clean it but for the cheap ones wait till the weather is warm, take it outside, hose or power wash, use a detergent - I used simple green as I had it in a spray bottle, scrub with a brush, rinse and squeegee out what you can. Then hang dry outside as long as you can (in the spring or summer) and then let dry inside before putting it down again. I was amazed at how nice ours came out.

The problem here is probably not the viscose but the backing. If the rug is glued to a backing, it’s better not to get it completely wet. This is why hand knitted rugs are great, because you can fully wash them.