Mark displays the full rug cleaning process at our dedicated rug washing facility in Courtenay:
Area Rugs can be inexpensive: a simple doormat or hallway runner - but they can also be some of the most valuable items in our homes. Green Earth Carpet Cleaning is trained and equipped to clean every area rug, from a simple walk-off mat to a hand-made, one-of-a-kind Persian.
Most carpet cleaners want to clean your area rugs in your home, however it is always best to have your rugs professionally cleaned at a rug cleaning plant/shop. Having a rug cleaned in your home may be asking for trouble: the rug may skew or shrink as it dries, pro-longed dry time can cause dyes to bleed or run together, not to mention the damage that could be cause to your wood or laminate flooring by the excess moisture. With the tools and equipment that we have available in our shop, we can provide a much more comprehensive cleaning than a simple steam cleaning ever could.
Green Earth offers pickup and delivery for all in-plant area rug cleaning in Courtenay, Campbell River and the surrounding areas, and rugs are cleaned at our Comox Valley shop. Not only is your rug returned to you dry and ready to put down, but while at our cleaning plant, your rugs enjoy a figurative "stay at the spa".
Rug Dusting with the Rug Badger®. This is the first step in the dry soil removal phase of our process. Soil becomes deeply embedded in rugs, and wool rugs are especially tightly woven making the removal of soil by vacuum impossible. The Rug Badger® gently beats the back of the rug, loosening the embedded soil, and forcing it out through the face fibres. A shocking amount of abrasive and damaging sand and grit is removed in this step alone.
Air Dusting. High velocity compressed air is then blown through the face fibres to remove further soil and fine dust that has collected after the first step. The removal of dry soils like dirt, dust, pollen and hair, before washing, is crucial to restoring the original beauty of your rug.
Vacuuming. The last step in the dry soil removal phase of the cleaning is to do a thorough vacuuming of both the front and the back of your rug. Your rug is vacuumed multiple times while in our care; it is often the first and the last thing we do. Vacuuming removes as much remaining particulate soiling as possible before moving to the washing phase.
Shampoo, Wash, Centrifuge. The washing phase is the main event for your rug's stay at the spa! Most woven rugs can be safely shampooed and completely flushed out in our wash pit. Soaking, scrubbing, and flushing until only clean water flows from your rug, working stains and wear areas, and restoring the fringes to original lustre. During the washing your rug is spun in our centrifuge several times to completely rinse all soiling and soap residue, not unlike the spin cycle on a washing machine!
Hot Water Extraction Cleaning. Tufted rugs, which are glued in construction, can be safely cleaned using hot water extraction, or "steam" cleaning methods. A cleaning solution that is safe for your rug's fiber is applied to loosen soil, scrubbed and then extracted using our powerful Vortex carpet cleaning truck-mounts.
Rug Grooming. Our specialized grooming brush encourages the face fibres to return to their original knap (direction) so that the aesthetic appeal of the rug is maximized during the drying process.
Drying Room. All rugs are hung to dry in our humidity controlled drying room. The environment is closely controlled using fans and dehumidifiers to provide the optimum drying conditions. A rug that is dried quickly will rarely have problems with dye bleeding or stretching/skewing.
Other cleaning methods are also employed for the very finest fibres and other specialty situations.
Watch Nathan cleaning a larger oriental rug at 2x speed:
We are happy to come to your home, give you an in-person quote for the cleaning, go over any spots, stains or trouble areas, and then take your rug to our cleaning plant. Once clean and dry, we'll deliver your rug back to you.
Read about where our commitment to green cleaning comes from in our Green Earth Story.