[scott.]

Had a call from a lady that has 2 room size rugs (chinese she says) came from abroad....and wants them cleaned.
Ive done many rugs before, but not that size, and was wondering if they have to be hand cleaned(after testing of course)....or could i get away with using the machine?
I guess the quote for this would need to be heafty too....any ideas?

[Karl Wildey]

either 9 x 12, or 12 x 15, more likely the first. if you have space and time always take away, but more than likely you will clean on site.
You need a water proof cloth for doing the fringes and a blower to dry, several blowers is best.
Allow plenty of time to clean and dry.

If chinese are on laminate then you got real problems, take them away, or cover the floor below rug

[scott.]

cheers karl....only got 1 blower, but do rugs this size still have to be hand cleaned (with hand tool) in your opinion?.....and what would you charge for a 9x12?

[mark_roberts]

Depends upon condition.  You may be able to use the wand but not as good a clean.  Will need hand tool for edges anyway.

As long as you dont get the laminate wet then dont worry about it.  Moisture will not travel down the rug onto the floor unless you totally mess-up  Use an off-cut of carpet for under the fringes.

I used to take all rugs away to clean but for these monsters I now clean in the house and dry with blowers and extra dry strokes.  Have you ever tried to lift a rug this size?  Very heavy and awkward.

Ifs its very badly stained and soiled then Id consider passing on this one due to the above.  In fact any light coloured wool rug with dye or heavy staining is a headache I now do without.

Mark

[scott.]

mark
Yeh, I normaly do take rugs away, and they are heavy when still wet...thats why I wondered about these...theyre not light coloured thankfully....was still wondering about the pricing though...was wondering what others would charge, as I've never had any this size before...

[Ian Gourlay]

Mark,

When you clean in house, do you turn rug over and vac. from behind?

[mark_lane]

Hello Scott
sounds like a two man job ,you are going to need help in turning it over an moving it,if conditions are right, it might be an idea to clean it on the drive or patio puting down heavy duty pvc sheeting then vac both sides.Before wet cleaning place down cotton sheeting on top of pvc to soak up moisture,if you don't put cotton sheets down the water will lay on the pvc and be soaked up by the rug.
                                               Cheers mark

[Karl Wildey]

I would use both floor wand and hand tool. I find that the floor wand is too big for a good clean but speeds up the cleaning, the hand tool does a better clean but leaves loads of tram lines, easier to remove tram lines with a dry vac with your floor wand and then groom.
Pricing is difficult. Depends on state of rug and how much you think she will pay. on top of this what would you consider for doing the job. Most price by square foot, but that means not much money for a 4x6, but lots for a 12x9, espically if you have two on the small job. I would consider £120 a rug, but possible cheaper if I am doing two at a time.

I see no one else is mention prices, so maybe if I get the ball rolling some of you guys can put your input in. Is this cheap, expensive or a fair deal?

[Chris Bailey]

I charge £35 per rug, collect, clean and return.  In saying that 12x9 is the biggest I have done.  Room size, deffo do off site if you have the facilities or perhaps on the drive or patio with the owners permission and with the method Mark has described and charge slightly higher than your normal price per sqft/sqm cus you will have to manhandle it a couple of times.

[mark_lane]

You have got to charge extra if there is a cotton fringe involved ,as this will possibly take you as long to clean and dry the fringe as the rug its self
                                       Cheers mark
                   

[mark_roberts]

If its too big to man handle with one person then I wouldnt vacuum the back, if I was cleaning in the house.  As I said before if its really dirty and needs more than I can give it in the house then Id walk as its too much hassle unless your gettin gwell paid for it or really need the work.

I would NEVER clean a rug in the customers drive.  How unprofessional is that :.  A rug this size would have cost a few grand and your going to clean it in the drive

I charge £1 a sqft with a £35min charge for rugs cleaned offsite.  (currently under review as Im now seeing rugs as a hassle but I enjoy doing orientals).  For cleaning in home Id charge about half that depending but wouldnt come out just to clean a £35rug.

Mark

[Karl Wildey]

Mark roberts - could not have put it better.
I used to have a workshop, but down sized and now work from home, wife not happy to find rugs in the lounge drying, its a hassle, but that the pleasure of rug cleaning

[Chris Bailey]

On reflection Mark, you are right about cleaning on the drive or patio..... Not because it is unprofessional but because of practicalities.  If the rug is that big then surely it should be treated as a fitted carpet as we only vacuum and clean the back of a rug because we can actually turn it over!!

AND it would be a VERY BIG plastic sheet to lay on the drive or patio.....

Chris

[mark_lane]

Sorry Mark i think you are talking a load of rubbish saying that its unprofessoinal to clean a large rug on a drive with the customers consent,but its ok to only  pre -vac 1 side, do you know what is the best way to clean a oriental rug it is to actually saturate it ,this flushes away any loose dyes that  might be apparent and is very good for rugs.Do you Know how rugs are cleaned in a rug plant?If you don't you would be amazed,iwould also advise anybody who hasn't been on a oriental rug cleaning course to go on one .
                                                  Cheers Mark

[mark_lane]

Chris why only one sheet when you can use 2 or 3,if you think about it it is very practical to do it outside if possible, no water problems in the house,limits accident potential and faster drying times to name a few.If that is unprofessional i will stay being unprofessional and not become one of the sheep.
                                              Cheers mark

[Ian Gourlay]

When I was on a training course at a leading industry supplier, I saw some photos of some very large expensive rugs, that had been cleaned outside.

Personally I would not feel comfortable doing that, and would take them to my workshop.

[John Kelly]

£35 to pick up, drop off and clean/dry a rug seems far too low in my opinion. People perceive these rugs to be somewhat special and as such would probably be willing to pay a premium price to have them cleaned. At £35 you are probably working at about £10 per hour, plus you have your pick up & delivery costs/fuel to cover.

[mark_lane]

Hello Ian
So if the rug was to large to take to your workshop i take it you would walk away then,even if there was a solution?
                              Cheers mark

[Karl Wildey]

I would rather clean a rug in house and not vacuum one side, then take it on to the drive way.

Rug plants saturate rugs then dry them in a dry room, not naturally with a blower, so unless you have a dry room or loads of experience/training on rugs never satuarate the rug.

And I forgot to add at the beginning of this post if cleaning on site and using blowers, you can not do this with an open fire place, you have to board up the fireplace, or you WILL scatter soot around the room.

[mark_lane]

If paul pierce says its ok to saturate a rug ,and Paul Baaker from woolsafe says its ok ,thats good enough for me
               cheers mark