A beautiful rug can be a great adornment for your home that also will protect the flooring underneath and so you may be wondering what is up with rug cleaning. A sizable rug can’t just be thrown into the washing machine like a pair of jeans, so you need to figure out how to clean a rug and the rug cleaning cost.
For any rug that you want to help last for as long as possible the best choice for rug cleaning is to hire professional rug cleaners. They will know all the right methods to get your rug clean and extend its life looking beautiful and protecting your floor.
There are many factors to figure out how much professional rug cleaning will cost, like the material the rug is made of, the size of the rug, and the type of rug cleaning you want to have done. In this article we will go over the basics of area rug cleaning and give some numbers of how much different kinds of rug cleaning costs.
How Rug Cleaners Charge
A rug cleaning service will normally charge you a fee based on the area, or square footage, of your rug. So an eight foot by ten foot rug would be 80 square feet, and if your rug cleaner charges four dollars per square foot, the total cost would be $240.
There can also be flat fees charged for different services, such as stain blocking treatment. This means that if you want to have a rug cleaned with a special service added on, it will just cost the price of the normal cleaning plus the price of the added service, no matter the size of your rug.
There could also be a fee if you are having your rug picked up from your home or delivered to your home after the rug cleaning.
How To Clean A Rug
When you send a rug to be cleaned, they will choose a cleaning method based on the condition of the rug and the material it is made of.
There are two basic methods that a rug cleaning company will use and a third that is less common. The two main methods are steam cleaning and dry cleaning, the other method which is only used on antique, delicate or luxury rugs is hand washing.
Steam cleaning, sometimes called hot water extraction, uses steam and possibly a mixture of soaps to clean the rug. The rug cleaning machine will put the steam deep into the fibers of the rug, loosening any dirt or debris that is in there and then a vacuum instantly sucks it all up.
Steam cleaned rugs will need to be dried overnight because of the amount of moisture used in the process. Rugs that are sensitive to water will not be cleaned this way. Usually this method will be used on synthetic fiber rugs.
The cost of steam cleaning a rug will be between $1 and $5 per square foot depending on the prices in your area and the condition of your rug.
Dry rug cleaning uses only chemicals to get dirt and debris out of a rug. The rug is bombarded with the chemicals, which lift dirt out of the fibers, then the mixture of chemicals and dirt is sucked out of the rug. This method will be faster and will need almost no drying time.
Dry rug cleaning comes with an average price range between $2 per square foot up to $6 per square foot. This method is good for all kinds of rugs, and is recommended to be safe for natural fiber rugs.
Hand cleaning is reserved for only the most expensive rugs that may be damaged by the other two methods. Hand rug washing requires multiple steps and is done in a delicate manner to make sure that the rug is not damaged and can take several days to complete. The average cost for hand rug washing starts at $3 per square foot and goes up to $8 per square foot.
Different Types Of Rugs
There are many different types of rugs, they can be made of different materials and they can be made using different weaving patterns. Each type of rug should be cared for and cleaned in a different way, so it is good if you know what your rug is made of so that you can clean it properly. When you take your rug to a professional rug cleaner they will know all of the best methods for caring for your rug.
Synthetic Rugs
Rugs made from synthetic fibers like polyester or nylon are common and can be cleaned by most cleaning methods. These rugs will cost between $1 and $3 per square foot to have professionally cleaned.
Synthetic rugs are cheap to buy and may not last as long as natural fiber rugs. You may find that having a synthetic fiber rug professionally cleaned is more expensive than buying a new rug.
Cotton Rugs
A natural fiber, cotton will take a little bit more care to clean. Look at the rug’s label to see if it is pure cotton or a blend with synthetic fibers. The cost of cleaning a cotton fiber rug will range from $3 per square foot to $5 per square foot. Usually a dry cleaning method is used on cotton, but it can also handle steam cleaning.
Wool Rugs
The fur of a sheep is used to make wool rugs, and this natural fiber has the capability of lasting decades if taken care of. The average cost of cleaning a wool rug is between $4 and $8 per square foot.
The usual method for cleaning wool rugs is dry cleaning, as they will not be able to tolerate the heat from steam cleaning. For handmade wool rugs, it may be recommended that you hand wash the rug to make sure it is not damaged.
Wool has natural stain resistance and the oils in the sheep hair are antibacterial as well.
Other Rug Types
Other rug types are less common and will be more expensive to have cleaned. Expect to pay from $4 per square foot up to $10 per square foot for the finest rugs.
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