How we wash a rug — start to finish

The inspection decides everything that follows. We identify the fiber — wool, silk, cotton foundation, or a blend — count the construction as handmade or machine-made, and note pre-existing wear, stains, and pet damage while you can still see them.

Then comes the dye test. A damp white cloth pressed against each color tells us whether the dyes will hold under water. Older Delray rugs, especially pieces bought abroad decades ago, often carry vegetable dyes that bleed if treated carelessly. If a dye is unstable, we adjust the wash — or set the dye first.

You get your price here, in writing, before a drop of water is involved.

The rug is washed flat, with water and solutions chosen for its fiber and dye test — not with whatever chemical happens to be in the truck. Wool gets a gentle, thorough scrub in the direction of the pile. Silk gets an even lighter hand. A rug soaked with pet urine gets a full bath so the salts dissolve out of the foundation instead of being sealed in.

Rinsing continues until the water runs clean. Leftover detergent is a dirt magnet — a badly rinsed rug resoils in weeks.

Then the part South Florida makes hardest: drying. Humidity here doesn’t forgive shortcuts, so rugs dry in a controlled space with air movers, flat or hung on the rack, until the foundation — not just the surface — is completely dry. That protects against mildew, musty odors, and dry rot.