What are the seven steps, exactly?

Inspection & fiber analysis

Before anything else we work out what your rug actually is: hand-knotted or machine-loomed, wool or silk or synthetic, natural dyes or chrome. Each combination behaves differently in water, and this reading determines everything that follows. Existing stains, odors, and weak spots are logged and pointed out to you.

Vibration dusting

The rug is fed through a duster that vibrates dry soil out of the foundation — the sandy Broward grit that settles below the pile where household vacuums never reach. Removing it dry matters: wet grit grinds fibers down like sandpaper. The pile lifts noticeably once the dirt lets go.

Dye testing & pre-treatment

Every color field is tested for bleeding before the wash. Reds and blues in hand-dyed rugs can migrate exactly the way a stray red sock ruins white laundry — so we find out first, not during. Stubborn stains and urine spots get targeted pre-treatment matched to what caused them.

Pre-spray

A water-based, biodegradable cleaning agent — kept as close to pH-neutral as possible — is applied evenly across the pile and fringes. Gentle chemistry costs a little more effort, but it protects the dyes and the lanolin in wool. Silk rugs get their own dedicated products.

Rotary shampoo

A hand-guided rotary machine works the shampoo through the pile with a soft buffing action. It is methodical, overlapping work — each pass loosens soil the dusting couldn’t reach, without the aggressive agitation that breaks down knots and fringe anchors.

Cold-water rinse & wring

Soft jets of cold water flush the shampoo — and everything it lifted — completely out of the rug. Residue left behind attracts new dirt fast, which is how “cleaned” rugs resoil in weeks. The wringer then extracts most of the moisture in a single controlled pass.

Controlled drying & grooming

The rug hangs in a temperature-controlled drying room for several days and is only released when moisture meters say it is truly dry — in Florida’s humidity, guessing is how mildew starts. Fringes are hand-finished, the pile is groomed and re-vacuumed, and the rug is rolled for delivery.

Drying is never rushed — most rugs are home in 7–10 days

Technician testing a Persian rug's dyes for colorfastness before washing — Step 3 — dye testing before any water

Pre-spray being applied to an Oriental rug on the wash floor — Step 4 — pre-spray on the wash floor

Rotary shampoo machine working foam through a patterned rug — Step 5 — rotary shampoo in progress

Which rug types can go through this process?

The wash adapts to the rug, so nearly everything on a Plantation floor qualifies — from a grandmother’s hand-knotted Persian to the machine-loomed piece under the dining table.

Persian & Oriental Turkish Chinese Tribal & Caucasian Bokhara Pakistani & Indian Kilim & Moroccan Wool & Flokati Silk Sisal & natural fiber Karastan / Couristan Machine-made & custom Shag Braided & hooked Sheepskin & hides

Does a rug on tile really need a pad?

On Plantation’s polished tile and wood floors, yes — and not only to stop it sliding underfoot.

A quality pad keeps the rug’s foundation off the hard slab, which cushions the knots against foot traffic and lets air move underneath. That airflow matters in a humid climate: rugs trapped flat against cool tile can sweat, and moisture under a rug is how mildew and floor stains begin.

We stock rug pads and cut them to your rug’s exact size at the shop, including felt-and-rubber combinations that grip without gluing themselves to the floor. Ask when we pick up your rug and we’ll bring the right pad back with it.

Our 7-Step Rug Washing Process