Wool, Synthetic or Natural-Fiber Rug: Which We Clean

The fiber decides everything about cleaning a rug: whether it can be done in your living room at all, what comes out, and whether the color survives. Here is the honest version, fiber by fiber, including the ones we say no to.

Synthetic — the full clean

Nylon, polyester, polypropylene, olefin: most rugs sold in the last twenty years. Synthetic takes the full treatment — stain chemistry, hot water extraction, a strong rinse — and we do it where the rug lies. It stays in the room and you're walking on it the same day.

• Stains and pet odors included, no extra charge.
• Walk-on dry in 3–5 hours, fully dry in 12–24.
• Nothing is taken away; nothing comes back a week later.

Wool — we clean it, with a smaller promise

Wool is the fiber the search results argue about. We clean wool rugs at home, and the result is usually more modest than on synthetic — wool holds dye loosely and dislikes strong chemistry, so we use less of it and go gentler. A wool rug comes out cleaner and fresher; a set-in stain may stay. We say that before we start, not after.

Cotton and linen — a gentle refresh

Flat-weave cotton, dhurries, linen blends. These get a gentle refresh: dust, grit, bacteria and whatever else is living in the weave come out. The chemistry strong enough to break down an old stain would wreck the fabric, so we don't use it. If the rug needs freshening, we're the right call; if it has old stains and heavy soil, we'd be taking your money for a job we can't finish, and we'll tell you so.

Silk, viscose, bamboo silk, "art silk" — no

We turn these down, every time. Silk and anything with viscose (sold as bamboo silk, art silk, faux silk, banana silk) shrink, bleed dye and can go stiff or yellow when wet. They need a shop with machines that wash, wring and dry the piece immediately, and nobody can do that safely on your floor. We'd rather say no than ruin your rug.

Not sure what yours is? Check the label on the back, or send us a photo of the back of the rug and a close-up of the pile — the weave usually gives it away. If it's viscose we'll say so and point you to a rug shop.

What it costs

By size, the same for every fiber we do clean. Pick the closest size in the calculator if yours isn't an exact match.

• Rug up to 5×8$85
• Rug up to 8×10$100
• Rug up to 10×12$120

There is a minimum order for carpet and upholstery visits, shown in the calculator; a single small rug on its own may not reach it, a rug plus a sofa or a couple of rooms of carpet usually does. Travel is free across King, Snohomish and Pierce counties.

Why the grit matters more than the stain

A rug takes the heaviest traffic in the room. The grit walked into it is sharp and sits deep in the pile, and it grinds the fibers down exactly where people walk — that wear doesn't come back. Getting the grit out is the cheap half of keeping the rug; the stain is what you see, but the sand is what wears it out.

Area rug cleaning — full page and what's included

If something isn't right

Tell us within 48 hours and we come back and re-clean it, free.