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Area, Persian & hand-knotted rugs
Hand-knotted Persian carpets, Bangladeshi shatranji, silk runners and everyday area rugs each need different handling. Our rug room in Mirpur washes them one at a time, by hand, with fibre-specific care.
Why rugs are different
Wall-to-wall carpet is glued or stretched in place, so it can only be cleaned from the top. A loose rug can be turned, beaten, washed through and dried properly — which means it can be cleaned far more thoroughly, as long as the process respects how it was made.
Hand-knotted rugs use natural fibres and often vegetable dyes. Harsh alkaline cleaners, high heat or long soaking can cause colour run, shrinkage and brittle foundations. Many damaged rugs we see in Dhaka were harmed not by dirt but by an aggressive wash at a roadside laundry.
At Carpet Fresh Now we inspect every rug, photograph its condition on arrival and record the fibre, size and any existing wear. You receive those photos on WhatsApp so there is never any doubt about what was there before we started.
Rug types we wash
Select a rug type below to see the method we use. Not sure what you own? Send us a photo of the front and the back of the rug — the back tells us almost everything.
Hand-knotted wool and silk-blend rugs from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Turkey are often family heirlooms. We vacuum the back to vibrate out deep grit, test every colour for bleeding, then wash on a flat floor with a wool-safe, pH-neutral shampoo. The rug is rinsed until the water runs clear, squeegeed in the direction of the pile and dried flat under fans.
Flatweaves like kilims, dhurries and Bangladeshi shatranji have no pile to hide soil, so dirt sits in the weave and fades colours. They can shrink or distort when soaked, so we use a controlled low-moisture wash and block them square as they dry.
Long piles trap crumbs, hair and dust deep at the base. We beat and dry-vacuum from both sides, wash with extra rinse cycles and then groom each section so the strands stand tall and do not mat as they dry.
Plant fibres brown and shrink when wet, so we never flood them. Instead we use dry compound cleaning and very light spotting, which lifts dust and stains without the risk of water marks.
Silk and art-silk (viscose) rugs look spectacular and are the most fragile of all. Viscose loses strength when wet and can yellow with the wrong chemistry. We test carefully, use acid-side rinses and dry quickly to protect sheen.
Polypropylene and polyester rugs from furniture shops are tough, colourfast and easy to clean. They respond well to full hot-water extraction and can often be cleaned in your home on the same visit as your carpets.
The rug-room journey
We roll the rug with the pile facing out, label it and photograph both sides, fringes and any wear or moth damage.
A rug can hold its own weight in grit. We vacuum and gently beat the back until no more dust falls through.
Washed flat with fibre-appropriate shampoo, fringes cleaned by hand, then rinsed repeatedly and squeegeed.
Dried flat with air movers and dehumidifiers — never in direct sun, which fades dyes and makes wool brittle.
The pile is groomed, the rug inspected again, rolled in breathable wrap and delivered back to your home.
| Rug type | Per sq ft |
|---|---|
| Machine-made synthetic | ৳35 |
| Wool, hand-tufted | ৳55 |
| Hand-knotted wool | ৳75 |
| Silk / viscose | ৳110 |
| Shatranji / dhurrie | ৳45 |
Minimum rug-room order ৳1,500. Fringe repair, binding and moth treatment are quoted separately after inspection.
Between professional washes
Rug questions
Usually, yes. Musty smells come from mildew and trapped dust. A full wash followed by controlled drying removes most odours. Very old mildew damage can weaken the foundation, and we will tell you if the rug is at risk before washing.
We test every colour with a damp white cloth and a mild solution before washing. If a dye is unstable we switch to a colour-safe process or recommend dry cleaning only. We never guess.
We can secure loose ends and re-bind edges on many rugs. Complex reweaving of hand-knotted rugs is done by an experienced repair partner and quoted separately with photos.
Rugs up to about 12 x 18 feet can be rolled and carried by our two-person crew. For larger or very heavy rugs we bring an extra team member at no additional charge within Mirpur.
Send photos of the front and back on WhatsApp for a quick estimate, or book a free pick-up in Mirpur.
