Antique Carpet

Antique type carpets help to add a touch of grandeur and glamour to your home or office, speaking greatly about your rich and extravagant tastes.  Antique carpets are beautiful home furnishings and solid art investments.  They aren't just decorative items, but pieces of tradition, ethniticity, and true class that dates back thousands of years.

Antique carpets represent enormous range in motifs and color harmonies and you'll simply lose yourself seeing the diverse combinations of rich antique colors and heavy intricate weaving.

The diverse range of antique carpet pieces that you'll encounter while shopping for them are mostly Oriental carpets and rugs that portray the mystery and legend of the far off lands of the Orient.

Antique carpets and rugs are imported mostly from China,  Persia, India, Afghanistan, Caucasus, and Turkey.
Some of the famous weaving areas of such antique carpets include Kashan, Agra, and many other locations.

Antique carpets have a more artistic integrity, as they are exclusively hand woven.  They are sold all over the world, with clients more than willing to pay whatever they have to in order to redefine their home and
decorate in style.

If you are looking to add luster and glamour to your home or office and are ready to spend a fortune on the exquisite pieces of art, then you shouldn’t wait a single minute. 

The first thing to do, is contact one of the several reliable, knowledgeable, and genuine art dealers and galleries who deal in antique carpets and have profound knowledge about the various aspects of a good and genuine antique carpet.  They can guide you in selecting the best one per your budget and tastes.

You've got a bit of work to do as well.  You should visit a lot of dealers and educate yourself about dyes, wools, design quality, and the many  styles of weaving as well.  Touch the carpet and scrutinize them carefully.  Beware of the machine made synthetic carpets that some dealers will tell you are antique carpets.

Below, are some tips to help you when buying antique carpet.

    1.  You have to remain careful and thoughtful while analyzing each piece of antique carpet.
    2.  You'll also need to try and understand the age and origin of the carpet that will in turn give you a much better insight about the overall quality of the carpet.
    3.  You'll also need to look and see if the edge and borders are there in the antique carpet you intend to buy, as the end and edge borders are sometimes lost or even cut out on purpose.  Keep in mind that the borders will determine the overall value of your carpet.
    4.  Keep an eye out for holes and moth  attacks that are both common when dealing with antique carpets.  These problems must be attended to before you buy the carpet.
    5.  You should always deal with dealers who have the prices marked on the carpet.  See to it that your dealer sticks to that price.

Carpet Cleaning

Although vacuum cleaning can remove a majority of the dry soil, it is also necessary to clean your carpet on a frequent basis to remove the oily, sticky soil that builds up in the pile as a result of odors and dirt that is tracked in from outside.

If you can clean the carpet before it becomes too bad, the cleaning chore will be easier to do and a lot more successful. There is a myth that is totally false, which states that cleaning the carpet before it is necessary will get it dirtier faster. The carpet with the typical household should be cleaned every 12 - 18 months depending on the number of people living there and the amount of traffic that walks on the carpet.

The choice of the right vacuum is important as well. There are some vacuums that will leave residues behind, which will promote re-soiling and basically defeat the whole purpose of household cleaning.

Professional carpet cleaners :

It is in your best interest to use professional cleaners simply because their experience will enable them to do a much better job than you can do yourself. The equipment they use has more extraction power than the units available to you, and the carpet will dry faster as well. They know the cleaning agents to use, and they know the differences in carpet construction and fibers.

Doing it yourself:

If you have made the decision to rent a steam cleaning machine and do the job yourself, you
should check on several systems before you make a selection. Most of the units available for rent  don't clean well enough and may end up damaging your carpet. Therefore, you should always consider the following:

Several rental companies offer cleaning equipment that is similar to what the professionals use. The equipment should have enough vacuum power to allow the carpet to dry within 12 hours of cleaning. You should always avoid rental units found in retail and grocery stores that don't  have the power to extract the cleaning solution
from the carpet fast enough, as it can actually damage the carpet due to over wetting. 

Make sure you avoid over wetting the carpet. Any prolonged dampness can lead to mildew growth and bacteria in the carpet, or cause a separation of the backing. A wet carpet that stays this way for longer than 24 hours can develop problems. You can control this by using proper equipment and the right training.

Carpets that have stain resistant  treatments have to be cleaned with products that are formulated for this very purpose, or the stain resistance will be impaired and the warranty will be voided. Never use cleaning or spotting solutions that contain bleaches as they can mess up the color of the carpet.

Never use any silicone based treatments on the carpet. You can help to reduce the drying time by using several fans to move the air around the carpet. You can use a dehumidifier as well, as it will pull moisture from the air.

Hot water extraction:
The hot water extraction system is highly recommended, as it considered to be one of the best methods for carpet cleaning. Also known as steam cleaning, the process consists of spraying a mixture of water and detergent into the pile and recovering the water and soil with a powerful vacuum that puts it into a holding tank. You can use a truck mounted unit or a portable self contained unit as well. This method is easily one of the best, and is ideal for soiled carpets or pet stains that you have yet to get out of the fibers.