When choosing a professional cleaner for your fine Oriental rugs, you want to make sure to find a qualified company that you can trust to do the job correctly. Here are a few questions that you should ask to ensure you hire the correct company for your rug cleaning needs.
1. How long have you been in the business of cleaning fine rugs and how much experience do your technicians have? In most cases, the longer a company has been in business, the better. They obviously have been doing something right to stay in business for as long as they have. Cleaning fine rugs takes a certain expertise that can only be acquired through years of experience. Make sure their rug technicians have some years under their belts when it comes to cleaning fine rugs.
2. Is your company certified, insured, and bonded? To gain certification as a qualified rug technician one must complete a battery of testing and practice. The main one you want to ask for is the IICRC. Even the best rug cleaning companies can have accidents. Making sure they are insured and bonded will protect you from theft or accidental damage to your rug while it is in their possession. It also wouldn’t hurt to find out if they are in good standing with the Book24.
3. What is included in your service? Ask them to break down the steps of a standard rug cleaning. This will give you an idea of what they will be doing for your rug. From here you will also be able to add or subtract certain services that you may need.
4. How do you charge for your rug services? Do they charge by square foot or some other criteria? Is stain removal extra? Is there a charge for extra services such as deodorization or fabric protection, and if so, how much? Getting an itemized list of services and their corresponding prices will help immensely should any billing confusion arise later. Always ask for a written quote or estimate. This can save you a ton of headache should there be a problem after the fact.
5. Do you offer any guarantees? What happens if you are not satisfied with their work? Make sure there are provisions in case a stain returns or if an odor still remains. Most companies will be pretty accommodating if you are not satisfied. Some will offer to redo the cleaning at no cost, include additional services at no cost, or give an additional discount. These will vary depending on the company.
If, and only when, these and any other questions you might have are answered to your satisfaction should you hire any particular rug cleaning company. Keeping your fine Oriental rugs maintained at home and having a trusted professional cleaner give it a thorough hand washing every few years are the secret to a long life for your rug.