Antique Rug Cleaning — Expert Care for Your Timeless Pieces

The world’s oldest surviving rug is believed to be the Pazyrk Carpet, which was discovered in Siberia and dates back to the 5th century B.C. Your antique rug is probably not quite that venerable, but it’s still precious to you. That means that it deserves the very best when it comes to antique rug cleaning services.

Your Antique Rug Is More Than a Floor Covering

An antique is defined as an object that’s at least 100 years old, but an antique rug is more than this. After all, cheap rugs were being mass-produced 100 years ago. A true antique rug is more than just a floor covering. It’s handwoven, has a unique pattern and was dyed with natural colorings. You might not even risk it being put on your floor, especially if the floor gets lots of traffic. You might have it displayed as a tapestry or placed in a room set aside for special guests. Even there, you make sure that it’s kept out of direct sunlight and that guests remove their shoes before they walk on it. If you have young kids or pets, you keep an eye on them when they’re around your rug. If something unfortunate happens, though, our professionals are experts in pet accident cleaning of antique rugs.

Why Antique Rugs Demand Specialized Cleaning

Antique rugs demand specialized cleaning because of the fibers they’re woven from and because of their natural dyes. Here are some of their vulnerabilities.

Wool Rugs

Wool is the most prevalent fiber in antique rugs, and its advantages are many. It’s soft but tough, durable and fire-resistant. The best wool rugs spring back when they’re crushed or creased. But, as everyone who’s washed a wool sweater in hot water knows, it's prone to shrinkage if it’s not cleaned properly. It’s also tough to get stains out of a wool rug though our professionals have lots of experience with antique rug stain removal. Rugs made entirely of wool are also vulnerable to pest damage, mold and mildew.

Silk Rugs

Woven from the cocoons of silkworms, silk is unbeatable when it comes to lustrousness and the ability to take dyes. It’s a surprisingly tough material, but it’s not as springy as wool. It’s also hard for a silk rug to bounce back after it’s been scuffed or crushed. Rugs made of pure silk are also extremely expensive. This is why the silk is often blended with other fabrics.

Natural Dyes

The natural dyes that often give vibrant colors to antique rugs also need to be treated with great care when it comes to professional antique rug cleaning. These dyes are obtained from everything from crushed red female beetles to oak bark and saffron flowers. Though these colors fade over time and give your rug a special patina, they need special cleaning methods to prevent them from bleeding. This is why our professionals are careful to test your rug before it’s cleaned.

What Makes Our Antique Rug Cleaning Unique

At Aegis, we pride ourselves on our 40-plus years of cleaning antique and other fine rugs. The rugs our customers entrust to us are carefully handwashed. We never use shampoo or harsh chemicals that can ruin the beloved rug that might have been in your family for generations. This makes us different from other rug-cleaning services in the Austin area.

We check every rug for pet accidents. You might not even know there is one, but we can tell.

We’ll clean your rug individually as opposed to putting it in a pool with other rugs. Your rug is unique, and it needs individualized service.

Aegis won’t use automatic rug cleaning machines. Antique wool rug cleaning and antique silk rug cleaning are done by hand. Only a human hand is sensitive enough for luxury antique rug cleaning services.

Our owner uses custom-made cleaning solutions for your rug.

There are no hidden costs. The price you pay when we come for your rug is the final price.

Safe Drying Techniques

You know that washing a rug the wrong way can be brutal, but so can drying it the wrong way. At Aegis, we use air-cushion drying instead of hanging. We certainly wouldn’t put your rug in a dryer where it can be battered about. Air cushion drying allows fans to dry your rug just from the circulating air around it. A dehumidifier pulls excess moisture from the air to allow the drying process to be faster yet just as gentle.

Our Expertise With Antique Rugs

At Aegis, we take pride in our decades of experience with hand-cleaning for antique rugs. It has given us an advantage over every other rug cleaning business in the Austin, Texas area.

Local Service Area & Convenience

If you live in Austin, West Austin, Rollingwood, Travis Heights, Driftwood, Bee Cave or another part of the 787 zip code area and have an antique rug that needs cleaning, we're here for you. We understand that you might be nervous about who will handle your rug when you give it over to be cleaned. Our expertise when it comes to luxury rug cleaning should give you peace of mind. We also pick up and deliver your rug. This saves you the hassle of rolling up what could be a nearly room-sized rug and figuring out a way to get it to our business.

Recommended Cleaning Frequency for Antique Rugs

We recommend that you clean your antique rug every 18 months. You might want to clean it more frequently if it’s in a place where it gets heavy traffic, or you have pets or children. In the meantime, it’s up to you to take care of your rug with a gentle, weekly vacuuming.