Can My Crooked Rug Be Straightened Out? – Prescott AZ
It’s pretty rare to see a hand knotted rug that is perfectly straight. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one myself – and I’ve seen a LOT of rugs here at Arizona Oriental! Some rugs are longer on side than the other, one end may be wider, or there may even be an obvious curve to them. The imperfect shape of hand knotted rugs is just one of the many ways that these rugs shows off their handcrafted nature.
Over time, handmade rugs will experience various degrees of shrinkage. This also seems to be part of the natural cycle of these handmade treasures. Many rugs with cotton foundation fibers experience a distortion of shape when the cotton shrinks but the wool fibers do not.
Flatweave and needlepoint rugs especially experience this. Simple spot cleaning, washing, and even humidity alone can cause various degrees of shrinkage or buckling!
In many cases of rugs that are badly buckled or rippled, the rug can be “blocked.” Blocking implies gently stretching the rug out as it dries into a more even shape. This won’t make your rug perfectly straight again, of course. Sometimes, a rug is too misshapen to correct without damaging the rug. Most of the time, however, we are able to reach a happy middle ground with your rug.
Keep in mind that blocking a rug is not a permanent solution – rugs will always have a tendency to return to its misshapen state and will do so over time and with use.
If you are looking for ways to help prevent your rug from bunching up or becoming misshapen further, Arizona Oriental & Specialty Rug Care recommends getting a quality rug pad to sit beneath the rug to help it from bunching up and to help your rugs keep their shape. We carry the highest quality non-slip rug padding that we can find, so feel free to stop in and pick up a sample or give us a call and we can send you one!
Till next time, enjoy your beautiful art for your floor and remember a clean rug is a rug that can last you a lifetime!
Arizona Oriental & Specialty Rug Care serves Prescott, Prescott Valley, Sedona, and much of the Northern Arizona areas. We meet the highest standards in professional cleaning of area rugs with rug wash specialists having earned the highest training which includes certification as WOOLSAFE FIBRE CARE SPECIALISTS through the WOOLSAFE ORGANISATION. Such extraordinary certification ensures the area rugs of our client’s receive the utmost in care.
Have questions about what can be done for a misshapen rug or would like a free estimate? Give us a call at 928-445-1718, visit our website at www.ArizonaOriental.com, or stop by Monday through Friday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at our rug washing facility at 565 EZ Street, Prescott, AZ 86301 (pick-up and delivery also available). (01-13-17)
