FAQs

What information do I need to provide to obtain a quote?
  • Your suburb of residence.
  • Rug measurements i.e. length x width or rug diameter. Please include fringes in your measurements.
  • Fibre composition e.g. wool, silk, cotton, synthetic etc.
  • Pile depth i.e. whether more or less than 20mm.
  • Whether there is parking and/or straight-forward access available at the rug collection/delivery address.
  • We recommend allowing seven to fourteen days as standard, or longer where you have opted to proceed with services separate to our standard wash process (e.g. stain remediation, repairs etc).
  • Please note turnaround times may lengthen as a result of wet weather and during our peak season over Spring and Summer.
  • Where your rug is stained and/or has dark traffic build-up our team will attempt to remedy this during the washing process. In some cases, stains and/or build-up will require a secondary treatment which must be conducted post-wash, once the rug is dry.
  • Where your rug requires a secondary treatment, our team will contact you to determine if you’d like to proceed. The cost for this treatment is charged separately from and in addition to the standard wash price. If the treatment is only partially successful, the fee for this service will be reduced accordingly.
  • Please note that even with specialised treatment some stains may be permanent.
  • We offer several services over and above our standard rug washing, which include:

a) Secondary stain remediation treatment

b) Repair of hand-knotted rugs

c) Moth deterrent treatment

d) Fabric protection treatment

e) Storage bags / storage wrap

f) Submersion treatment (for synthetic rugs that have been subjected to a high volume of pet urine)

  • Please contact us if you would like a quote for any of these services.
  • Upon collection from your nominated address/when you deliver your rugs to our warehouse, each rug is securely tagged with your name. The tags and “pins” we use are safe for your rug, and sturdy enough to survive the washing process.
  • We offer our rug collection and delivery service to all mainland suburbs of Brisbane and Redlands, many suburbs of Ipswich, Logan, Northern and Central Gold Coast and some suburbs of Southern Moreton Bay.
  • If your suburb is not within the areas noted above, you can still make use of our service by delivering your rugs to and collecting them from our facility anytime during our opening hours. Where proceeding with this option, you do not need to call or make a booking in advance.
  • Where you have booked your rug/s for collection from or delivery to your nominated address, our team will email you by 3:30pm on the business day prior to your scheduled booking to advise of a 90-minute timeframe in which we will be in attendance.
  • If you are unable to be present during the allocated timeframe, you are welcome to designate and advise us of a safe collection/delivery spot on site. Please advise gate codes/instructions for access prior to our attendance.
  • If there is nowhere safe on site and a friend/family member/neighbour is unable to assist, you are welcome to nominate an alternative address for rug collection/delivery (provided this address falls within our service area), such as the address of your workplace or a friend or family member.
  • If none of the options above are viable we recommend delivering your rugs to and collecting them from our facility.
  • As we can only visit a finite number of properties each day, it is important to note that our rug collection/delivery service can book out a week or two in advance.
  • Rug collections/deliveries are scheduled according to three things:

a) Size/weight of the rug/s, i.e. whether one or two technicians will be required to lift the rug/s.

b) Parking availability/site accessibility at the collection/delivery address.

c) Geography, i.e. whether your nominated address is North or South of the Brisbane River.

  • As a small business, we are typically unable to accommodate requests for specific days and/or times; please consider this when deciding if you wish to opt in for our rug collection/delivery service.
  • Where you have booked rugs for collection from a nominated address, please ensure these are rolled up and ready to go prior to our arrival.
  • If you have a disability and/or are not physically able to have your rug/s made ready prior to collection, please advise our team at the time of booking so that we can determine how we might be able to assist.
  • Where rugs are positioned under heavy furniture (e.g. bed frames, marble dining tables, pianos) our team will be unable to remove/replace these items.
  • Please make prior arrangements for removal of furniture (and replacement upon delivery) with a trusted contact or insured professional.

An invoice will be emailed to you once all services have been completed i.e. prior to delivery/when your rug is ready to collect from our facility.

  • Payment is due prior to or at the time of rug handover by our team (i.e. prior to or when our team is on site delivering your rug/s to you or when you are collecting your rug/s from our facility).
  • Our accepted payment methods include:

a. Direct deposit / bank transfer (please email evidence of deposit / transfer to admin@rugwashqueensland.com.au)

b. EFTPOS (1.2% surcharge applicable)

  • Where you have opted for our delivery service and payment/evidence of payment is not forthcoming prior to or at the time of delivery, our team will postpone handover of your rug/s until the next available delivery date.
  • Please note our business no longer accepts cash. As per the ACCC website: “Businesses can choose which payment types they accept. It is legal for a business to specify the terms and conditions that they will supply goods and services. This includes whether they will accept cash payment.”
  • We do. Our team requests that all rugs be unrolled and inspected within 72 hours of receipt. Any concerns or queries regarding the post-service condition of your rug are to be flagged with our team within this timeframe.
  • Please note your rug will be neatly rolled and secured with ribbon once all servicing is complete. We do not automatically wrap rugs post-wash. If you would like your rugs wrapped, please contact us for a quote on storage bags or storage wrap.
  • Yes. We do not under any circumstances return rugs to their owners while they are damp or wet.
  • To ensure rugs are not at risk of developing secondary issues that may arise from failing to dry properly, all rugs are placed post-wash into our drying room which is equipped with large fans and dehumidifiers. At regular intervals, a moisture meter is used to take several readings across each rug, allowing us to determine when rugs are actually dry.
  • No, our warehouse is not set up for storing rugs. As the holding space at our facility is limited we request that you ensure you are available to take delivery of or collect your rug/s within four weeks of the invoice date.
  • If extenuating circumstances arise preventing you from being able to collect or take delivery of your rug/s within four weeks of the invoice date, we request liaising with our office as a matter of priority.
  • The general consensus is that rugs are recommended to be washed every one to two years. However, where rugs are kept in homes with pets, young children or occupants with asthma or allergies, washing up to every six months will help better manage the accumulation of allergens/bacteria.
  • Our rug cleaning service is exceptionally thorough and completely different to the type of cleaning that is carried out in-situ; once your rugs arrive at our facility, they undergo a comprehensive cleaning process which includes dusting, washing, rinsing, drying and vacuuming. The result is an unparalleled clean, far superior to anything able to be achieved on site at your home or office. As you can imagine, this process is considerably more time and labour intensive than in-home cleaning and is therefore priced accordingly.
  • Smooth and fine, silk fibres do a poor job of hiding dander and dust which means that in comparison to a fibre like wool, silk will appear far dirtier when exposed to the same amount of foot traffic and dirt. Not only is washing the most effective method for removing abrasive dry soil particles (which cause damage to the rug fibre), this method improves the colour and vibrancy of your genuine silk rug by properly eliminating the residues which cause a lacklustre appearance. Furthermore, to directly address how safe our washing process is for genuine silk rugs, the key is in recognising that silk fibres are strong but do not have any elasticity (i.e., if stretched they cannot be restored). For this reason, our team employs a gentle washing technique when handling genuine silk to ensure no damage occurs.
  • A quick search for microscopic images of wool will reveal the almost scale- like characteristic of this fibre. Serving as a safe harbour for dry soil particles, wool fibres won’t surrender embedded dirt and residues through vacuuming alone. Not only does our washing process help to loosen and remove embedded dry soil particles which act in an abrasive manner (causing damage to the rug fibre), this method improves the appearance and texture of your rug. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, RugWash is a ‘Woolsafe Approved Service Provider’, meaning you can count on our team to care for your wool rugs safely and correctly.
  • Many people are surprised to learn that handmade wool rugs are commonly crafted onto a cotton foundation. Typically white (though found in many other colours), this foundation is comprised of several lengths of cotton which sometimes break during construction, resulting in the need to knot the broken lengths together. When a handmade rug is new it’s more likely that the pile will hide most of these knots; as the rug ages and the pile flattens or wears the knots are more likely to become visible. Another common occurrence is for white knots to be disguised by dirt which helps the differing colour blend more effectively within the rug. Once a rug is thoroughly washed and the dirt removed, the knots become more visible as they stand out in starker contrast to the colour of the pile. The important thing to note is that white knots are a normal characteristic of handmade rugs and add authenticity; they are proof that the rug you own is a genuine, handcrafted work of art.
  • One of the most fascinating indicators of a genuine handmade rug is abrash, which is the name used to refer to the stripes in authentic handcrafted rugs that look similar to the colour inconsistency from a printer running low on ink. A natural consequence of variations in dye strengths, fibre dwell times in dye and fibre thickness, abrash is not considered a flaw in handmade rugs and is visible most commonly in tribal rugs. It is normal for rugs that have undergone our washing process to have more noticeable abrash post-wash; this is simply a result of the colour contrast increasing because the dry soil and residues have been properly removed.

Vacuuming is an important step in the maintenance of your rug as it reduces the amount of dust, dirt, and dander being ground into the pile and foundation. This matters, because these fine particles cause damaging abrasion to rug fibres. While there are a few differences in the best vacuuming method based on the construction of your rug, the following are some basic tips to help set you up for success:

  • Beater bars: If your vacuum cleaner has a beater bar, we recommend turning this off, or at a minimum, using it at a setting which takes it as high off the floor as possible. Beater bars are simply too aggressive for use on most rugs.
  • Vacuum direction: If your rug has no pile/pile direction or has a sturdy foundation, vacuum across the width of your rug rather than the length. If your rug does have a pile/pile direction, or is thinly constructed, use an upholstery attachment to vacuum in the direction of the pile in small strokes, lifting the attachment up between these so you are never completing a return stroke against the pile direction.
  • Fringes: Always vacuum fringes in the fibre direction (i.e., typically perpendicular to the rug), with an upholstery attachment.
  • Old/delicate rugs: If your rugs are very old or delicate, it is best practice to avoid vacuuming altogether and instead use a rug brush (such as a horsehair brush) width-ways across the rug. Fringes on these rugs can also be brushed in the same manner, though always in the direction of the fringe fibres (i.e., typically perpendicular to the rug).
  • Sheepskin rugs: Because of their unique construction, we recommend shaking sheepskin rugs out, rather than vacuuming them. To restore the neat, fluffy appearance of sheepskin rugs after shaking, use a sheepskin brush for best results.

Rug Care Tutorials