[ian richards]

How much is an average price for cleaning an average sized rug?
I am quite new to the business and there seems to be a big difference depending on whom you speak to, hence when i am doing a quote i feel that i'm going in blind!!
Cheers. 

[Dynafoam]

Ian,

There is a wide range of prices charged for all types of cleaning so it is hard to talk of average prices.

For myself the price for a rug will vary dependant on type, condition, fringeged/unfringed but as a rough guide I would commonly charge around the same price for a 6 x4 rug as I would charge for an average loungealthough  this price may increase four or five-fold.

I have spent 10 hours on an 8' x 12' rug, but cleaned others of the same size in one hour.

[Len Gribble]

Ian

John’s reply sums up what I would have said.

There are some who charge £10.

Len

[scott.]

Ian

The way i was taught, was to charge around 10% of the value of the rug.
I charge £30 for a normal rug worth up to £300..etc...its a good guide, i think anyway...however, as stated above...some require a bit of attention

[Dynafoam]

Hi Scott,

The 10% of value guide was something pushed by Ron Tilley and a few others.

The thing is that I clean a lot of  rugs purchased from Ikea and the like and charge sometimes more for the clean than the customer paid for the rug.

I always point this out to the owner before starting, but the point is that the fact that it was purchased for under £40 does not mean that I an prepared to clean it for so little.

[paulchambers]

I have only seen a few rugs since starting in January. Am i right in thinking that rugs can shrink i have looked at the backing and it scares me when i see a belguin wilton type weave.   Paul

[Mike Halliday]

I've cleaned 100's of Polypropelene B/W type rugs. they clean up great, as for shrinking does it matter that its an inch shorter .

the only problem I have is they tend to 'crinkle' up or curl up at the edges, anyone any ideas how to solve this. I tend to leave them to flatten out themselves.

Mike

[Dynafoam]

Mike,

The edge wrinkling is very common and normally, but not always, flatten out eventually. However I find that if my cleaning stroke are across the rug (weft-line)they most often do not develop.

[paulchambers]

The mention wrinkling is what scares me so cleaning across the weft helps stop this. Johns experience yet again is impressive   Paul

[Eddie_Rhone]

Have had wrinkling problem myself in cleaning polyprop rugs.

Have used sheets of hardboard( Check for any colour migration first) placed on top of rug with bricks evenly distributed over hardboard, basically a press leave for 24 hours rug is flat again.

Hope this may help

[scott.]

Yes john
 It was ron tiley, actualy...I managed to stay awake for that particular part of the day...and caught the rug pricing...that aside, i still find it difficult to know what to charge these days.

[Doug Holloway]

Paul,

D'ont be scared its only a rug.

Seriously any decent quality rug will not  wrinkle and the cheapo ones will settle down after a few hours.

Cheers,

Doug

[paulchambers]

Doug I cleaned the rug and it has wrinkled slightly around the edges but customer not to bother and after she paid me told me i charged double the cost of the rug in the first place.   Some strange people about.     Paul

[Nobby]

If a rug or carpet square wrinkles around the edge after cleaning try spraying the backing with water at the problem areas.  I can't remember where I discovered that remedy, it may have been Mr Tilley at Prochem, but it has worked for me.

Nobby

[paulchambers]

now i am confused as i thought it was the backing that shrunk   Paul

[Dynafoam]

Paul,

The edge wrinkling can be caused by localised stretching, but is most commonly due to uneven expansion of the backing fibres. This can be enhanced by the tension exerted by cleaning strokes, hence the weft-line cleaning