Cleaning & repair

Hong Kong is hard on rugs. We put them right.

Specialist hand washing, reweaving and restoration for wool, silk and antique rugs — including rugs we did not make.

Cleaning

Why hand washing, and not steam

Most general carpet cleaners in Hong Kong use hot water extraction. That is the right method for wall-to-wall synthetic carpet and the wrong one for a hand-knotted rug.

Wool is a protein fibre. Hot water and alkaline detergent strip its natural lanolin, which is what makes wool resist dirt in the first place. Vegetable dyes run. Cotton foundations shrink unevenly, and the rug comes back with a ripple in it that never quite flattens.

Hand washing uses cool water, pH-neutral solutions and controlled drying. It takes several days rather than an afternoon, and it is the only method we will use on a hand-knotted rug.

The process

What a wash includes

Free collection and delivery anywhere in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories. We roll and wrap the rug at your home and lay it back down when it returns.

Repair

Reweaving, knot by knot

A damaged rug is almost always worth repairing. The work is done by hand, in the same way the rug was made — and a properly rewoven area is difficult to find once finished.

Holes and worn patches — rewoven in matching wool or silk at the original knot density
Moth damage — treated first so it cannot spread, then the eaten area rewoven
Frayed edges — the selvedge rebound by hand
Fringes — repaired or replaced entirely
Burns, pet damage, splits and tears
Curling and rippling — blocked flat and, where needed, re-backed
Cut-downs — a rug reduced to fit a smaller room, with the new edge bound so it looks original

Act early

Two things that get expensive if you wait

Frayed edges

Once the selvedge goes, the knots at the edge have nothing holding them and the rug begins to unravel inwards. Rebinding a sound edge is a small job. Reweaving a strip that has already come away is a much larger one.

Moths

Hong Kong’s climate suits carpet moths. They lay in the dark, undisturbed parts of a rug — under furniture, in a corner, along a wall — and the larvae eat the wool down to the foundation.

Look for thin patches where nobody walks, fine sandy grit at the base of the pile, or small pale larvae when you fold the rug back. Move furniture and check twice a year.

Questions

Care and cleaning

How often should a rug be cleaned?

Every two to three years for most homes. Sooner with a pet, a small child at the crawling stage, or if the rug sits by a door or in a hallway. Other signs: a visible colour difference between the middle and the edges, grit underfoot, or a musty smell after a damp spring.

Something has been spilled. What now?

Blot, do not rub — rubbing pushes the spill into the foundation and distorts the pile. Work from the outside inwards with a clean white cloth. Cool water only, no detergent and no heat. Then call us.

How do I look after a rug between washes?

Vacuum without a beater bar, and turn the rug end to end once a year so it wears and fades evenly. Use an underlay on any hard floor — it stops the rug sliding, protects the foundation, and is the cheapest thing you can buy for a rug.

How do you quote for repairs?

Send photographs — the whole rug, then a close-up of the damage with something for scale. That is usually enough for an estimate. We will also tell you honestly when a repair is not worth the cost relative to the rug.

Enquire

Send us a photograph

The whole rug, then a close-up of the problem. We quote before we collect, with no obligation.