Read the back first
The Back of the Rug Tells Us How to Clean It
Turning a rug over shows how it was made and what it's made of, and that settles the method before any product touches it. A rug that looks hand-made from the front can turn out to be tufted with a glued backing, which changes how much water it can take.
| Rug type | How to recognize it | How we approach it |
|---|---|---|
| Syntheticpolypropylene, nylon, polyester | Machine-made, an even back, usually a label | Handles hot water extraction well; traffic lanes and most spills respond |
| Wool | Springy pile, a faint natural smell when damp | Cooler water and WoolSafe Approved products, with moisture kept low |
| Hand-tufted | Canvas or cloth glued over the back | Low moisture only; the latex glue softens and smells if it's soaked |
| Hand-knotted | The pattern shows clearly on the back, knot by knot | Colour tested for dye bleed first; some older rugs aren't safe to clean at home, and we'll say so |
| Cotton flatweave and kilim | Thin, no pile, often reversible | Prone to shrinking and dye run, so colours are tested and moisture is kept low |
| Viscose ("art silk") and silk | High sheen, cool and slippery to the touch | Water can yellow viscose and flatten the pile; we confirm on site whether it can be cleaned at all |
If the rug still has a label, a photo of it saves time. The fibre content line tells us far more than a brand name or the word “hand-made”.
Towers, houses and suites
What Sits Under the Rug Changes the Visit
Burnaby has channelled most of its new housing into four town centres, while its older detached streets carry a lot of basement suites. Between them, a rug here can be lying on almost anything, and the floor underneath shapes how we clean it and when you can put it back.
| Where the rug is | What's usually under it | What we plan for |
|---|---|---|
| Tower suiteMetrotown, Brentwood, Lougheed or Edmonds | Laminate, engineered wood or vinyl plank | Keeping moisture off the floor seams, plus the elevator booking and parking your building asks for |
| Older detached houseNorth or Central Burnaby | Original hardwood, often with a rug pad | Making sure the rug and pad are dry right through before they go back on the wood |
| Basement suite | A concrete slab under thin flooring or underlay | Slower drying, and musty odour coming up from the floor rather than the rug |
| Townhouse | Different floors over two or three levels | Confirming which rug is on which level before we arrive |
In a condo, the rug is often the only soft surface in the room, so it takes all the foot traffic, crumbs and pet hair that wall to wall carpet would otherwise spread out. It usually needs cleaning sooner than people expect.
Before the rug goes back down
Most rugs are dry in 4 to 8 hours, depending on the fibre and how thick the rug is, and a rug can feel dry on top while the backing and pad are still damp. On hardwood, that trapped moisture can mark the finish, and dye from a wet backing can transfer onto a light floor. Until it's dry right through, the rug is better left where it was cleaned than laid back over wood.
Transparent pricing
What Rug Cleaning Costs in Burnaby
Rugs are priced by size, so you can work out the number before you call.
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Area rug cleaning | $10 per 10 sq ft |
| Pet urine treatment | Priced separately |
About the price
The price is confirmed at your door, after we've seen the job, and nothing is added to your bill without your agreement.
Before we arrive
Booking a Rug Clean Without a Second Trip
A few details at booking mean the technician turns up with the right plan for the rug and for your building.
- Photograph the back and any label: It shows how the rug was made and often what it’s made of.
- Measure it roughly: Length and width are enough, along with how many rugs there are.
- Tell us what’s under it: Hardwood, laminate, tile, or a basement floor over concrete.
- Share the building details: Elevator booking rules, where a service vehicle can park, the buzzer number and the floor.
- Mention pets and old stains: Pet urine needs a different treatment than a coffee spill, and anything you’ve already tried on a stain matters too.
Basement suites and the wet months
Rugs in Basement Suites and Through the Rainy Season
Burnaby allows secondary suites in single-family homes, including in basements, so plenty of rugs in the city sit a few centimetres above a concrete slab. Concrete stays cool and holds moisture through fall and winter, and a rug lying on it takes some of that up.
That tends to show up in two ways. The first is a musty smell that returns a few weeks after a clean, because the source is under the rug rather than in it. The second is drying time: a rug cleaned in a basement suite on a wet November day sits at the long end of the 4 to 8 hours, or past it.
A few things make a real difference below grade:
Run a dehumidifier if you have one:
It does more for a basement rug than turning up the heat.
Keep the bathroom fan running:
Especially in a suite without a window that opens.
Keep the rug off the slab until it's dry:
A damp backing pressed back onto cold concrete is how mildew starts.
Check the floor while the rug is up:
If the concrete or underlay feels damp, that needs sorting before the rug goes back.
Straight answers
What Every Rug Clean Includes, and Where Cleaning Stops
Most rugs improve a lot. Some damage isn't dirt, though, and it's better to hear that before we start than after.
Included in every visit
- Fibre and construction check, front and back
- Colour test on anything hand-made or brightly dyed
- Pre-treatment for traffic lanes, food and drink spots
- Cleaning matched to the fibre, with moisture kept under control
- Pile grooming so the rug dries with an even finish
- Drying advice for your room and the floor the rug sits on
What cleaning can't fix
Backing damage from damp
A rug that has spent years on a basement floor can have a brittle or rotted backing. Cleaning won't strengthen it, and we'll point it out before we begin.
Dye that has already run
If colours bled during an earlier wash or spill, cleaning can't move them back.
Urine that reached the floor
We treat the rug, but if urine has soaked into the pad or the floor beneath, the smell can keep coming from there.
Moth damage
Bare patches where moths have eaten the wool pile won't fill back in.
Same visit
Pair the Rug With the Sofa or the Carpet
If the rug sits in front of a sofa, both usually need attention at the same time. Doing them together means one elevator booking and one afternoon of drying instead of two.
Upholstery cleaning
The fabric code is checked before anything else, and the sofa is cleaned in the same visit as the rug.
Bedrooms, hallways and stairs, starting at $129 for three rooms and a hallway.
For everything else we do in the city, see carpet cleaning in Burnaby.
Across the city
Where We Clean Rugs in Burnaby
We clean rugs in every part of Burnaby, from the towers around the four town centres to the older streets on the north slope and around Deer Lake. Our office is on Seymour Street in downtown Vancouver.
- Town centres: Metrotown, Brentwood, Lougheed and Edmonds
- North Burnaby: Vancouver Heights, Willingdon Heights, Brentwood Park and Lochdale
- Central Burnaby: The streets around Deer Lake
- South Burnaby: Royal Oak and Highgate
- Burnaby Mountain: UniverCity
Next door, we also work in New Westminster, Coquitlam and Vancouver.
Other areas we serve
Get started
Book Rug Cleaning in Burnaby
Send a photo of the rug and its back, the rough size, and what floor it's lying on. We'll give you the price on the phone and confirm it at your door.
