How to Maintain Antique and Semi-Antique Rugs

In the rug and carpet industry a rug that is over 100 years old is considered an antique. At 50 years a rug is considered semi-antique. It may seem that rugs of that age are not desirable, but in fact they are very much in demand. Whether a hand made Oriental from Iran or a hand hooked piece of Americana, old rugs have a unique appeal. For example Interior Designers use old rugs to create ambiance in a space. Think of “Mediterranean Tuscan” décor with a beautiful Old Persian rug, or a “Shabby Chic” bedroom with a vintage hooked wool floral rug.

You may want to have a look in your attic for hidden treasure of an old rug and consider having it restored. And what about that old heirloom rug your grandmother gave you? You may be surprised at how beautiful it looks after a restoration.

The types of issues usually found in old rugs are stains, holes and missing, damaged or discolored fringes. All of these damages can be restored if the damage is not too far gone. Old fringes can be removed and new fringe added. Discoloration and fading of colors may also be corrected, depending on the extent of the problem. Even dry rot can be stopped and repaired on some rugs if it is done properly and the area is not too large. And of course a good cleaning by a certified professional rug cleaning facility is a good place to start to restore your old rug.

After you have your rug restored you will want to maintain it by doing the following:

-Use a rug pad under your rug. This will help protect the rug from wear.
-Be very careful in vacuuming your rug. It is recommended to avoid vacuums with a beater bar.
-Have your rug cleaned every 3 years or so by a certified professional rug cleaning facility. We recommend visiting the Carpet and Rug Institute website (www.carpet-rug.org) to find a certified professional rug cleaning facility in your area. Dry Cleaning may be necessary.
-You may want to get an appraisal to determine the value of your rug. Once appraised you can check with your insurance carrier as to the level of coverage you may want to carry.

If you are in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area and have an old rug that you want restored, please contact us and we will be happy to advise you about the restoration of your treasured old rug.

Mark Gonsenhauser's Rug and Carpet Superstore
4153 Virginia Beach Blvd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
757-486-6600

Website: http://www.igotyourrug.com/

Proudly providing you Antique Rug Restoration for the Hampton Roads cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News. 

The Best Rug Pad for Over Carpet

Just because you are laying a rug over carpeting does not mean you don't need a pad. A quality pad under your rug is very important as it will extend the life of your rug and protect it from wear and slippage as well as make the rug lay smoothly to make vacuuming easier.

The biggest problem with laying a rug over carpet is the rippling and bunching of the rug. This is especially an issue around the legs of your furniture. We have a solution to this problem. We recommend a pad by Teebaud that is very effective for over carpet.

Teebaud is designed for use under rugs of any kind to help prevent slippage and premature wear. The fluffy Teebaud underlay cushions rugs to prevent fiber damage and allows continuous airflow to prevent unwanted moisture and mildew buildup. It is odorless.

The Teebaud pad is a dual purpose pad but we recommend it primarily for over wall to wall carpeting. It features a unique fabric construction that consists of two non-woven polyester fabrics that are permanently needle punched together. The white side is meant to be laid on top of carpet. The gray side is meant to be laid on top of hard floors.

This pad is absolutely skid-proof. Both sides are lightly coated with a scientifically formulated, clean-lift, water-based adhesive. The entire pad actually grips the rug backing and the floor or carpet surface, firmly anchoring the rug in place.

Teebaud clean-lift adhesive is completely harmless to all floor and carpet surfaces. (Read all instructions prior to installation).

Teebaud pads are made in the USA and come in all the sizes you need to fit your rug including runners.

Mark Gonsenhauser's Rug and Carpet Superstore
4153 Virginia Beach Blvd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
757-486-6600

Website: http://www.igotyourrug.com/

Proudly providing you Teebaud rug pads for the Hampton Roads cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News. 

Custom Cut Rug Pads

So you just purchased a beautiful new rug and are wondering if you really need a rug pad laid under it. The answer is, yes you do. All rugs should have a pad under them. Especially if you have a fine hand made Oriental rug. If properly cared for, your Oriental rug can last for many generations.

Contrary to popular belief, a rug pad is primarily to protect your rug. Although a good pad does protect your hard wood floors as well.

A premium quality pad under your rug is very important. A quality pad will help preserve your rug from wear and slippage for many years and will extend the life of your rug. Think of the beating a rug takes from foot traffic. A pad will lessen the effects of that by acting as a shock absorber, cushioning the impact of foot traffic.
A good pad also prevents slippage, helps the rug lay flat and makes vacuuming much easier.

There are all sorts of rug pad materials on the market for use over hard floors but we have chosen a material that we think is superior. We recommend a rug underlay called "Cushion Grip". Cushion Grip is a premium quality pad. The material is made of carpet fibers that have been fused together and then needle punched to a waffled rubberized backing material that is non slip. The fused fibers are also coated with a rough surface to help hold the rug to the pad.

Cushion grip is guaranteed to retain its non-slip, non-skid properties for at least 10 years with proper maintenance. The rubberized waffle texture backing holds very firmly. This makes for a slip free transition when walking from your hard surface floor onto the rug and visa versa. This pad also helps prevent ripples around the legs of your furniture.

Cushion Grip padding is about 1/4 inch thick. It is the most effective rug pad to use for hardwood, laminate wood, tile, vinyl and concrete. It will hold well to any hard surface floor.

The other major benefit of this pad is that we custom cut it to fit your rug's actual dimensions. This makes for a perfect fit with no trimming necessary. This is great for Oriental rugs that may be an odd or non generic size. For example if your Persian rug is slightly irregular in shape we cut the pad to its shape. We also cut the pad about two inches smaller overall therefore allowing the rug to completely cover the pad.

Protect your investment, put the proper rug pad under it!

In a future post we will be discussing the proper pad material to use over carpet.

Mark Gonsenhauser's Rug & Carpet Superstore
4153 Virginia Beach Blvd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
757-486-6600

Website: http://www.igotyourrug.com/

Proudly Providing Rug pads to the Hampton Roads cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News, and parts of the Eastern Shore and North East North Carolina.

The Best Wall to Wall Carpet Source in Virginia Beach and Norfolk

Buying carpet can be a challenging task if you go shopping with no knowledge. Allow us to help you take some of the guess work out of the process and offer some helpful tips.

When you shop for carpeting you will want to shop first for the fiber type, then the carpet brand. The type of carpet pile fiber you choose will significantly impact the overall performance of your carpet. In buying carpet make sure you understand the various types of carpet fiber and how each one cleans, mats or crushes, resistance to sunlight fading and stains.

Different types of fiber wear in different ways so it is wise to make your choice on the basis of where the carpet will go and how it will be used.

The price of a carpet depends largely on its fiber content, pile weight, and style. Wool can be rather expensive compared with synthetics.

Synthetic fibers make up 99% of the fiber used by the US carpet industry. Nylon, the best-selling carpet fiber, typically costs more than polyester or olefin and branded fibers cost more than unbranded.

There are highly advertised brands of nylon fiber that are not carpet brands and it may be difficult to distinguish between a fiber brand and a carpet brand. Some examples of fiber brands are Stainmaster and Triexta by DuPont and Wear-Dated by Mohawk.

There is no perfect fiber and carpet is a fabric that is subjected to incredible abuse through foot traffic, accidental spills, environmental contaminants, and other abuses.

Below is a chart of carpet fibers and the characteristics you may want to consider when making your carpet choice. Click on the image to enlarge chart.


At Mark Gonsenhauser’s Rug and Carpet Superstore we have wall to wall carpeting available in infinite colors, designs, patterns and solids. Wools, nylons and blends. We have them ALL to help you create the statement you have been dreaming of.


This is a list of carpets that we sell. Please note that we are always adding new brands and styles to our selection. Do come in and we are happy to give you our expert help with your search for the perfect carpet for your home and lifestyle.

Beaulieu
Bliss
Bloomsburg
Blueridge Home
Camelot
Concepts International
Coronet
Design Materials
Fabrica
Fibreworks
Glen Eden
Godfrey / Hirst
Helios
Hollytex
Horizon
Masland
Mohawk
Nourison
Prestige
Radici
Robertex
Royal Dutch
Shaw Industries
Silver Creek
Sphinx Oriental Weavers
Southwind Carpet Mills
Stanton
Weave-Tuft
Woolshire
Wundaweve

Mark Gonsenhauser's Rug and Carpet Superstore
4153 Virginia Beach Blvd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
757-486-6600

Website: http://www.igotyourrug.com/


Proudly Providing your Carpet needs to the Hampton Roads cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News, and parts of the Eastern Shore and North East North Carolina.

Design Your Own Custom Made Rug

Mark Gonsenhauser's Custom Rug Department

On a previous post we documented the making of a very large oversized custom rug for one of our customers. In this post we want to show you some of the advantages of having a custom rug made and illustrate how easy the process is from a design point of view. Of course, the primary advantage of having a custom rug made is that you can choose and design exactly what you want in the colors and size you want. 

Below we highlighted two different companies that make custom rugs. The first company makes hand made rugs and the second produces machine made rugs. 

#1- Tamarian hand made Tibetan wool rugs from Nepal.

Tamarian rugs are made in Nepal of Tibetan wool. Also known as Nepalese rugs, they are beautiful wool and silk creations. The Tibetan wool is known for its durability, rich texture and subtle color variation. 

Creating your own design using as inspiration, fabrics, wallpaper, artwork or pictures is a fantastic way to bring your décor some originality and put your own unique style into a room.

Tamarian also offers a vast array of their patterns and designs to choose from.

Tamarian has over 2500 colors you can choose from or they do custom color matching. In addition the options for knot count and wool to silk content ratio give you even more choices.

Below is a Tamarian rug that was just completed.


This is a Tamarian design using the clients own custom color palette.


The finished product looks exactly like the sketch! The turn around time is about 3-6 months, depending on the size. As you can see the final product is worth the wait to get exactly what you want!

# 2- Dalyn Rug Company

Dalyn manufactures over 150 designs in 450 colors. Machine Made rugs are a less costly alternative to hand made rugs. Dalyn’s designs offer a sophisticated selection of patterns, textures, colors and shapes. They come in a pre-set variety of sizes in wool, nylon and polyester. The price points differ depending on the material and size. The turn around time is about 2 weeks.

Some of our other rug vendors are also capable of customizing their existing products. Momeni will take existing patterns and re-color them to your color palette. Nourison will take existing patterns and make them into sizes up to 16' x 40'.

We also have lots of other rug manufacturers that customize their products for you. For example, Capel, Design Materials and Fabrica. Come by our showroom and let us show you how we can provide you with the perfect rug in the perfect color!

Mark Gonsenhauser's Rug & Carpet Superstore
4153 Virginia Beach Blvd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
757-486-6600

Website: http://www.igotyourrug.com/



Proudly providing your Custom rug needs for the Hampton Roads cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News. 

Decorating with Outdoor Rugs

Capel Indoor / Outdoor Rug

Who doesn't love spending time outdoors? These days having an outdoor space is something many people are looking for in a new home. Outdoor spaces are also popular as add-on renovation projects to existing homes. People are treating the outdoor spaces on their properties as true extensions of their homes, turning porches, pools, patios, decks, and gardens into outdoor living spaces that serve the same functions as indoor rooms. These spaces are ideal for extending your living area and make great venues for entertaining, alfresco dining or just hanging out and relaxing after a long day's work.

A great way to add a design element to your outdoor space is with a rug. There are unlimited options in the category of Indoor / Outdoor rugs. From modern designs to solid colors, textures, patterns, tropical, floral and stripes, the choices are abundant.

Polypropylene is the primary material that outdoor rugs are made of. This is a man made material that performs well when exposed to rain and sunlight. Indoor / Outdoor rugs are also very durable. Most are fade and mildew resistant and easy to clean. That also makes these rugs a great choice for kitchens, baths, door entry and anywhere else you can think of!

Below are some pictures from the Paula Deen collection of outdoor rugs that may inspire you to get decorating and bring some color and life to your patio or porch!

Porch Rug Collection by Kaleen Rug Co.

Be sure to come by our Virginia Beach showroom to see our entire line of Indoor / Outdoor rugs!

Here are some of the fine brands we carry:

Porch Collection by Kaleen Rug Co.

Oriental Weavers Lanai

Kane Carpet- Custom made sizes, a mulitude of patterns!

Capel- Custom made rugs

Other Manufacturers of custom made Indoor/Outdoor Rugs:
Fabrica
Fibreworks
Stanton

Mark Gonsenhauser's Rug and Carpet Superstore

4153 Virginia Beach Blvd.

Virginia Beach, VA 23452

757-486-6600

Website: http://www.igotyourrug.com/

I've Got Your Rug!

Proudly providing you with Indoor / Outdoor Rugs for the Hampton Roads cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News. 

Removing Stains from an Oriental Rug

Professional Rug Cleaning Virginia Beach, VA

Spills and stains on your Oriental rug are a nuisance but you can spot clean your rug if you use the proper agent for the type of spill you are dealing with.


For best results we recommend the use of the appropriate antidote and procedure. 


Use chart as a guide.

Blotting and stain removing procedure:

• Work quickly
• Blot up all excess spill with paper towels.
• Don’t Rub.
• Apply antidote as shown on list with a clean dry cloth, working from the edge to the center.
• Do not soak.
• Pat with paper towels. Dry with fan or hair blower.
• Restore pile with clothes brush.

CANDLE WAX: Place a blotter or brown paper bag over the spot. Put a hot iron over the blotter. Wait a minute or so until the wax is absorbed into the blotter. Move the iron constantly and do not let it stay in one place. Repeat if necessary.


CHEWING GUM: Press ice cubes against spot. Wait until it becomes brittle and breaks off. Use spot remover to vanish last traces. Saturate the spot with cloth soaked in vinegar or alcohol.


INK FROM BALLPOINT PEN: Saturate the spot with hairspray. Allow to dry. Brush lightly with a solution of water and vinegar.

Spot and stain removal procedure chart:


Procedure A: Detergent - Vinegar - Detergent – Water


Procedure B: Cleaning fluids - Detergent - Water - Ammonia - Detergent –Water


Procedure C: Detergent - Vinegar - Ammonia - Detergent - Water


Procedure D: Detergent - Ammonia - Detergent - Water Detergent - Ammonia – Vinegar


Procedure E: Detergent – Water




Alphabetical Stain Treatment Index:


Match each stain with its corresponding procedure under the Spot and Stain Removal section:

You can always bring your rug to us and have it professionally cleaned in our Virginia Beach plant.

Mark Gonsenhauser's Rug and Carpet Superstore

4153 Virginia Beach Blvd.

Virginia Beach, VA 23452

Cleaning Dept: 757-333-1010

Store: 757-486-6600

Website: http://www.IGotYourRug.com/

Proudly providing you with Expert Rug cleaning for the Hampton Roads cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News.