Chelsea Cleaning offers professional cleaning of all loose woollen rugs and flokatis
Our processes are carefully designed to ensure that these carpets don’t shrink, fade or suffer other damage during the cleaning process.
Cleaning flokatis, shaggys and thick woollen rugs
At Chelsea Cleaning, we begin by beating woollen rugs to remove loose dirt.
We treat any stains with an appropriate stain remover and then wash and rinse the rugs, using cold water and minimal agitation in our large heavy-duty washing machines.
The rugs are spun in our state-of-the-art centrifuge, which removes up to 95% of moisture.
They’re then hung up to air dry before final inspection and packing.
About cleaning woollen rugs
Woollen rugs and carpets are typically made from sheep’s wool, with New Zealand wool considered the finest. However, they can also be woven from the hair of goats, llamas or alpacas. Woollen rugs tend to be very durable. This durability increases further if the wool is blended with nylon. Commonly an 80/20 wool-to-nylon ratio is used. Cleaning a woollen rug can be challenging because wool absorbs protein-based stains, is highly absorbent, and is prone to shrinkage.
About cleaning flokatis
A flokati is a shaggy-textured woollen rug. It is typically off-white, but may be dyed different colours. The entire rug is handmade with a thick, loose pile. Most flokatis are made entirely from wool; this includes the backing. The sheep farmers of the Pindus mountains in Greece pioneered the flokati when they discovered that washing a wool rug in flowing mountain water makes the back tight but keeps the front of the rug fluffy.
Our process for cleaning flokatis is the same as for cleaning sensitive woollen rugs, but with extra care taken not to damage the soft, shaggy pile.
