Have you ever seen touched walked on a $100,000 rug? Now you have the chance to see some of the best in the world with a group of Rug Washers from across the country: The tentative plan for the Rug Tour October 15th in New York City: 10 AM Hagop Manoyan’s 38 E. 32nd ST New York’s top dealer of small high-end collectable rugs and Tribal trappings. Hagop will open his store special for us and show the group what the small collectable market is like. Hagop is one of the best restorers in the world. 11AM across the street to 31 32nd ST to Nazmiyal’s they are closed on Saturdays but Jason will open the store and put on a show for us. Jason is the top antique rug dealer in the world according to Hali magazine. 12:30 Lunch at the Waldorf Astoria. Christie’s Auction preview by 2 PM Richard Rothstein the big Philadelphia dealer will be coming and will offer his special insights at Christie’s. Done by 5. It will be a great chance to get an inside look (and touch) of the top of the market. Nathan Koets, Scott Kentfield and Paul Lucas are driving in from Michigan. Dusty Roberts is coming in from Canada. Wade Shehady is flying in from Pittsburgh. Mark Keshishian is coming up from DC. It will be a mix of the newer Rug washers as well as some of the 3rd generation crowd. No body is making a nickel on this. It started when some friends wanted to go to the Christie’s Auction Preview with me and it is growing fast. We each pay our own expenses so in the city it is lunch and subway fare. We may do something Sunday but that is still up in the air. It is for rug washers and I am not inviting collectors or rug dealers. Outside of me and the soap impresario it is all real rug cleaners. Best wishes, Barry O’Connell JBOC@SpongoBongo.com
The most valuable rug I've handled was a piece the dealer had paid $600,000 for... and was planning on reselling it quickly. Beautifully woven piece from Persia, with portraits of their royalty all along the borders, so fine it was almost like a painting, such great retail. And I was so happy he did not ask us the wash it. =) My luck it would buckle a little and give the princess wrinkles - LOL. Aaarrgh! This trip sounds like so much fun - especially the crowd you have coming to town. My Pittsburgh advanced rug workshop is running October 12th through 14th and I just know I will not have the stamina to get up at the crack of dawn to fly to NYC and try to make your timeline. And it really bums me out. I'd love to meet you, and to see Nathan who I have not seen in YEARS. Please take photos. Though that will rub it in that I didn't make it. :-( Lisa
If the mud is dry then the first step is dusting the rug and vacuuming it until the dirt stops shaking out. For dusting you can use a beater bar vacuum. If you have a Rug Badger or an air duster they are faster but a vac can do the job, it just takes longer. Tonight (Wednesday) at 9 Eastern on www.ProCleanersNetwork.com we are doing a program on how to clean your first rugs. It will take you step by step through the basic cleaning process. Best wishes, Barry O'Connell www.SpongoBongo.com
Who needs to drive to NYC when home depot is right down the road? My point is, have you ever heard the joke about watches? A watch is under 50 bucks, anything over is jewelry. Same thing with rugs. A rug from home depot is a rug, a few hundred, maybe a few thousand. A rug thats 100K, 600K, well thats art..
I agree jaymark1, you can make a living on low end rugs. If you ever want to move up to washing the high end rugs feel free to let us know and we will try to help. The point of New York and the upcoming DC Rug tour is to help good guys make more money. DC has some great cleaning classes. We also did the New York trip for free they just paid their way. I already know some have increased their business because of what they learned. The more you know the more the customers trust you and if all you know is tent sale rugs from the big box store then your customers pick up on it. So if you have all the business you need then you don't need us. Everyone who wants more money is welcome. Best wishes, Barry O'Connell www.SpongoBongo.com
you should wash it thoroughly so that the mud can be remove..or you can go to a professional rug cleaners.
Gutekunst - That's like saying the M5 DS I'm buying is gonna do the same thing your Butler does... Used to work in a shop that cleaned rugs, too. Washing one in the pit is a completely different kind of clean. Apples and oranges to running a wand over it. SpongoBongo there is also one of the top high end guys in the business.
