Rug cleaning
in San Francisco.

San Francisco housing is old by American standards. Of the city’s 420,054 units, 44.7 percent were built in 1939 or earlier. That means original fir and oak floors, narrow halls, and rooms sized for a 9×12 rather than an 18×12 — and rugs that have held one position for decades, with sun-bleached edges at a bay window and crushed pile under a piano leg. In Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights we see Persian city carpets and Aubussons in formal rooms. In Noe Valley and Bernal Heights it is flatweaves and Moroccan pile taking daily traffic in a flat. The west side is a separate problem. The NOAA climate memorandum for San Francisco records that summer mornings leave the entire city overcast, followed by clearing on the warmer bay side but only partial clearing on the cooler ocean side. In the Sunset and the Richmond, wool washed at home does not fully dry — good conditions for mildew in the foundation and for casemaking moths in the fringe. That is the argument for taking a rug out of the fog belt. Our 12-step cold-water immersion wash runs indoors at the workshop, and drying is controlled rather than left to the weather. This city knows rugs. The de Young in Golden Gate Park holds the McCoy Jones collection of Central Asian carpets. We wash to that standard: cold water, lanolin left in the wool, vegetable dyes tested before immersion. Seventy percent of San Francisco units sit in buildings of two or more. Stairs are the default, and our own crew carries.

Pickup windows are scheduled in advance, not slotted into a fixed route. Call and we confirm your window within a day. Customer service runs 8am to 8pm, seven days, so an evening call still reaches a person. On the day our own team arrives — the same people who wash the rug and return it. They photograph the rug in place, note the stairs, walk-up or garage entry, roll it, and wrap it for the drive.