Hand-washed oriental rug cleaning — by master artisans in our atelier.
For more than a decade, the Cohen family has hand-washed oriental rugs from every weaving tradition — Persian, Turkish, Caucasian, Indian, Chinese, antique and contemporary. Every color dye-tested, the foundation dry-dusted, each rug washed individually with pH-balanced soap and temperature-controlled water, dried flat and finished by hand. Never by machine, never off-site. Complimentary pickup across Manhattan, the Hamptons, Westchester, Greenwich, and Stamford.
Persian, Turkish, Caucasian, Chinese — every oriental rug.
Each tradition has its own foundation, dye chemistry, and hand. We wash each one with the process appropriate to its construction — from a contemporary Persian to an antique or silk piece.
Persian
The heart of oriental weaving. Tabriz, Kashan, Heriz, Isfahan, Kerman — medallion drawing, vegetable dyes, 100 to 800+ knots per square inch.
Turkish
Anatolian workshops and villages. Oushak, Hereke, Konya. Symmetric Ghiordes knot, soft saffron-and-terracotta palette.
Caucasian
Kazak, Shirvan, Kuba. Bold geometric drawing, vivid natural dyes, long lustrous mountain wool.
Turkmen
Bokhara and Tekke weaving. Repeating gul medallions on deep madder red, fine even pile.
Indian
Agra and Amritsar. Mughal floral drawing, supple wool, palace-scale formats.
Chinese
Peking and Tientsin ateliers. Open ground, low-relief carving, soft pastel and art-deco palettes.
Tibetan
Himalayan high-altitude wool, vegetable-dyed. Senna-knotted, exceptional pile loft.
Pakistani
Lahore and Bokhara-pattern weaving. Fine hand-knotted wool, Persian-derived drawing.
Afghan
Khal Mohammadi and Baluch. Hand-spun wool, deep reds and browns, tribal geometry.
Moroccan
Beni Ourain and high-Atlas weaving. Undyed ivory wool, plush pile, minimalist line drawing.
How an oriental rug moves through our atelier.
Seven to fourteen days, calibrated to the fiber, age, and dyes of your rug.
Inspection & dry-dusting.
Our master artisan examines fibers, foundation, dyes, and any prior repairs, then dry-dusts years of embedded grit from the foundation before water is ever introduced. Every color is dye-tested. The wash plan is written for your specific rug.
Hand-washed individually.
pH-balanced soap and temperature-controlled water, calibrated to fiber and dye chemistry. Each rug is washed alone on our atelier floor, by hand, never in a batch and never through a machine.
Dried flat, finished by hand.
Dried flat on slatted frames, never tumbled, never hung in the sun. Pile groomed, fringe finished, and the rug returned to your home in better condition than the day it left.
Why oriental rugs are never machine-cleaned.
An oriental rug is hand-knotted on a wool, cotton, or silk foundation, with vegetable and natural dyes — madder for red, indigo for blue, walnut hull for brown — that move under heat, friction, and alkaline soap. The wool carries a natural lanolin that the wrong cleaning strips away.
A rotary brush felts the pile, lifts the dye, and splits the warps that hold the rug together; solvents destabilize the dye chemistry. Hand-washing adapts — water temperature, soap pH, contact time — rug by rug. It is the same craft we explain in our master guide to oriental rug cleaning, and the reason even a sturdy wool rug is washed in a workshop, not a driveway.
Us versus a standard cleaner.
Where the two paths diverge. Eight choices that separate an atelier from a cleaning service.
Cleaning Method
Horizon
Hand-washed by master artisans
Standard Cleaner
Rotary machine, generic chemicals
Pickup & Delivery
Horizon
Complimentary — by our team, in our truck
Standard Cleaner
Third-party courier (or your problem)
Antique & Silk Pieces
Horizon
Conservation-grade, by hand
Standard Cleaner
Same process as everything else
Process Time
Horizon
7–14 days, properly done
Standard Cleaner
1–2 day machine ‘express’
Dye Stability Testing
Horizon
Tested before every wash
Standard Cleaner
Not tested — rugs lose color
Where Your Rug Is Cleaned
Horizon
Our family atelier, supervised
Standard Cleaner
Third-party wash plant
Restoration & Reweaving
Horizon
In-house, by hand
Standard Cleaner
Outsourced or refused
Inspection
Horizon
By hand, before any work begins
Standard Cleaner
Visual only, if at all
Ready to have your oriental rug cared for by our atelier?
Where we pick up your oriental rug.
Letters from across the Northeast.
A few of the rugs we've cared for — and the families who trusted us with them.
“They returned an heirloom Tabriz — the colors look exactly as my grandmother described them.”
“A 1920s Heriz I thought was beyond saving came back better than the day my parents bought it.”
“Our clients trust us with eight-figure homes. Horizon is the only atelier I send their rugs to.”
Questions, honestly answered.
What clients ask us before they hand over a rug — and how we answer.
How are oriental rugs cleaned?
How often should an oriental rug be professionally cleaned?
Is steam cleaning or dry cleaning safe for an oriental rug?
Can I clean an oriental rug myself at home?
Can you remove pet urine and odor from an oriental rug?
Do you clean antique and silk oriental rugs?
Can you treat moth damage on an oriental rug?
Do you pick up oriental rugs across Manhattan, the Hamptons, Westchester, Greenwich, and Stamford?
Where is my rug actually cleaned?
How much does oriental rug cleaning cost?
How are oriental rugs cleaned?
How often should an oriental rug be professionally cleaned?
Is steam cleaning or dry cleaning safe for an oriental rug?
Can I clean an oriental rug myself at home?
Do you pick up oriental rugs across Manhattan, the Hamptons, Westchester, Greenwich, and Stamford?
Where is my rug actually cleaned?
Can you remove pet urine and odor from an oriental rug?
Do you clean antique and silk oriental rugs?
Can you treat moth damage on an oriental rug?
How much does oriental rug cleaning cost?
More from Horizon.
Other ateliers, every service we offer, and the rest of our story — a few directions to explore.
Bring us your oriental rug.
Persian, Turkish, Caucasian, Indian, Chinese — antique or contemporary, we hand-wash with the process appropriate to its fiber and construction. Complimentary pickup from Manhattan, the Hamptons, Westchester County, Greenwich, and Stamford.
By hand · By the Cohen family · By appointment