How fascinating it is that
oriental rugs have their origins thousands of years ago! Though
centuries have passed, little in rug making has changed. There
may be fewer tribal rugs make now than in the past, but then are
we so sure? Or are there tribes - and rugs - yet undiscovered
that 50 or 100 years hence will grace the
marketplaces of the world? Within the walls of countless
individual cottage shops and city factories, rugs continue to be
woven today as they have been since the light of dawn shone on
early civilization. Part of the beauty of any oriental rug lies
in its ageless links to the past: in design, color, originality,
and, of course, in the fact that it is the work of human hands at
ancient skills.Time passes; fibres become embedded with
the dust of years (for centuries!) even when a rug is a wall
hanging rather than a floor piece. Fringes become soiled,
disheveled. And colors - central to all that an oriental rug
embodies - lose their flush, are dimmed or hidden under an
accumulation of dirt that, until now, has never been able to be
wholly lifted from a valued oriental rug.
Ordinary methods of rug cleaning - rug preserving, if you will
- have not appreciably changed in so long a time that it cannot be
measured. True, hot water, gentle soaps, cleaners,
detergents, fluids, foams, chemicals, and the like have tempted
all but the strictest caretakers of oriental rugs. But
museum curators, knowledgeable collectors, and all the rest of us
still rely on a modus operandi that promises little more than a
good bath, at best. We might have hoped for a return to
long-ago brilliance of colors and freshness of fibres, but we know
that is not to be. Not, at least, until now.
Phillip Auserehl, a man with a mind, a mission, and a love for
oriental rugs, has perfected a method of preserving and cleaning
oriental rugs that can produce dramatic results on every rug he
touches. He has designed (read: invented) an instrument
which hovers over the surface of a rug and, without ever coming
into contact with the actual surface, dislodges and totally
removes from the rug the accumulation of dirt, right down to the
warp and welt of the original waving. Dirt and dust are not
simply transferred elsewhere on the rug' they are thoroughly
removed by a process of cleaning more gently than beating, more
efficient than vacuum, more thorough and reliable than any system
of cleaning presently is use. The results of the Auserehlian
Cleaning System process invite the challenge of microscopic
inspection.
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The
air-driven tool of Auserehl's design floats over the surface of the rugs,
expelling dirt that has accumulated despite prior rug cleanings.