2025 Fourth Quarter Newsletter
It's Almost Time for our
ARCS ANNUAL
CONVENTION
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM THIS EVENT?
- Two HUGE online education reveals - exclusively for ARCS Member! You don't want to miss what we've been working on!
- Renaissance Rug Cleaning Plant Tour: Randy & Val Hyde have over 35 years of experience in rug cleaning, repair & restoration. As the former president of ARCS from 2016-2018, Randy has a strong commitment to the integrity and professionalism of the rug cleaning trade. Val is a weaver; when she's not busy repairing rugs, she can often be found felting and weaving blankets, scarves, and all things fiber arts related at home. Their 7,000 sq ft rug washing plant will be amazing to see in person. Plus, we will learn about the history of their company and their work in other countries such as Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran and more!
- Atiyeh Bros. Plant Tour: This multi-generational family company began over 100 years ago in 1900. Constant improvements and forward-thinking investments has kept the operation at the forefront of the industry. The tradition of innovation continues today. They specialize in rug sales, appraisals, cleaning, repair and more. Meet their large team of experts, including ARCS certified Rug Specialists!
- Network with other Rug Industry Professionals - Learn the best practices from some of the most seasoned experts in or industry and find out what makes their businesses so successful.
- Attend & Earn 14 Credits/Hours for IICRC Continuing Education
- Mix Business with Pleasure - Check out the list of attractions in and around Portland that we curated for you! Spend a few extra days exploring the area before heading back to the office.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT AND SAVE YOUR SEAT BELOW!
WINTER IS COMING...
It’s true, winter is coming – is your rug shop ready??? The 2025/26 winter will be my fifth as the owner of a rug cleaning company, and I have to admit this season still makes me squirm a bit. I knew the industry was cyclical based on my due diligence research before buying D.A. Burns, but I still underestimated just how slow things would feel from December to April. During my first winter there were days when I felt compelled to call our main office number just to confirm the phones were still working.
As we approach yet another winter, I’ve started mentally preparing for what lies ahead. But personal preparation isn’t enough; there are many things we can all do to help our businesses survive – and even prosper – during seasonal slowdowns. In this Article I’ve shared some things my businesses do to make the winter doldrums slightly more bearable, along with tips and tricks from other ARCS Members who’ve been doing this far longer than I have.
Look Outside. When I polled people about ideas for this article, the number one response was to focus on outdoor cushions, patio rugs, umbrellas, and furniture covers. In addition to cleaning, many companies also store these items over winter, which is a great service to offer if you have the space. At my businesses (D.A. Burns and Hammond Knoll, both in Washington state), we take full payment up front in the fall but don’t clean them until after the first of the year. We’ve been fortunate enough to grow this service to a size where we can keep 1 – 2 technicians busy from January 2nd through the end of March. We also offer a discount on rug pick up since we’re already going to be at their home picking up cushions, or when we’re bringing them back.
Follow the Geese. Kyle Kluth of Pinnacle Eco Clean in upstate New York has had great success offering snowbirds a discount on whole house cleaning (rugs, carpets, furniture, etc.) while they’re out of town. “Customers appreciate not being inconvenienced by the cleaning process, and they love coming back to a fresh home in the spring.”
Teacher Appreciation. Winter and Spring Breaks are a great time to offer a quick turnaround cleaning service for classroom rugs and other flooring surfaces while the buildings are mostly empty. Tom Blandford of Woodard’s Cleaning in St. Louis said “last year we picked up over 200 rugs from a single school district. It was an hour away from our shop but definitely worth the drive”. Those teachers (and their friends and families) will likely remember you when their personal belongings need cleaning.
Make New Friends. Meg Stoffer of Aladdin Cleaning & Restoration in San Antonio uses winter as a time to develop relationships with alternative rug cleaning “aggregators” in their area. Dry cleaners, restoration companies, and flooring retailers are all businesses where our potential clients seek out rug cleaning services. Let them bear the cost of customer acquisition, rug intake, etc., while you focus on providing a service that they can’t. As Robert Mann in Denver likes to say, “there’s plenty of rugs for everyone!”. Many of these companies do business on a relationship basis, so get out of your shop and into the community. You never know what a simple coffee or lunch meeting might yield.
Think Like Oprah. I’m sure there are many reasons people love Oprah, but my grandmother never missed her annual giveaway episode. Whether you’re a fan or not, we can all learn something from her popularity. You get a free rug cleaning! And you get stain protector! Steven DeMarco of Triple S Rug Cleaning in Connecticut says “2-for-1 rug washing specials have been very successful during our slow months”. Have you ever worked out the profitability of cleaning one incremental rug at your shop? I promise you it’s probably ~90%, so just clean the extra rug & sleep well knowing the customer feels like they got the better end of that bargain.
At D.A. Burns and Hammond Knoll we offer a tiered discount winter special from mid-January through the end of March. In recent years we’ve limited it to the most seasonally affected portion of the business, which for us happens to be On-Location Cleaning (i.e. in-home carpet, upholstery, or stone/tile/grout). Word of caution: when sending out a special discount you may want to exclude anyone who’s received service in the last month or so. Otherwise you might be faced with requests for discounts on work you’ve already completed (that’s a mistake I’ll only make once).
Slow Your Roll. Miranda Gwilliam of Rug Worx in Arizona takes a slightly different approach during the slow months. She sees it as an opportunity to reset and strengthen the foundation of the business. “It’s the perfect time to plan and batch email blasts, blogs, social media content, and to really comb through your website. We often overlook our online presence when we’re running full speed ahead.” From a revenue standpoint, Miranda uses slower months to focus on increasing ticket sizes with existing customers. She takes more time to connect with each client to uncover their needs, offering add-ons like protector, new pad, or minor repairs.
Pay the Piper. Jen Colaco of Oriental Rug Cleaning in Dallas says winter is a great time to focus on deferred maintenance. When you’re busy, it’s easy to put a band-aid on something rather than take the wash floor out of commission to fix it the right way. But that can only be done so many times, and if you don’t take care of your equipment in the slow season, it might not take care of you when you’re busy.
Practice Makes Permanent. There’s a quote I like, which seems to have no attributable source: “the only thing worse than training employees and losing them, is to not train them and keep them”. As business owners we need to constantly prepare for what comes next. In the slow season I have our On-Location Manager send the less experienced Technicians out with the veterans, and we’re proactive about asking employees what other areas of the business they’d like to explore. I’m a firm believer that perfection is unattainable, though we should never stop trying.
Find the Pinch Points. Every wash plant has a limiting factor, meaning there’s some part of the process that drives how you clean rugs, which also heavily influences the maximum efficiency your plant can achieve. For some companies the limit is labor, at others it might be wash floor space or the area you’re using to finish rugs. At my company it happens to be the dry room, but not in the way people typically think of this as a limitation. It’s very inefficient to heat a large room if it’s only half full of rugs. In the winter we alter our wash cadence to increase the fullness of the dry room, while being careful not to let turnaround times get out of hand. This winter, take some time to really assess the throughput limits on each part of your process, so that you can make plans for how to address them. Touring other rug plants is a great way to find solutions you haven’t thought of yet, which is why I never miss an ARCS Convention.
I hope this article provided at least one helpful idea for you this winter. If there are things you’ve tried that aren’t on this list, please share them. You can simply reply to this newsletter email or reach out to me personally.
Or better yet, come join us at the Annual Convention in Portland this year, and swap stories with other business owners and industry veterans in person. I’ll see you there!
-JAMES KRUSE, ARCS Treasurer
RECAP OF ARCS OCTOBER DYE CLASS...
Controlling the Chaos: Mastering the Fine Line of Dye Stripping and Rug Restoration
There is something absolutely thrilling and completely terrifying about watching color dissolve from a rug. It’s like surgery for textiles - one wrong move can make or break the outcome and rewrite the future of a valued heirloom.
That’s where ARCS: The Association of Rug Care Specialists – the preeminent trade association dedicated solely to the art and science of rug care, steps in. For the past five years, ARCS has offered its advanced Dye Stripping and Finishing Class—an intensive, handson workshop that teaches participants how to walk that razor’s edge between restoration and ruin.
This year, the class was hosted by the amazing Woodard Cleaning and Restoration company in St. Louis, Missouri. The instructor, Andrija Malbasa, has been in the industry for over a decade and has worked at Robert Mann Oriental Rugs (Denver, Colorado), Oriental Rug Co. (Dallas, Texas) and is now at Woodard’s.
Over the three days of this immersive class, students tackled some difficult bleeders, such as a once-beautiful silk rug, as well as some more familiar instances of bleeding like a Heriz.
Beginning with a short introduction to color theory and a tour of Woodard’s rug washing facility, the students quickly began to watch with amazement Andrija’s skillful use of dye strippers on the wash floor.
But this class wasn’t just about chemistry—it was also about responsibility. As Andrija emphasized, dye stripping isn’t merely removing color; it’s respecting risk. Every decision on the wash floor or spotting table has consequences, and it’s our ethical duty to anticipate them. Reversing damage—whether pre-existing or caused in-house—demands skill, discipline, and humility. The line between repair and ruin is fine indeed, and we crossed it purposefully in class to learn exactly where “too far” lies.
By the third day of the class, we moved on to removing tougher dye migration situations on the spotting table from rug faces and fringes. Using stronger chemistry, we successfully removed many tough dye stains. Then, many different forms of finishing techniques were shown to us as well. Simple tricks, like using a pile lifter or a slicker brush to de-mat certain areas, to more complex finishing practices like shearing, blocking and stretching.
If you weren’t able to come to the class this year, be sure to be on the lookout for the next dye strip and finishing class! It is an experience that every rug washing professional should have - equal parts chemistry, experience... and controlled chaos!
-KYLE KLUTH, ARCS Vice President
Upcoming 2026 Classes:
DISCOVER RUG CLEANING CLASSES - three classes and locations planned throughout the year. More details TBD...
INTERMEDIATE RUG CLEANING CLASSES - one class in the Spring and one class in the Fall. More details TBD...
