Here's how to unlock dirt and clean your area rugs properly

Do you know what's lurking in your area rugs? Many are designed to hide your dirt, dust and dander, and they do a brilliant job. Part of the reason I picked the 10-by-14foot area rug for my family room was because you could drop a loaded hot dog on it and no one would know.

But ignoring reality only works for so long. The truth caught up with me a couple of weeks ago when I had my carpet and floor care guy out to clean up after my slovenly dogs, one of whom is notorious for leaving his mark. The guy surveyed the family room rug and a smaller, equally violated living room rug and said he could steam clean them in my home, or, for a more thorough job, take them to a rug washing plant.

On-site cleaning was much less expensive: $40 for the smaller rug. Taking the same rug to the wash house would cost $200. “Steam cleaning won't rinse all the urine out,” he said frankly. “Only washing it at the plant will.”

I look at Luke and Pippin who were listening intently to this conversation. “You two need to get jobs,” I told them.

The 6-year-old carpets weren't cheap. I want them to last many more years, and I'm aware that, besides being gross, dirty rugs deteriorate faster. But how did I know this wasn't just a couple of guys in their driveway washing rugs with a garden hose? I agreed to send my rugs out so long as I could visit the plant — Kurt Gilbertson's First Impressions in Winter Garden, Florida — to see it for myself.

The first stop is the dusting machine, a cylindrical tumbler, where rugs take an hourlong beating until all the dry dirt gets knocked out of them. Gilbertson opens the dustbin below to show me how much dirt came out of one rug, a layer thick enough to plant seeds in.

Workers then vacuum the rug and dye test it. “If we see it's going to run, we spray it with a dye stabilizer,” he said. If the bleeding is too extensive, they may not be able to wet wash it.

Next stop is the wash pit, which is like a soapy waterslide for rugs. I watch as the workers spread a large rug on the sloping rubber mat, wet it down and soap it up. Then pressurized water flows over and through the rug to rinse it. The dark water runoff eventually turns clear.

Gilbertson takes out his phone and shows me a video of my large rug in this same wash pit, filthy water running off it. “It took about 15 minutes to run clear,” he said. “That wasn't bad. Most rugs I get are dirtier.” (I find this astonishing.)

The third stop in the rug fun house is the centrifuge. Heavy wet rugs get rolled onto a long bar, and inserted into a giant tube that spins at 1,100 rpm, driving out the moisture like a washing machine's spin cycle.

Next, as if they haven't had enough, the beaten, soaked and spun rugs get hung out to dry. Hoisted 30 feet in the air on hanging racks, the rugs get hit on all sides with massive fans for a day or two until they're dry, at which point they're rolled up and sent home.

After seeing what goes into the process and what comes out of these rugs, I'm a changed person. Although rug washing is not something I plan to make a habit of, I'm glad to know it's an option.

Here, according to Gilbertson, is when you, too, might consider sending your Oriental rugs out for a Turkish bath.

STEAM CLEAN OR WASH?

>> If an area rug is only lightly soiled, having it steam cleaned in your home may be all you need to do to refresh it. However, if the rug has badly soiled traffic areas or pet or food stains that have soaked in, you're better off sending it out for a professional soak.

MAKE A VALUE JUDGMENT >> If the rug is a high-value rug, professional cleaning is a worthy investment that will help the rug last. But if the rug cost $300 and off-site rug washing costs the same, you might be better off replacing it. Rug washing typically runs $4 to $5 a square foot.

WHAT TO SEND >> The best candidates for rug washing are high-quality rugs made of natural fibers. Finer rugs are typically thinner than lower quality plush rugs, because they have a tighter weave and shorter fibers. Sisal rugs cannot be washed, and rugs made of viscose, a synthetic fiber, can be tricky to clean because the process can turn them brown.

HOW TO FIND THAT PRO >> When looking online for off-site rug facilities, the key is to search “rug washing” not “rug cleaning.” Cleaning implies steam cleaning in the home. Check the company's website for photos or videos, and make sure the business is legit and well-established.