Rugs over timber: the Killiney mix
Many Killiney homes, period and modern alike, have timber floors in the living areas, with a large rug laid on top to soften a room and anchor the furniture. In those houses the rug is often the main textile in the room, and it takes far more traffic than the bedroom carpets upstairs. It also needs more thought to clean, because what's underneath it matters.
Here's how the common types behave:
| Rug | How it's cleaned | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Wool | On site, after a colour test | Controlled moisture; longer drying |
| Synthetic (polypropylene, nylon) | On site, hot-water extraction | Oily soil in walkways needs pre-treatment |
| Cotton flatweave | Often on site, after a test | Can shrink or run if over-wetted |
| Viscose or "art silk" | Usually not wet-cleaned | Marks and loses its sheen easily |
| Jute, sisal, seagrass | Dry methods or a specialist | Browns and shrinks when wet |
If you don't know what your rug is made of, the label on the back usually says, and a photo of it is enough for us to tell you how we'd handle it. Our rug cleaning page explains which rugs we clean in your home and which we'd send to a specialist, and our rug care guide covers looking after one between cleans.
spotless.ieProtecting the floor underneath
The floor is our first concern when a rug sits on timber. Engineered and solid boards don't like standing water or trapped damp, and a wet rug left in place can mark the finish or make the boards swell. Where we can, the rug is cleaned off its usual spot and left to dry before it goes back down. If it's too big to move, we keep the moisture very low and extract thoroughly.
Plan for the rug to be off the floor for the afternoon. The fringes, which are usually cotton, are cleaned separately and kept away from the dyes in the rug.
Two rugs in particular take a beating in these homes. The one under the dining table catches dropped food and spilled drinks, and the chair legs drag across it at every meal, so it soils in a ring around the table. The one nearest the garden or terrace door collects sand and grit after a walk on the beach below the hill. Both respond well, but grit has to come out first: we vacuum the rug thoroughly before any water touches it, because wet sand only works deeper into the weave.
A rug pad underneath, the thin grippy layer that stops a rug sliding, is worth checking while the rug is up. Some older pads break down and stick to the floor, and that's the moment to replace one.
Long stairs in houses on the hill
Houses on the slopes of Killiney Hill are often built over three floors, with long, wide staircases and a landing open to the hall below. A galleried landing is lovely to look at, and the carpet on it is visible from the front door, so wear and marks show more than usual.
Every step is cleaned by hand, from the top floor down, and each landing follows once the flight above it is done. Wide stairs take longer than narrow ones, so tell us how many flights there are when you send photos. Our stair carpet cleaning page has the detail.
Send us the rugs, the stairs and the bedrooms A photo of each rug with its label, the stairs from top and bottom, and each carpeted room is enough for a fixed price, usually the same day.
Gates, drives and getting in
Many houses here sit behind gates, at the top or bottom of steep drives, or on narrow roads where stopping is awkward. None of it stops us. The machine is carried or wheeled to the door, and it plugs into a socket inside. What helps is a gate code or someone to let us in, and a note of where the van can wait. On the narrower roads around the hill, a weekday morning is usually the easiest time.
Fitted carpet upstairs
Upstairs, most Killiney homes are carpeted, often in light colours chosen to go with the timber below. Bedroom carpets usually need less work than the stairs: a path from the door to the bed, marks near a dressing table, and dust along the skirting. They dry quickly in a sunny room with a window open. Sofas and armchairs can be cleaned on the same visit; see upholstery cleaning.
Killiney and its neighbours
We cover Killiney, Ballybrack, Shankill, Glenageary and Cabinteely, and the roads around the hill. Next door, see carpet cleaning in Dalkey and in Dún Laoghaire. If you're clearing a family home before a sale or move, our Killiney house clearance page explains how it works.
Rugs are counted separately from the fitted carpet, stairs, landings and any sofa, and the whole figure is fixed before we come out. Every job is insured, and Ciprian, who heads our carpet cleaning, is Prochem-trained. Our method is described on the Dublin carpet cleaning page.
