Twelve steps, every rug, by hand.
The Cohen family's process, from your door to ours and back. Hand-inspection, dye-stability testing, hand-dusting, hand-wash, slow rinse, flat drying, restoration on the bench, finishing, and a final inspection before the rug is returned home. Every step is calibrated to the rug, by hand, in our atelier — never on a machine, never sent out, never rushed.
Complimentary pickup.
We arrange a pickup at your home by phone or through the form. Our team arrives at a scheduled time, wraps the rug on-site, and transports it to the nearest of our four ateliers in our own truck. Never a third-party courier — the rug stays in the Cohen family's hands from your door onward.
Arrival at the atelier.
Once at the atelier, every rug is unwrapped, photographed in its arrival condition, and logged into the family's ledger. Fully insured from this moment until it is returned to your home. The rug is set on a clean inspection table under natural and full-spectrum light before any work begins.
Master artisan inspection.
The master artisan personally reads the rug by hand — fibers, foundation, dyes, prior repairs, structural damage. Every rug is different and each one tells the family how it should be cared for. The wash plan is written from what the rug shows us, never from a template.
Dye-stability test.
Before water touches the rug, every colour is dye-tested on a discreet edge. Vegetable dyes on antique pieces — madder, indigo, walnut hull, pomegranate skin — can move under heat or alkaline soap. Where there is bleed risk, the wash plan is adapted: cooler water, gentler soap, longer drying.
Hand-dusting on the wash floor.
Years of grit, sand, and dry soil are lifted from the foundation by hand before any water touches the pile. Dusting is the unglamorous step that most cleaning services skip — and the step that protects the warps from grinding damage during the wet wash that follows.
Hand-wash, pH-balanced and temperature-controlled.
The rug is hand-washed on our dedicated atelier floor with pH-balanced soap and temperature-controlled water. Antique and silk pieces are washed individually, never in a batch. Water temperature, soap pH, and contact time are calibrated to the specific rug. Never a rotary brush, never a machine.
Slow rinse and second wash if needed.
Soap is rinsed out by hand with clean water until the run-off is clear. Heavily soiled antique pieces receive a second wash, calibrated differently, where the first revealed deeper grime. Patience is the discipline here — rushing the rinse is what leaves residue that yellows the rug over time.
Flat drying on slatted frames.
The rug is laid flat on slatted drying frames in a temperature-controlled room. Never tumbled, never hung from one edge, never folded. Flat drying keeps the foundation true and lets the pile lie correctly. Drying time is calibrated to the fiber and the season — usually two to five days.
Restoration & colour work, where needed.
If the wash plan called for restoration — foundation repair, reweaving, fringe binding, selvedge repair, colour restoration — it is done on our restoration bench, by hand, by the master artisan. For antique pieces yarn is colour-matched and tension-matched to the original weave so the repair disappears into the rug.
Final hand-finishing.
Once dry, the rug is hand-groomed: the pile is set, the fringes are combed and trimmed where needed, and the selvedges are checked. Any final colour touches or pile-correction work is done at this stage. The rug is then turned over for the second-pass inspection.
Master artisan inspection, second pass.
Before any rug leaves the atelier, the master artisan inspects it a second time — cleanliness, restoration quality, structural integrity, and finish. Nothing is returned to a client home until the master artisan signs off personally. If a piece needs another pass on the bench, it gets it.
Wrapped and returned home.
The rug is wrapped in acid-free paper, transported to your home in our own truck, and placed back in the room it came from — in better condition than the day it left. We send each piece home with guidance on storage, rotation, and care to protect the work we have done.
The reason it takes seven to fourteen days.
A standard cleaner runs your rug through a rotary machine in an hour. We do not. The twelve steps are not ceremony — they are the work that protects the warps, the dyes, and the foundation of a piece that has outlived generations. Skipping any one of them is how a rug is destroyed in the name of cleaning it.
Hand-inspection writes the wash plan. Dye-testing protects the colour. Hand-dusting protects the foundation. The hand-wash is calibrated to the rug, not the schedule. Flat drying keeps the foundation true. Restoration on the bench is the only restoration we trust. And the final inspection is the master artisan's personal sign-off — nothing leaves the atelier without it.
Seven to fourteen days is the time it takes to do the work properly on a standard antique oriental, Persian, or silk piece. Heavily soiled antiques, dye-bleed correction, or restoration work scales to three to six weeks. Every rug gets the time it needs — we never rush a piece to meet a machine schedule.
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.”
More from Horizon.
Other ateliers, every service we offer, and the rest of our story — a few directions to explore.
Step one starts at your door.
Tell us about the piece. The Cohen family arranges complimentary pickup across Manhattan, the Hamptons, Westchester County, Greenwich, and Stamford. Returned in better condition than the day it left.
By hand · By the Cohen family · By appointment