DH lived in Turkey for a couple of his military years and began collecting carpets then. He said that in sunny CA and in Turkey they often took them outside and hosed them down, but as you pointed out the weather would prevent that. We've done that only in doggie emergencies, but most often our wonderful carpet cleaner cleaned the orientals too, when necessary. I've taken one to be mended and they cleaned it there, but recently DH became acquainted with a rug dealer who had a couple of our rugs cleaned and I'm quite unhappy with the texture difference. Somehow they became softer and as a result tend to move when you walk on them. I'm not sure what the process was, but I suggest that you make certain that they won't alter the texture when the clean off all of that dirt. FWIW, I love the new bedroom color and the rug in the space!

I�ve always thought my wool rug smelled like sulfur or burnt rubber, It has smelled for years and just gets worse. I�ve had it outside for days and I�ve used several types of Carpet Fresh powder. All have been temporary fixes. I bought a commercial gallon jug of Febreze because it advertises that it bonds with odor producing properties. My rug is big (8� x 11�). I hung it on the railing of my deck on a clear dry day. I connected a spray jug onto my garden hose. The type of jug that you put lawn chemicals in(Ortho Dial N Spray). I was desperate� This rug is so big, I could easily smell it in the next room. I also paid well over $1000 for it. The commercial Febreze is supposed to be mixed at a 10 to 1 ratio. The highest setting on the Ortho Dial N Spray is 8 oz per gallon (a 22 to 1 ratio)� half the recommended mix. I had no other way to get a richer mix, so I went with it and figured I could always spray it again later. I absolutely soaked both sides of the rug. It took three days to dry ! It�s been almost two months now and no small. It�s safe to assume that if I do have to pray it again, it won�t be for a very long time and should take longer for the odor to come back with each application.

I love the look of the PB rugs; however, most of them are hand tufted, not hand knotted. This means that they are a lot less durable and have glue and a latex (?) backing. I had a PB rug I absolutely loved, but after a few years, the backing disintegrated, and the rug stank so bad that I had to get rid of it. PB said that they fixed the problem; however, I still can smell it with some of their rugs. Also, if you buy the rugs on Ebay, they may not be authentic, but more importantly, you are not able to return them to PB should they start smelling. I just came across some pretty neat rugs at our local Costco. You can see more on the web site. Here is a link that might be useful: Costco rugs

No, I did not pay a hideous amount for the rug and it is an Indian rug. I knew that when I ordered it. I ordered it for its color and size, so I think it is appropriate to call it a decorator piece. You can't have an investment on the floor in this house with four cats. ;-). The darker areas do seem to go all the way to the roots, and when you turn it over, it looks perfectly clean on the back. I had pretty much decided, based on everyone's posts and on my assessment, that was an intentional variation. Then it dawned on me that my next-door neighbor and dear friend is Persian and quite a rug collector, so I asked him to come over and have a look at it. He agrees it is a sort of trendy, faux-antique look that he is seeing a lot of in rugs made in China and India. He said it was not a bad rug, probably worth about what I paid for it on sale. But I can't get over the fact that it looks dirty. And you know what? That, at the end of the day, is what matters. It looks dirty to me, and I'm going to send it back. The probable $40 return shipping charge will have to be a lesson learned. Thank you all for looking it over and giving me your thoughts. It was very helpful.