The most important part of cleaning oriental rugs is dry soil removal.
Oriental rugs woven with depressed warps have a large subsurface area for soil to collect unseen.
Particulate soil can cause premature wear as the soil rubs against the wool fibers through use. Rugs at least need to be vacuumed front and back with a beater bar vacuum, sometimes several times. Some rug plants use compressed air to blow the dust out of the rugs or machines which spin the rugs around in a cylinder whipping the dirt out of rugs. Vacuuming and the use of compressed air work best over a platform with wire, which allows the dirt to leave the rug and not bounce off a solid surface back into the rug.