I wash all my oriental rugs every summer, in the driveway. I had a guy who owned a rug cleaning place tell me this is how they do it. It was easier when I had a paved drive, but I do it on my gravel drive as well. I wait til it's a warm sunny day. I don't have an asst. I do it myself with a soft brush on both sides after I've vacuumed it well. good luck.

I have seen Iranian rug dealers do it years ago....but I never have.
The one caveat would be the kind of dyes and if it's a "painted" rug where the dyes might run. Test a small spot with a damp cloth first to see if color comes off.
I have a 4 by 6 rug that a previous dog liked as a pee spot....It's hidden away....need to wash it. I would plan on using a plastic disposable table cloth on the slanted part of the drive way.....and would use something considerably less sudsy than liquid dish detergent....which is designed to make lots of suds....I would use a laundry detergent made for a front load washer.

I disagree......the beater bar on the wrong side of that rug will shake loose an amazing amount of dirt....and won't hurt the rug at all.
I have an enormous 1940-ish Sarouk in my family room....my parents bought it used in 1962 and has been on their floor or mine walked on daily ever since.....and one end flipped and vacuumed with the beater bar to shake loose the sand.....and it's good for another 80 years!

Thank you all! Good tips.

I was concerned that the colors not bleed, so testing first is a good idea. Also lazy_gardens tip for removing pet hair. I knew a pet owner had owned this rug, even if my cat had not needed to go over it VERY carefully as soon as I brought it into the house, sniffing every inch.

Linda, I have Ivory liquid detergent for hand washing of
clothes. I’ve only seen it once, and I bought it. Not Ivory dish detergent. It
does not suds much at all. I assume this is what the article meant?

Don't know that product. all I know is the dish stuff that suds like nothing I have ever seen....half a teaspoon makes a mountain of bubbles, but doesn't clean worth a darn....suds don't clean.
Another trick for pet hair is a sponge mop...youknow like an O-Cedar for floors,,,,dampened and wiped with the grain of the rug.

I'm tempted to try it on a relatively inexpensive runner.

How do you get the water out afterwards? I'm worried my rug will start molding after being wet for days. Use a wet vac?

Also, my runner has what looks like some leather edge on the reverse side. Will that be a problem?

I also have....had, gave it to my son and his wife....a 12 by 15 Herize that got soaking wet.....was so heavy there was no way to lift it, so I got some pallets and folded it over on itself and set up 3 electric fans and a dehumidifier set on "desert" and in about 3 days it was dry.
Set your rug up on something like milk crates so air can get over and under and blow a fan onto it....it will dry almost over night. If you live in an area of high humidity, bring it into an airconditioned house to finish drying.
Those strips at the side are plastic, meant to keep the edges from curling....none of my good old rugs have that, but a newer one does. I think it won't be a problem...just might take half a day longer for the edges to dry.

Not in my experience....no dents from setting pallets under sections of that huge heavy Heriz. Rugs are woven, not knit, any bumps disappear when you lay it out and step on it.
And I sure wouldn't think of leaving a nice rug outside over night. Might find that in the morning a raccoon had moved in or a bird had dropped some mulberry laden poop on my clean rug.
At one time I had a screened porch...perfect for that sort of thing.

No to the Ivory liquid laundry detergent as it has enzymes..enzymes eat wool...enzymes were created in laundry detergent to eat away at protein stains..wool is a protein. Any laundry detergent that has enzymes will start eating the wool.

There are some HE detergents without enzymes. Read the back of the jug it must state in the ingredients if it has enzymes. Most of the cheap laundry detergents are enzyme free, but read first.

I've done this for years in the driveway. I use PineSol diluted with lots of water. It will remove ALL pet owners beautifully! Let it dry for a LONG time, turning it when it's dry enough to lift easily. At the end, sprinkle with a bit of baking soda and then after allowing it to sit for an hour or more, vacuum it thoroughly.