Carpet cleaners/dry cleaners, do in-situ cleaning usually offered for a lower price. There are however, several issues associated with this one fits all approach.
Steam cleaners and carpet cleaners are focused on carpets and do not use water to recondition the foundation as professional area rug cleaners do. Also, they do steam cleaning which is associated with hot temperatures damaging the color of an antique Oriental & Persian area rug and can cause dye bleeding. Even if you do not immediately see the damage the oriental rug's natural colors and the fabric will most likely start disintegrating after a short time frame. This in turn can cause an irreversible damage to your valuable Oriental/ Persian area rug.
Summing up, applying harsh industrial strength chemicals which are used for wall-to-wall carpets could severely damage your handwoven Oriental and Persian area rug or kilim, as well as your modern area rug. Therefore, for antique area rugs it is always recommended to go to specialists who engage in immersion cleaning. Here, the rug is submerged into a pool of water and delicately brushed with soap to clean each fiber of the foundation. Oriental rug experts know the ideal cleaning supplies as well as the temperatures which will preserve the color of the delicate area rugs.