Sprucing up homes for Eid Al-Fitr

(Special Eid ul Fitr)

JEDDAH: With Eid Al-Fitr only a couple of days away, people are hectically preparing for the grand event by buying new clothes for the family, especially the children, and refreshing the house either by buying new furniture or refurbishing the old.

Many citizens prefer to have their rugs and carpets cleaned instead of buying new ones in the final days of Ramadan. The carpet washing businesses are very busy during the last days of Ramadan. People expect the prices of cleaning carpets to rise with demand but, Ali, a Somali worker in a carpet washing business, said there was no change in the price, regardless of the high demand.

“The price of washing one meter is SR5 as it was before Ramadan. Though we work around the clock seven days a week, we have not increased our prices,” he told Arab News.

Lebanese customer Abu Nadir contradicted Ali and said the price of cleaning one meter of rugs had gone up between SR10 and SR15.“You either accept the high price or they will tell you they cannot clean your carpet because of a shortage of time,” he said.

The upholsterers told Arab News that since the middle of Ramadan they have stopped accepting requests for redoing furniture because they are under extreme pressure.

Ibrahim Qaid, a professional upholsterer, said he and his colleagues started upholstering furniture a month before Ramadan so as to be ready for Eid. This is not only the season for tailors but for upholsterers as well,” he said.Qaid said that to upholster a 4x4-meter salon comprising chairs and cushions would begin at SR1,500 and might go as high as SR7,000.

“This is a season for factories to make special items for upholstering and to compensate for the rest of the year,” one factory owner said. There are more than seven such factories in Saudi Arabia competing in a SR4-billion market. High-quality upholstery is also imported from Morocco and Turkey.
The paint shops are also doing good business this time of the year with more people keen to paint their homes or redecorate them. Maintenance work is also thriving, with citizens keen to repair their electrical connections and plumbing. “The ten days before Eid are a good season for all. We wait for a whole year to make our money,” an owner of a carpet-washing factory said.

Muhammad Humaidan | Arab News