How To Care For Your Rugs

Rugs are wonderful, and they give a house that special added touch to whatever room they’re placed in.  Whether it’s a shag rug or monochromatic rugs, the proper care will extend the life of the rug by many years.  There are certain universal do’s and don’t’s when it comes to rugs and the maintenance of them.

When it comes to vacuuming your rugs, less is more in this situation.  What’s meant by “less” is less pressure on the fibers of the rug, you can’t just pull out a regular high-suction vacuum and use that on your rugs, it will destroy the fibers over time.  The best options to use for rugs would be a canister vacuum or an upright vacuum with a controllable suction setting.  Use the lowest setting that you have available and make sure that the vacuum that you do end up using does not have a beater bar on it.

A vacuum with a beater bar will ruin the delicate fibers of a rug with repeated usage over time.  If vacuuming with a beater bar can’t be helped, then raise your vacuum to its highest floor setting and vacuum slowly as to not pull out too many fibers in the rug.  Vacuuming slowly from side to side with a few passes will get rid of all the dirt in some wool rugs as wool tends to hide a lot of dirt within the fibers before it shows to the naked eye.

Spot cleans are a necessity as spills will happen, it’s not a matter of if but a matter of when.  When a spill happens, always blot the stain with a clean white cloth.  Trying to rub the stain out will only drive the stain further into the rug’s fibers making it harder to remove.  If the stain sets in, the only chance of removal will be in the hands of a professional rug cleaner.  Always use lukewarm water when spot cleaning stains out of a rug.

There are so many materials and styles of rugs out there today and it would be impossible to list all of them here.  Each rug has its own methods of care and cleaning, no matter if its monochromatic rugs or synthetic rugs.  We’ll cover a couple of different ones here with respect to care and maintenance.

Shag rugs are huge with respect to their fiber piles compared to other rugs out there.  You should expect a lot of shedding when you vacuum and clean with these types of rugs.  You should use a handheld suction vac to clean row by row with these rugs as the added agitation with a beater bar and roller would stir up a lot of unnecessary shedding.

Synthetic rugs are a unique case as they can be used in both outdoor and indoor settings.  With these particular rugs, you don’t use a vacuum on them to clean as you can use a garden hose.  You can use a clear detergent mixed with water to clean the surface of the rug and then use a garden hose to rinse the solution and dirt away.  You can leave it outside to fully dry on both sides in the sunlight.