1. Vacuum your rug, front and back, at least once every two weeks
Vacuuming your rug at least once every two weeks is one of the simplest ways of keeping dust levels at a minimum and preserving the maximum lifespan possible for your rugs. Make sure to vacuum the back as well. This will eliminate the most amount of dust within your rug. Depending on the level of traffic your rug receives, it may require vacuuming more often; however, if the rug is fragile, such as an antique or fine rug, very little to no vacuuming at all should be done on it. When vacuuming fine rugs, have a helper hold the other end so the rug doesn’t crumple and use a gentler vacuum. Wool is a tough, durable fiber that can last for many years, even decades, if properly maintained. Wool is particularly good at hiding soils. Just because the rug doesn’t look dirty doesn’t mean that it’s clean. The majority of the soil deposited on any carpet or rug consists of particle soil, such as sand, quartz, limestone, feldspar, gypsum and the like which the wool fibers hide very well. If these soils are not removed routinely with vacuuming and cleaning, like any carpet fiber subjected to abrasive particle soils, wool can wear prematurely. Also, be sure not to vacuum over the fringes, as this could damage them. Avoid using vacuums with brushes as this may agitate the fibers and cause irreversible pile distortion over time. Select a Carpet & Rug Institute approved vacuum for best results.
2. Stubborn stain reduction procedures
Keep in mind that stubborn stains can not generally be cleaned by simply washing them. That’s why it’s important to know what to do when your rug gets stained. Don’t grab any solution and try to wipe it away. This would only spread the stain and make it worse. Lightly dab the stain with absorbent paper towels. Do not apply any pressure. Then take a vacuum hose to create a suction cup around the stained area, without smearing it around. Keep it on there and extract as much of the stain causing agent as possible. Then take a light fan and set it up so that it blows over the stain. This will help to steam away a portion of the potential stain. This procedure helps to reduce the damage of the stain as much as possible, but if the stain is still bothering you, keep in mind that the earlier you take the rug to a professional rug cleaner, the higher the chances are that the stain will be eliminated in a professional rug cleaning process and the lower your costs will be for professional rug stain removal. Using these simple steps, you can significantly reduce the costs of restoring the rug back to its original appearance. For more information please read our article on what to do when you stain your rug.
3. Reduce traffic stains by taking your shoes off while indoors
A study at the University of Arizona concluded that your shoes hold an average of 421,000 bacteria on them. There are also various toxins on the ground that your shoes may pick up. Over time, these toxins settle into your house, especially if you have carpets or rugs, which hold these toxins the most. If you have children or pets, who are roaming around on all fours then it’s a no-brainer: take your shoes off in the house. Health dangers aside, traffic stains also accumulate from loose dust and grime particles. A simple way of significantly reducing this is by taking your shoes off, at least when you’re in rooms with any sort carpeting.
4. Don’t soak your rug in water
We have had countless amounts of customers who attempted to clean their rug in their bath tubs or in their backyard with a water hose. As a result, their rugs suffered from an immense amount of color bleeding and yellowing, and fixing that cost a lot more than a professional cleaning procedure would have. The causes of this are a lack of dye stability testing, the use of the wrong detergents, the use of warm water and most importantly, inadequate means of drying the rugs. Your only options are to drip dry and sun dry them, but dying your rugs this way will take so long that the water becomes a host for bacteria and mildew, causing a yellowing effect on the rug and leaving a musty smell. Even the finest quality rugs have lifespans, and they can only be immersed in water so many times before they start to get damaged. That’s why we recommend sending your rug to professional rug cleaners for total water immersion, as the risk of damage is far outweights the money you’d save by cleaning them at home.
5. Read your cleaning product labels
There seems to be a societal confusion about the difference between carpets and rugs. Rugs are not the same thing as carpets. Just as carpet cleaners can’t clean area rugs; although that is an entirely different conversation for a different day. Carpet is a term used to describe wall to wall carpeting that we’ve all seen many times before. Using products and machines that are made for carpets usually damages area rugs, especially Persian ones. This is especially true of harsh chemical products that are advertised for use in carpets. Your rugs have chemical or plant dyes which weren’t meant to be soaked in a mixture of household product chemicals and all Persian rugs are not made to the same standards, so another persons success with the product won’t guarantee yours. You won’t be compensated for the damage these products may do to your rug, so your best course of action is to stay away from these products altogether. Application of these detrimental products will eventually diminish the value and quality of your rugs.
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