4 Effective Ways on How To Clean Your Rugs

Area rugs can be a great addition to your house; a showpiece to accentuate the warmth and beauty of your lovely home. If you are an owner of a Persian, Pakistani, Afghani, Chinese, Indian, Silk, Hand-made, or an Oriental rug, you will surely be concerned about the appearance and condition of your fabric investment.

Rugs look fabulous when new but their fringes are prone to unavoidable deterioration from normal use such as vacuuming and walking. Extended beyond the rug cushion or padding, these rug fringes are exposed to the full impact of foot traffic, abrasion and the vacuum brushes.

Additionally, there are other types of residues such as food particles and pet oils that are potentially hidden at the undermost of your area rug. For this reason, rugs are an ideal breeding ground for germs, bacteria, and dust mites. They may be too small to be seen but certainly cause your area rug to lose its shine and prove to be a health hazard as well.

Due to its delicate nature, rug cleaning is more difficult than normal carpet cleaning. A professional cleaner would treat area rugs individually, where each rug undergoes a gentle ‘handwashing’ process. Special attention is paid to each characteristic of the rug and the best cleaning technique and method is determined to suit your rug’s weave, fibers, and dyes. At Big Red, our cleaning technicians are specialists and we assure you that your area rugs are in good hands.

While a routine is important for your rugs, there are some tips we can share with you for the DIY upkeep of your carpets:

Vacuum Your Rugs Regularly

This one is an obvious tip, yet many people do not follow it through properly. You should vacuum your rug once every few days. To make sure it is completely clean, turn the rug over and vacuum it from the backside. If there is a frill or a fringe on your rug, do not vacuum it.

Blot The Stains on the Rug; Do Not Rub Them

When something spills on the carpet, the first instinct is to rub it till the stain goes away. However, rubbing only spreads the stain and embeds the particles of the spilled object deeper into the fibers of the rug. You should always blot at a stain with a moist clean towel so the stain gets transferred to it.

Rotate Your Rugs Regularly

Rugs can develop specific wear-and-tear patterns depending on how people in the house walk on them. If some piece of furniture rests on the rug, it can cause impressions and indentations too, which may become permanent over time. This occurs more commonly in wool rugs and oriental rugs.

You should rotate the rugs in your house every month to prevent this problem. That way, the impressions, and indentations will not become permanent.

DIY Deep Rug Cleaning – Washing Your Persian and Oriental Rugs

We highly recommend getting your rugs professionally cleaned but some people may choose to handle rug cleaning on their own, often to save some money. If you choose to go down this path, be mindful to avoid the below mistakes as you will run the risk of permanently damaging your carpets.

• Over-Shampooing – Using more cleaning detergent does not mean your rugs will be cleaner. If too much cleaning solution is used, it may not be rinsed completely away. Consequently, the carpet is left sticky from the residual detergent, and not only are you not cleaning the rug properly but you are making the rug dirtier in the long run.
• Over-Wetting – Using too much water and combining that with not drying the rugs properly can leave them smelly and susceptible to mold growth. Excess water can also lead to shrinkage of your carpets.
• Furniture & a Wet Carpet – If your carpet is not adequately dried, and you proceed to place your furniture back on it, you can cause discoloration to the carpet fibers. If any of your furniture has metal on it, it can rust and that in turn can damage the carpet further.

Apart from the routine dry vacuuming of your rugs, we recommend that you leave the deep cleaning of your rugs to a professional carpet cleaning company like Big Red. This way, you can avoid problems similar to the ones mentioned above and get your rug looking perfectly new and beautiful. If you looking to get your rugs professionally cleaned, contact us today and let Big Red Carpet Cleaners breathe new life into your rug.