The Challenges of Cleaning a Wool Rug
Posted on 09/08/2016
Cleaning and Maintenance of Wool Carpets
Wool rugs, the classic addition to any traditionally decorated room, are a beauty to marvel at, and feel wonderful under your feet. And they are also a big annoyance to clean. Have you tried dealing with these little rascals? They can be just as hard to maintain as their patterns are to follow – and some wool rugs have patterns that are pretty mindboggling. And with all their pretentiousness comes the hardship of dealing with their dirt. How many ways do you think rug cleaning can go? About as many as the ways it shouldn’t, and if you have the imagination for it, you could imagine quite a lot, right? Well, here are some of the rules you have to apply when doing a rug clean:
The Rules of Vacuuming
Frequent vacuuming is a must. Make sure you are comfortable with your vacuum cleaner’s grip because you will have to be doing it every few days. The power of the vacuum cleaner has to be set on “high” and it should constantly be in motion, but never going over one place more than once or twice. Constantly hovering over the same area will only cause abrasion to softer piles, so you should avoid that. Moreover, you should use only straight lines and hover with V, +, and X shapes without repetition before you damage the fragile piles. Also, remember that rugs have two sides – vacuum both of them. In short, you want to use a vacuum cleaner as frequently as two times a week (or twice as often if you have kids or pets), you want the minimum amount of strokes and you want them straight.
The Rules of Cleaning Liquids
When you spill a liquid on the rug, react on the spot. The longer you wait, the more the woollen surface absorbs the liquid and the bigger the chances of the stain becoming permanent. So get out your rug cleaners immediately and start doing work. First, of course, you have to remove the excess liquid and you do that by using a cloth or paper towel. Press it onto the stain – don’t scrub or you’ll smear it! – and let it absorb the excess liquid. Throw it away and then start treating the stain. To help you with all this, you could use scotchgard – it is a brilliant method of having a layer of protection against liquid- and oil-based stains. But you should still react quickly even if you do use it – after all, it’s not magic, it’s just a chemical protector.
The Rules of Rug Cleaners
Not just any home cleaning agent can do the trick, of course. You need to be careful with the choice of your cleaning supplies. Dry foam, for instance, is a very good tool in that regard. It requires no water in order to be used and therefore leaves no moisture behind to risk any mould or mildew. You can use homemade cleaners such as ones made with vinegar, but you have to test them on a small part of the rug to make sure that the rug won’t be discoloured after the use of acid. Other cleaners, such as baking soda or just about any powder cleaner should be absolutely avoided. Keep that in mind as the annoying powdery substance will only lodge itself between the fibres and leave a stain of its own. Another thing to avoid would be cleaners containing bleach, hydrogen peroxide and other alkaline substances. They cause imminent discolouring and then the rug cleaning will be your last problem.
This is the easy way to deal with your wool rugs. The alternative would be to hire professional cleaners from your local cleaning company and have them have a go at it with their steam cleaning technology. But if you don’t want to spend any money on that, then simply follow the rules. Cleaning rugs is not that difficult when you have directions.
