When it comes to tying a room together, there’s no better option than a beautiful rug. It almost seems sacrilege to stand on something so opulent. They’re designed to be stood on, though, and are much harder wearing than their beauty might have you believe.
Despite their rugged design, they still need some TLC on occasion. If you’ve noticed your favorite rug is starting to look a little worse for wear, you can do a fair job of cleaning it at home.
Modern oriental rugs will last multiple lifetimes if they’re looked after. There’s no reason your grandchildren shouldn’t be able to enjoy your favorite rug and their kids too. Read on to find out more!
Cleaning Modern Oriental Rugs
The trick to cleaning an oriental rug is to do so without damaging it. Their beauty is in the pattern as a whole, which is easily destroyed by using the wrong products. In theory, it’s possible to do an excellent job at home, provided you’ve got the time and space necessary to do a thorough job.
Part of the appeal of oriental rugs is their significant size. These rugs are often used as a replacement for carpets and easily span an area of over 36 square feet. If your rug is large, you’re going to struggle to clean it without professional help.
If you think the size is manageable with the space you have available, then go for it! Just remember, it’s going to be an awful lot easier if you’re able to spread the rug out in full. To do this properly, your cleaning area has to be somewhere that can get wet and drain well without causing damage.
Down to Business
The first step is to lay your rug out where you intend to clean it. To reiterate, this must be somewhere you don’t mind getting thoroughly soaked because things will get wet. Before beginning with the water, it’s a good idea to hoover the rug thoroughly front and back, especially if the pile is thick.
Use alternate directions to pass from one side to the other a few times. Rugs are usually made in such a way that their fibers follow a specific direction. It’s important to hoover both with and against this direction for the best result.
Once hoovering is concluded to your satisfaction, you can begin dousing your rug with water before applying a layer of cleaning product. Since you’re doing this at home, the products you have on hand are likely to be limited. While using dish soap or washing machine powder might be tempting, don’t.
There’s no telling what unforeseen chemical reactions may result. The dyes in your rug might not take kindly to them and begin to run, ruining the carpet irreparably. Always use products specifically designed for rug cleaning, or you may well live to regret it!
Soak and Scrub
Once you’ve found a safe cleaning product, apply it liberally to your already-soaked rug and wait a few minutes for it to soak in. The entire process will go a lot quicker if you have a garden hose to direct a stream of water where necessary. Proper rug care requires serious elbow grease, so get stuck in and lather things up.
A household brush with tough bristles is a perfect tool to aid this step. You can stand on the rug while you massage the lather deeply into the carpet. The soapier things get, the more dirt and grime will be loosened, ready to be washed away.
At this point, you might see a significant color difference. If you’re unnerved at the blackened state of the water as it takes the dust and dirt accumulated over the years away with it, good! It might be surprising how badly your rug needed cleaning as the full extent of the dirt a rug can hold isn’t readily apparent until you start cleaning it.
Once you’re satisfied the water is running clear, you can stop rinsing and hang it up to dry. A wet rug weighs a tonne, so get a friend or two to aid you with this step. Rugs also take a long time to dry, so somewhere outside in the sun is ideal.
Professional Rug Maintenance
If you haven’t guessed already, cleaning a rug properly is something of an ordeal. What appears at first glance as something trivial, typically isn’t.
Between the possibility of destroying your rug with the wrong chemicals and having nowhere to spread it out for a good soak, it’s no easy feat. Professional rug cleaning is a business for a reason.
Professionals have dedicated spaces to lay rugs out designed specifically for rug cleaning. These areas are slanted with drains at the end to facilitate the process. Not to mention the various machines they use to achieve the results you’re looking for.
You might get half-decent results spraying a rug down on your lawn with a garden hose, but it could be a headache without a couple of friends to help!
Leave It to the Pros
Whatever the types of rugs you need cleaning, the pros have got you covered. They clean, dry, and restore rugs to their former glory so you don’t have to.
Whether you need modern oriental rugs cleaned or something less fancy, it’s best to leave it to the professionals. They’ll explain what your rug options are in terms of cleaning processes and will have your rugs looking as good as new in no time.
