Tag: Home Décor

How to Clean and Maintain Area Rugs. 1. Vacuum your area rug regularly. This prevents dirt from building up. Vacuuming your area rug regularly helps to keep your home clean and allergy free. To get the maximum amount of dirt out turn your rug upside down first and vacuum the back of the rug. This looses deep down dirt to the top of the fibers. To avoid getting frayed edges and worn fringes do not vacuum over the edges of your area rug. It is best to use suction only on Wool area rugs, using a rotating brush/beater bar sucks up the little fibers of wool. 2. Blot any spills with a 100% white cotton towel. For wet spills, lay towel on the spill and stand on the towel, as the towel gets wet move it to always have a dry area over spill. When blotting up a spot rub in straight lines, NEVER go in circles, this causes damage to the rug. 3. Use a simple cleaning solution. For most spills a damp white towel works best, for fresh pet urine a mixture of 1 part vinegar and 2 parts water and blotting is best, for red wine an equal mixture of Dawn dish soap and 10% hydrogen peroxide and blotting is effective. Always do a test spot first to make sure the colors of your rug do not bleed/run. 4. Get your rugs professionally cleaned. Vacuuming regularly and wiping up spills and spots keeps your rug looking clean, but getting it professionally cleaned once every year or two keeps your rug and home air healthy. When looking for a professional area rug cleaner make sure that they are a Wool Safe Approved company even if your rug isn’t wool. To get the best and proper cleaning area rugs should never be cleaned in your home.