Clean and Care Instructions for Your Precious Rugs

• 22 December 2021
• 4 Min Read
• By Jaipur Rugs

To help you keep your rugs spic and span always, we have compiled an extensive clean-and-care guide that covers everything from the everyday basics to the when and how's of professional cleaning. 

The only secret to preserving and maintaining anything is to take proper care of it, and the same goes for your rugs as well. From foot traffic and food crumbs to stains and spills, rugs certainly do go through alot on a daily basis. If left unattended for long, rugs can soon start to lose their shine and visual appeal, and with time colours may also lose their vibrance. But if kept well taken care of, handmade carpets can last for many years and even decades.

Due to their fine fibrous textures and the way they are woven, it is quite easy for rogue particles and liquids to get caught in handmade rugs and carpets. While the first and foremost rule is definitely that any visible crumbs and dirt should be cleaned off as soon as possible, there are still more things that need to be kept in mind. To help you keep your rugs spic and span always, we have compiled an extensive clean-and-care guide that covers everything from the everyday basics to the when and hows of professional cleaning. 

1. Vacuuming your rug:

Vacuuming your rug is the easiest and most convenient way to remove a variety of dust and dirt particles from your rug. Most of the dust particles on our indoor rugs come from our skin, hair and of our pets. Soil and sand residues are also common if you use your outdoor footwear inside your home as well. Vacuuming is an efficient way to remove these and any loose fibres in your rug as well. Remember that when using a vacuum cleaner for the first few times, your rug will shed many of its fibers. These are just loose fibers and you shouldn’t be alarmed because of them. You may use a vacuum on your rug as rarely as once a month or as frequently as you deem fit according to the amount of dirt it accumulates. 

If your rug isn’t completely fixed in place and can be moved conveniently, make sure to vacuum under it and clean the rug pad as well. Often hard and solid particles get caught under rugs and these can cause damage to the underlying polished wooden flooring. The age-old tradition of hanging your rug in an open space and giving it a good shake or a beating is a good hack for a thorough cleaning, every once in a while.

2. Cleaning spots off the rug:

Cleaning spots off a rug is a multi-step process. Firstly, the stain should be dabbed and pressed with a clean and dry cloth to remove excess liquid from the spill area. This should be done multiple times to remove as much liquid as possible. Next you can use a wet cloth to rub over the spilled spot so that any residues of the liquid get diluted. This should be repeated a few times, using a dry cloth to soak up the water each time. Finally, we can use a cleaning shampoo or a liquid detergent that suits your carpet. Take care that the shampoo or cleaning agent is mild and doesn’t let the colours of the carpet bleed into each other. 

3. Giving your rug a thorough cleaning:

Despite the usual rituals of vacuuming and spot cleaning, there will still be spots and stains that simply cannot be removed by these methods. Over time, because of the continuous foot traffic, rugs also tend to lose their texture and their softness. Shag rugs and rugs with thicker piles are especially prone to this. For such, using a vacuum cleaner with wet capability is your best bet. Before proceeding with this, you may run a dry vacuum over the surface for a light cleaning and then proceed to the next steps. The procedure involves completely wetting the rug with cold or lukewarm water and then adding detergent and rubbing it over with a hard brush. After this, you may use a wet vacuum to remove excess water. This should be repeated a few times. First with a cleaning product like a rug detergent or shampoo and then with plain clean water. The whole procedure is time consuming and will take your rug a day or two to dry thoroughly, and so it should be done as rarely as possible.

With a wet shampoo and vacuuming for carpet cleaning, there are a few things that need to be kept in mind. Before wetting the whole rug with water, start by wetting at the corners and seeing if the colours bleed into each other. You should also take care to use only a mild shampoo that will not harm the colors or fibres of the rug, and when rubbing the rug with a brush, take care to be gentle so as not to damage the knots of your carpet.

You can make slight variations in these cleaning tips for rugs to suit your rug types, such as using more water and gentler brushing for cleaning shag rugs, or more frequent vacuuming of Indian rugs such as flatweaves and dhurries. 

Keeping your rug clean will not only keep them looking clean and beautiful but also help in maintaining better air quality inside your home. Excess dust in your carpets can cause allergies, health complications, and even spread diseases. Cleaning also removes dangerous particles such as dust mites, fungal molds, et cetera, and ensures a longer life for your prized rug furnishings.