Cleaning Your Rug Properly 

Of course, keeping your rugs clean is very important not only to restore the luster and inherent beauty of the same but also to add to the life of the rug itself. Consistent cleaning on an average of every three to six months depending on the amount of traffic the rug is exposed to and the fibers in the same is essential to keeping your rugs in peak condition. But how do you clean your rug?

There are several ways a rug can be cleaned and choosing the proper one for your rug depends mainly on the fibers found within the same. It is not as easy as saying, ‘synthetic fibers clean this way; natural fibers clean that way’ for each fiber regardless of whether it is synthetic or natural has specific traits that allow them to respond negatively to certain cleaning methods yet positively to others. So it is necessary to look at the actual fiber within the rug to determine what is the best method of cleaning for the same.

One way that some fibers can be cleaned is through simple soap and water. Cottons and polyesters react well to this method and resulting many of the machine-washable area rugs are made of these materials. Yet for a room-sized rug, cleaners that can be rented from a local rug cleaning center can offer the soap and water solution to clean your rugs.

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Another way to clean a rug is to steam-clean it. This works well on wool and acrylics as complete saturation of these fibers with soap and water can be a bit too heavy for them and steam with a cleaning solution in the same works to penetrate the fibers and clean these fibers in a more even way without undue stress to the fibers themselves. You can also rent a steam cleaner for these rugs from your local rug cleaning center and they also can provide the proper cleaning solution to go with the fiber you are cleaning.

Of course, for very delicate fibers such as silk or certain manufactured fibers dry-cleaning may be necessary to properly preserve the fibers and the life of the rug. If it is an area rug, it can be rolled up and taken to your local dry-cleaners for proper cleaning. If it is a room-sized rug, you will have to call a professional rug cleaning company to treat the rug with a proper dry-cleaning in your home as these machines are not usually available to the general public due to the ability to really damage a delicate fiber if it is not done properly.

And one should not forget to spot-treat your rug whenever a noticeable spot becomes apparent on the surface of the rug. Spot-treating solutions are available through the above-mentioned processes and often cost much less than a complete cleaning would cost. By treating spots as they occur, you do not allow that spot to set into the fiber or to gather more dirt and dust as it is allowed to sit and remain unattended to. Removing spots as they occur makes the overall cleaning of the carpet easier as there are no stubborn stains that have set in to contend with at that time. This keeps the fibers and the colors intact and vibrant and definitely add to the life of the carpet overall.

So to conclude, cleaning your rug, be it an area rug or a room-sized rug, is essential in the care and preservation of the carpet itself. Fiber content is absolutely to be considered before attempting to clean a rug and this will lead you to the proper means of cleaning the same. Routine, regular cleaning as the fibers dictate is essential to keeping your rug fresh and in top condition and to guarantee that your rug will add beauty and function well within your home for many years to come.