Tips for How to Clean a Wool Rug

Wool rugs are key pieces in your home décor that supply a room with soothing warmth. Their fibers may be arranged in a fluffy pile or woven into captivating patterns, giving a testament to the material’s versatility. Moreover, no matter how wool is used in a rug’s construction, you can count on it to imbue the rug with softness and sophistication. With all that said, a wool rug can be a source of perplexity for you when it comes time for cleaning. You want to keep such an item in optimal condition, so you probably treat it with delicate care, but this is not going to be enough to remove dirt, dust, and stains entirely. To find a balance between thoroughness and caution, follow our tips for how to clean a wool rug.

Maintenance Measures

Some of the best ways to keep your wool rug clean are small routine measures that go towards its maintenance. For instance, you may set up the first line of defense by taking off your shoes before stepping on the rug. Whether you limit that restriction to the room the rug sits in only or enforce it throughout the entire house for simplicity’s sake is up to you. As long as the rug doesn’t come into direct contact with the dirt-filled treads and dusty soles of your footwear, you’ll be able to reduce the extent to which it becomes soiled to begin with.

Additionally, you should vacuum your wool rug a couple of times each month in order to remove small particles trapped in the fibers in addition to the woolly wisps that the rug gives off. Don’t be alarmed when you see shedding, especially when the rug is new, as this is inherent to wool rugs and will diminish over time. Use a vacuum that does not have a beater bar so that it does not damage the rug by brushing it too hard.

Full Cleaning Strategy

Now let’s look at what you should do when you want to perform a full cleaning.

Preparation

To start, you should remove the excess dirt that is only loosely clinging to the rug so that you don’t rub it deeper into it while scrubbing later on. Take the rug outside when the weather is clear and lay it over some chairs, a porch rail, or a clothesline to let it hang. Having done this, hit the rug across its surface with a broom or rug beater made just for this task to get the dirt to fall out. Since you’re outside, you can easily sweep away the debris on the ground afterward if needed.

Bring the rug back inside and spread it flat with its bottom side facing an area where your flooring will not be damaged by the cleaning. To illustrate, you might avoid the room where you normally place the rug because it has a water-sensitive wood floor. A place like the kitchen may be preferable since the tiles there are unfazed by most substances, including the cleaning agent and water you will use on the rug. With a suitable location picked, vacuum the rug’s bottom side and then flip it over and vacuum its top side as well. The goal is to get rid of the last remnants of dirt and dust that might still come off so that the subsequent steps can proceed smoothly.

Cleaning

Now you’re ready to get to the real cleaning. Get two buckets and fill them with cold water. In one bucket, mix in a mild detergent (Woolite is a popular choice). Follow the instructions on the container in order to determine how much detergent to use in relation to the amount of water in the bucket. Take a sponge, soak it in the soapy water, and wring it free of most of the water. Lightly rub a small section of the rug with a sponge to make sure that its colors will not bleed. If they don’t start to run, you can safely proceed with cleaning.

Scrub the top surface of the rug softly using the detergent-water solution. Apply enough pressure so that the sponge can absorb the grime, but not so much that you drench the rug to the core, as this will make drying it more difficult. It is best to work in sections rather than scrub widely over the length of the rug in order to ensure that you don’t accidentally miss a portion of the rug. Divide the rug up into manageable portions in your mind and work within each, one at a time.

After this, get a second sponge and wet it with the plain water from the second bucket. Dab the entire rug with this sponge to effectively wash it free of the detergent. Just as you did the first time around while applying the soapy water, move along section by section and try not to make the rug too damp.

Drying

You can aid the drying process by bringing over several towels to soak up the water held within the wool fibers. Press down gently in dabbing motions without rubbing the towels against the rug in side-to-side motions. When one towel becomes saturated with water, you should switch to a dry one and repeat this process however many times you need to until you have covered the entire face of the rug.

At this point, you’ll be finished with the cleaning, and all you will have left to do is to allow the rug to dry naturally. You may leave it on the floor and open up a window to let air circulate throughout the area. Otherwise, you can hang it up again outside so it has even more exposure to the air and can dry more quickly.

You’re now ready to take care of wool rugs since you know these tips for how to clean a wool rug. If you want to invest in a new one for your home, visit Boutique Rugs on our website and choose from our selection of trendy area rugs. Contact us if you have any further questions.