How do you clean an oriental rug?
If you’re lucky enough to own a real oriental rug, you may be nervous about the best way to clean it without causing damage. This is especially of concern in situations where the rug has been passed down or in your family for a long time and has become fragile as antique rugs often do. When in doubt, looking for oriental rug dealers or doing a local online search for oriental rug repair might be the best way to go, but here’s a quick tutorial to answer the question: how do you clean an oriental rug?
Make an assessment about the amount of foot traffic that the rug is getting – is it in a high traffic area? You ought to be vacuuming the rug at least once a week, but maybe more if it’s getting trampled on constantly. If it’s a heavier run and has a cotton-based foundation, a vacuum that’s equipped with a “beater bar” is probably safe. If it’s of a more flexible weave and has a wool-based foundation, a standard vacuum with high suction capacity is recommended instead.
Your oriental rug needs to be vacuumed in what’s called a “side-to-side sweep,” moving carefully from one bound edge to the other. The reason for this is simple: it allows dirt and particles to loosen enough that the vacuum will catch them, but at the same time it’s not disruptive to the design of the rug, which can actually blur if not handled with care. It’s of primary importance that you avoid vacuuming any pieces of the fringe — and this is where many folks inadvertently damage their precious antique rugs — because it can begin to pull away from the rug itself and begin a long process of unraveling.
Every now and again it’s recommended that you vacuum the reverse side of the rug as well. This goes far to release stubborn sand and dirt particles that have seeped beyond the piling and are basically lodged in the carpet’s foundation. Left to fester, this dirt builds up over time and begins to weaken the foundation, which causes faster wear on the design.
Naturally, “How do you clean an oriental rug?” becomes a more complicated question if your rug already has some of the types of wear mentioned above and needs a greater level of care. Especially if they’re of a smaller, “scatter” size — runner or small area rug — a good old fashioned outdoor shake might be enough and runs less of a risk for damage. If you’re wondering “Can I clean my oriental rug myself?,” then you need to first answer if the rug just needs a vacuuming or if it needs to be shampoo’d. In both cases, you can indeed do the cleaning yourself, but shampooing is much more involved. If you’re unsure about oriental rug cleaning, best to Google for local oriental rug dealers and go from there.
