Tips For Maintaining Your Oriental Rug
September 28, 2016 02:57:04pm
Your Oriental or Persian rug is a treasure, and deserves to be protected as such. When it comes to protecting your rug, extending its life, and keeping it healthy and beautiful, maintenance is key. Here’s what you need to do:
1) Rotate regularly. Rotate your rug at least quarterly, and more often if it is in an area of high foot traffic. If sunlight hits your rug, it needs to be rotated at least monthly. Rotating the rug helps to prevent abrading, crush marks and other damage from furniture, and minimizes the appearance of bleaching or fading from the sun.
2) Vacuum frequently. Frequent vacuuming is by far the most important maintenance task you can do for your rug. Vacuum your rug regularly in order to remove the dust, dander, and debris that gets tracked into your home. A rug that is in an area of infrequent use can be vacuumed weekly, whereas rugs in areas of frequent use or heavy foot traffic should be vacuumed 2-3 times per week. At least once per year, vacuum the face of the rug and then flip it over and vacuum the back, and sweep the floor underneath the rug. When you vacuum, set your beater bar high, and for antique rugs, you may want to turn the beater bar completely off.
3) Install a rug pad. Keep a good, high quality, supple pad underneath your rug in order to help it resist wear and tear.
4) Avoid sunlight. The dyes in the threads of your rug will fade over time when they are exposed to intense sunlight, so whenever possible, position your rug out of the sun’s path. If this isn’t possible, rotate the rug often and pull the shades or close the blinds in the room during the times of day that the sunlight is the strongest.
5) Stay dry. Moisture is an enemy to your rug’s natural fibers. Don’t set houseplants on your rug. When you water the plants, moisture gets trapped in the rug’s fibers and can cause dry rot, which is often complicated (and always costly) to repair. If water is spilled on the rug, quickly remove it by dabbing it up with a clean towel.
6) Spot clean. When a spot or spill occurs, act quickly, or the spot can become a stain. It’s critical that you only blot the spot, and do not rub or scrub, as this only works the spot deeper into the rug’s fibers. When you’ve blotted as much of the spill as you can, you’ll need to test your rug for colorfastness to ensure the dye in the threads won’t bleed if you clean the area with water. Moisten a clean towel with either water or club soda. Then, find an inconspicuous place on the rug where two or more colors intersect. Use your finger to press the moistened towel against the rug and hold it for a full 10 seconds. Lift the towel and look to see if any colors have transferred onto the towel. If no colors have transferred, it is most likely safe to address the spot or spill, provided you only use the water or club soda and a clean towel. If color transferred onto the towel, or indeed, if you simply want to be on the “safe side,” call a good rug cleaning company and let the professional rug cleaners take care of the spot for you.
7) Address pet urine immediately. If you have pets, keep a close eye on your rug. If your pet has an accident on the rug, immediate action is required. The longer the urine is left to sit in the rug fibers, the greater the damage it can cause. Bacteria can flourish and as the urine becomes alkaline, it becomes far more difficult to remove. In the meantime, the urine can damage the dye in your rug.
8) Apply protectant. Apply a protectant to your rug, or better yet, hire a great rug cleaning service to apply the protectant to your rug. A protectant will add a measure of protection to the face of your rug, and will give you extra time to address any spills that may occur.
9) Inspect routinely. Watch for moths, repairs, etc. and address them immediately. Moths will lay eggs in the dark corners of the rug that are hidden by heavy furniture, so be sure to inspect such areas regularly.
10) Clean professionally. The best thing you can do for your rug is to have it thoroughly cleaned by a good professional rug cleaning company. Hire rug cleaning specialists to dust your rug every 6-12 months, give it a maintenance cleaning approximately once per year, and deep clean it once every few years.
At RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning, we are passionate about high quality rugs, and know that they need high quality cleaning and care to keep them healthy and beautiful. Our rug cleaning technicians are highly skilled and extensively trained, with a keen eye for detail, all of which are important in ensuring your rug gets the best care. Jacksonville FL homeowners and rug collectors trust RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning with their heirloom Oriental and Persian rugs. Call today and let us get started cleaning your rug!
