Keep your rug as beautiful as the day you bought it
Oriental rugs feature unique, hand-woven, intricate designs, often made from natural wool fibers–a somewhat delicate type of rug material. One of the most popular types is the Persian rug. With such detailed artistry, these durable rugs make a statement in any home, but cleaning and maintaining Oriental rugs requires special care and attention to keep them looking as good as new.
Over time ground-in dirt can damage the rug fibers, mildew can develop, and unsightly stains can spoil the beauty of these pieces of floor art. Knowing the proper way to clean your rug can make all the difference. Learn how to clean your Oriental rug like a pro with these tips.
Before you get started on the actual cleaning process, there are a few things you should understand about how to clean Oriental rugs, and how to maintain them over time.
Do
Vacuum regularly to keep dirt to a minimum
Gently spot clean stains
Put carpet pads under your rug
Minimize foot traffic
Don’t
Sweep your rug
Use carpet cleaning chemicals
Let moisture get trapped in or under your rug
Put furniture on Oriental rugs
Ensuring you remove as much dirt and debris from down into the pile is important. This ground-in dirt can do a lot of damage to the rug fibers over time, and can make your rug look permanently dingy and dirty. Start by flipping the rug over to expose the back side.
Run your vacuum over the back surface. If it has a beater bar on it, you can leave this down but set high as it will agitate the rug surface and help to loosen any ingrained debris. Going over the whole back side of the rug a couple of times will help to remove as much excess debris as possible.
When you vacuum the top side of the rug, make sure you retract the beater bar to prevent damage to the rug fibers. Move slowly over the surface, always move in the direction of the fibers, and take care at the edges—you don’t want the fringes to get damaged if they accidentally get sucked up. If you want to vacuum the edges, use the upholstery attachment with care. Again, repeat the process at least twice.
If you have concerns about your vacuum being overly powerful, you can opt for the old-fashioned method. Shake and gently beat your carpet outside to knock debris out. This is especially useful if you have a braided or hand-hooked rug rather than a flat weave variety.
You can wash wool Oriental rugs using cool water and a natural, neutral pH liquid cleaner. Never use harsh chemicals with a high pH or boiling water. Cleaners designed for woolen fabrics or carpets work well.
Test the cleaner on a small section of the rug first if you have concerns about color run, but this is generally not a problem with a high-quality Persian rug.
Fill a bucket with cool to warm water and add the cleaning solution to form a sudsy mixture. Use a soft bristle brush or cloth to scoop up some water and suds to apply to the rug. Always move in the direction of the rug's fibers, work in small one-square-foot sections at a time, and don’t scrub too hard. Repeat this process if necessary.
Ideally, you want to deal with any spills right away before they set in. Add a mixture of vinegar and baking soda to the stained area, and blot up the excess liquid with paper towels. Don’t rub the fibers back and forth, as this may further ingrain the stain.
Use a quarter cup of white vinegar with some warm water—you can even mix half a teaspoon of your natural cleaner in too. Apply the mixture to the stain using a clean, white cotton cloth and let it sit for a few minutes before blotting off. For tough stains, mix up a solution of white vinegar and baking soda. Apply, and leave it for an hour or so before cleaning the whole carpet using the technique described in step two.
If the rug has a musty odor, sprinkle some baking soda over the rug before vacuuming it off. Don’t allow pets or kids to tread over the baking soda before you clean it off—you don’t want it to rub into the rug fibers.
If your Oriental rug has a fringe, you’ll need to clean this separately. First, comb it out so that it’s lying flat. If the fringe is particularly grubby, you can first apply a vinegar and warm water solution to lift off any stains. Then, apply a water and natural detergent solution and gently scrub any dirt from the fringe with your soft scrub brush before rinsing it with clean water.
You can use a squeegee to remove any loose dirt and sudsy detergent from the rug. Always use it in the direction of the fibers. If you need to rinse any excess detergent off the rug, do this with a light spray of water before going over it again with the squeegee.
To pick up as much excess moisture as possible, you can also lay some dry white towels or other absorbent fabrics on the rug and gently walk over them. Avoid saturating the rug, as it will make the drying process more of a challenge.
Quickly and thoroughly drying your Oriental rug out before putting it back in its usual position is a crucial step. If you don’t do this, it can lead to the formation of mildew, bad odors, and even weaken the rug weave, causing it to rot.
Dry your rug in an airy location, rotate it, and keep it flat. Consider using a fan to speed up the drying time. Although you don’t want it in the direct sun for prolonged periods to prevent the weave pattern from fading, a sunny spot will be fine just for the day or so while it’s drying.
Wool loves to retain water, so it could take two or three days for your Oriental rug to dry out fully.
Rug cleaning costs between $1.25 and $8 per square foot of rug, if you hire a professional, and about $50 to $300 for full projects. Because oriental rugs are made from luxurious materials and can be more delicate than regular area rugs, professional cleaning should include an inspection to determine the best cleaning method for your rug, with larger rugs made from more delicate materials at the higher end of the range and smaller rugs made from heartier materials at the lower end. Special stain removal or restoration will add to the overall price.
Synthetic rug cleaning costs $2 to $4 per square foot
Machine-made wool rug cleaning costs $3 to $5 per square foot
Handmade wool rug cleaning costs $4 to $7 per square foot
Properly caring for an Oriental rug is of the utmost importance, as the detailed natural wool can sustain damage if you don’t know the proper cleaning method. That said, once you get the method down, it just takes about two hours of your time (plus several days to dry), and you’ll save some money over hiring a professional.
But if you want to spare yourself the headache, or you’re working with an antique rug or a family heirloom with sentimental value, you can’t beat the peace of mind you’ll get from hiring a house cleaning service or rug cleaner to take care of the work. Professionals can also do a much deeper clean than you can at home without the risk of making mistakes or damaging the rug.
Typically, you should avoid using a traditional carpet cleaner on Oriental rugs because the chemical makeup of carpet cleaners can damage the rug’s natural fibers. You can, however, opt for a neutral pH cleaner, which can do a decent job of cleaning the carpet without damaging it. Always test whatever cleaning solution you use on a small, hidden spot of your rug first. That way, if any damage occurs, it doesn’t totally ruin your rug.
Because you likely don’t have the equipment to dry your oriental rug adequately, cleaning it with a hose or any deluge of water is a bad idea. The fibers of an oriental rug are especially dense, so water can cause damage like marking, fading, mold, and odor. Since sunlight can also fade an oriental rug, that’s not a good option for drying it to prevent damage.
An Oriental rug should last between 50 and 100 years, on average, but yours could last much longer than a century if you care for it properly. There are many factors that affect the lifespan of an Oriental rug, though. Increased foot traffic, exposure to moisture, exposure to UV light and sunlight, and aggressive cleaning can all limit how long your rug will last.
