Two passes with the vacuum every week, one on the front and one on the back. If you only take one habit from this post, take that one. Grit sinks to the base of a rug's pile, and vacuuming only the top leaves most of it down there.
Everything else depends on what the rug is made of and how hard the room is on it. A wool runner in a hallway nobody uses and a polyester rug under a kitchen table with three kids around it are two very different jobs.
Know the fiber before you clean it
Wool is the most common natural rug fiber, and it's forgiving in some ways. It resists stains reasonably well and springs back from foot traffic. What it dislikes is a lot of water or a harsh alkaline cleaner, which can leave it feeling rough and dull.
Cotton rugs are often small enough for the washer, and the tag will say so if they are. Bigger cotton rugs shrink and pull out of shape when they get soaked.
Synthetic rugs made of nylon, polyester or olefin are the workhorses. They stand up to kids and dogs and take spot cleaning well. Polyester and olefin both hang onto oily soil, which is why a beige synthetic rug under a dining table goes gray within a year or two.
Silk rugs, and handwoven Oriental or Persian rugs in wool or silk, are the ones to leave to a professional. Dyes in a handmade rug can bleed if the rug gets too wet, and silk can lose its sheen under the wrong cleaner.
The routine that keeps most rugs in shape
Vacuum weekly. On a thick synthetic, the beater bar helps. On a handmade or fringed rug, use suction only and turn the brush roll off, since it can grab fringe and fray the ends.
Take small rugs outside for a good shake. Flip larger ones over now and then and vacuum the back, which knocks loose the dirt sitting at the base.
Rotate every few months so foot traffic and sunlight hit the rug evenly. The half nearest a sliding glass door can fade well ahead of the other half.
Put a pad under every rug that sits on tile or wood. It stops sliding, cushions the fibers, and cuts the wear from the back rubbing against a hard floor.
For spills, blot with a clean white towel and work from the outside in so the spot doesn't spread. Test any cleaner on a hidden corner first. Baking soda left on for 15 to 30 minutes, then vacuumed, can take the edge off a mild smell.
Mistakes that shorten a rug's life
We see the same handful again and again:
- Soaking a rug with a rental machine. Too much water can shrink it, bleed the dyes, and leave the base damp long enough to sour.
- Rubbing a stain, which spreads it and roughs up the pile.
- Putting household carpet shampoo on a handmade wool rug.
- Hanging a rug in direct sun to dry. You can fade it in an afternoon.
Homes with pets
Dog and cat hair weaves into rug fibers faster than people expect. With a shedding dog, the main living room rug may need vacuuming two or three times a week. Keep nails trimmed, because long ones snag loops and pull fibers loose. Blot accidents fast and follow up with an enzyme cleaner made for urine. If the rug still smells after it dries, the urine has likely reached the foundation, and that takes a dedicated pet odor treatment.
When to bring us in
Once or twice a year suits most rugs, more often in a busy family room or a house with pets. We clean area rugs right there in your home, with no pickup and no week of bare floor. The technician looks the rug over with you, checks the fibers and dyes, pre-treats spots, and cleans it with very little moisture, so it's dry and back under the coffee table the same day.
Handwoven pieces get the gentler approach on the Oriental rug cleaning page; everything else is covered under area rug cleaning. Our current rug deal is $25 off, listed with the rest of the coupons.