The Ultimate Rug Cleaning Guide for 2021
Introduction
Clean rugs serve more than aesthetic purposes – they protect your health as well. A dirty rug acts as a breeding ground for germs and bacteria that can deteriorate your family’s health. Rugs trap dust and other harmful agents. If you have children, your rugs need frequent cleaning. It’s common for children to play with their toys on a mat. During playtime, young children tend to put toys in their mouths, and these toys may carry germs from sitting on the rug. Concerns about germs will be a constant worry until you start cleaning rugs regularly.
Furthermore, rugs easily absorb liquids, which can cause staining. Trying to clean a stain on a rug without the right technique or equipment can cause discoloration. With the right technique, you can save your rug by removing the stain. With time, rugs grow rough and hard as they store dust and mites. When you do not clean rugs for a long time, the dust settles deeper between the fibers, causing them to entangle. However, with deep cleaning, your rug regains that soft and fluffy appeal.
A humid environment can contribute to the growth of fungi and molds. This can be dangerous if you suffer from allergies. It can eventually lead to breathing problems and skin allergies without proper intervention. In this case, frequent rug cleaning is a preventative measure.
This article will discuss how you can take care of your rug and clean it at home. Furthermore, we will also guide you about cleaning different types of rugs. With proper maintenance and routine cleaning, you can increase your rug’s longevity and avoid health conditions. We understand many people invest an impressive amount in rugs but fail to pay for their maintenance. In the long term, this can ruin your favorite rug leading to regrets.
Everyday Rug Care Tips
The best way to clean your rug is via deep cleaning or taking the rug outside and beating it with a solid wood piece. However, both these methods are time-consuming, and you cannot clean your rugs every day with such methods. Here are some tips to follow daily. These tips can help you avoid any further damage to the rugs.
NYCleaners Everyday Rug Care Tips
1. Regular Vacuuming
Regular vacuuming is super helpful for the health of your rug. A major reason rugs are so difficult to clean is that the dirt and dust particles enter deep into the rug’s fibers. This builds up the dust particles, making your rug dirty from the inside and rough from the outside. You can keep the dust from going deep inside and depositing around the fibers with regular vacuuming.
A vacuum will remove all the dust on the surface of your rug. When you vacuum regularly, fewer dust particles are entering deep inside and damaging the fibers. However, if dust fibers are already deep inside the rug, a vacuum will not help; you need to take some time and deep clean your rug. Normally you should deep clean your rug once a month and vacuum daily. This is the perfect formula for maintaining the health of your rug and your family.
2. Clean the Spills
When liquids spill on your rug, you only have little time to stop it from going deep. Liquids make the rug harder and leave stains, which can be challenging to remove. Sure, cleaning your rug immediately when liquid falls on is also not an easy task. Nonetheless, if you do so efficiently, it can save you from future damages.
Hence, the first thing you need to do is lay over paper towels and soak up as much liquid as you can. Otherwise, you can remove solids with a spoon. Now, pour some spot removing agent on the location but avoid rubbing, spreading, and over wetting the rug. Clean the rug in inward motion and avoid further spreading. Keep repeating the process until the stain is completely or partially gone. Now you need to dry your rug. Hang it outside or place pedestal fans in the direction of the stained area.
3. Hire Professionals
You can hire professionals to clean your rug twice a year. Meanwhile, you can clean the rug daily with a vacuum. Hire a professional team with extensive experience in cleaning rugs. They will restore the look of your rug completely and give it a new one. Furthermore, they will take care of everything about the cleaning process so you can relax and wait for them to complete the process.
4. Rug Pads
Rug pads are more useful than you might think. These pads will prevent slippage, bunching, and wrinkling. Rug pads can also prevent staining and discoloration of the carpet. Even after you install rug pads, you can easily vacuum your rug. Rug pads prevent your rugs from touching the floor. Furthermore, most families walk barefoot on rugs. This prevents you from bringing on the dust on the carpet.
5. Foot Traffic
Rug pads are more useful than you might think. These pads will prevent slippage, bunching, and wrinkling. Rug pads can also prevent staining and discoloration of the carpet. Even after you install rug pads, you can easily vacuum your rug. Rug pads prevent your rugs from touching the floor. Furthermore, most families walk barefoot on rugs. This prevents you from bringing on the dust on the carpet.
Pay Special Attention to Shaggy and Artificial Silk Rugs
You must handle silk rugs carefully as they include delicate fibers. You need to prevent damage to the fibers. Even when you vacuum your artificial silk rug, be careful of the fringe. If a fringe gets caught in the vacuum cleaner, it can lead to severe damage.
Cleaning Different Rug Types
NYCleaners Cleaning Different Rug Types
1. Jute Rugs
Jute Rugs contain natural fibers. To increase the durability and sturdiness of these rugs, people usually mix synthetic fibers. Nonetheless, these rugs are delicate, and over time, they suffer from discoloration and wear and tear. Hence, you need to maintain these rugs and keep them clean. Below, you will find steps to clean your jute rugs without damaging the material:
- Hair Dryer
- A cleaning kit
- White towel
- Vacuum
- Mild detergent
After collecting all the items, you can start with the cleaning process. Ensure that the fibers do not suffer from damage. By following the instructions, cleaning your jute rugs will no longer be a challenge:
- Spot Cleaning
The first thing that you need to do is to maintain the shape of the rug. Clean the area of the stain immediately. You need to avoid rubbing as it can cause fiber damage and spread the stain. If you’re quick to remove the stain and clean your rug in time, it looks new for longer.
Start by pressing a towel. The towel should be completely clean.
Pat the towel so that the spill absorbs in that towel.
Once you remove any remaining moisture, add some washing detergent to the area.
Follow the steps till you completely remove the stains.
- Complete Cleaning
You need to regularly clean your jute rug as the fibers can easily suffer from damage.
Start by vacuuming the jute rug completely. This removes the dust, mites, and dirt from the rug.
Do not use a beater, instead nozzle for suction, which prevents fiber damage.
You can now use a hairdryer to dry out your rug or hang it outside for natural air to do its job.
2. Cotton Rugs
Cotton rugs give your home décor an amazing feeling. These rugs are comfortable and come in different colors, sizes, and shapes. These are the best fit options for any house and are easy to clean as well. Even when you clean a cotton rug on your own, you’ll get impressive results: your rug will look as good as new.
- Tooth Brush
- Vacuum Cleaner
- Hydrogen Peroxide
The first thing you should do is to vacuum the rug. This step is essential. Everyday dust particles and mites stick on the outer surface of the cotton rug. If you do not remove those particles, they enter inside the rug’s fibers, making them weaker and causing wear. That is why you need to remove the dust and mites from the surface.
Now, wash the cotton rug in a machine. This will remove all the dust and sand particles from deep inside the fibers of the rug. If you have a large cotton rug, you need to soak the rug in a hot water tub and clean it through steam. For small rugs, you can hang the rug outside. If the rugs are bigger, you can keep the pedestrian fan facing the cotton rug.
Now, if the stains are still visible, you need to pour some hydrogen peroxide and keep on scrubbing till you completely remove the stains.
To dry the rug, you need to hang it outside. Sunlight will kill all the remaining germs.
3. Synthetic Fiber Rugs
Synthetic rugs are made from materials such as polyester, nylon, and other non-natural materials. These rugs are popular because of their low price and bright color. However, there are various cons to purchasing these types of rugs. These rugs need a lot of cleaning as they grow dirty more often. Furthermore, these rugs wear down quicker than other rug materials.
- Laundry detergent
- White vinegar
- Stain remover
- Drying rack
Most synthetic rugs are machine-washable, but to make sure, check the tag.
Shake the rug so to remove all the dirt on the surface. You need to take the rug outside for this step as the process is very messy. Try to wear a mask as dust and mites can cause various health problems.
Now, apply the stain remover to the area with stains. A stain remover lifts the stain so that you can easily remove it.
Now, put the rug in the washing machine. To balance the weight in the machine, add some towels as well.
Add some laundry detergent to the machine to help in removing the stains and dirt more effectively.
After adding some warm water to the washing machine, start washing the rug.
The machine will normally run like the other items.
Add vinegar to the machine. This will remove the musty smell and help in removing the dirt quicker.
You can add the vinegar from the top or pour it, insider the dispenser for fabric softener.
Take out the rug and place it in the dryer. You need to set the dryer to a low-heat setting.
You can also hang the synthetic rug outside in the sun.
4. Shag Rugs
These are the soft and fluffy rugs making them the popular choice of the people while home décor. The design of the rug makes it so challenging to clean this rug. Dirt and dust can easily settle deep inside the rug because of the long and fluffy material. To maintain the quality of your shag rug, you need to follow the cleaning instructions mentioned below:
As the soft and long structure on the rug’s surface catches dust and mites easily, you need to beat and remove the top layer’s excess dirt. You can use a broom or a bat. Make sure that you beat the rug outside, as this can be messy. Also, hand the rug outside to clean the rug from bacteria and any other harmful particles.
Once you are down with removing the dust from the outside layer, you need to go deeper. To clean even deeper and suck out the dust particles, use a vacuum pump. When you use a vacuum, make sure that the fibers do not stick in the vacuum, as this can damage the rug.
To get the dirt out from the deeper parts, use some shampoo. This method is safe and does not damage the fibers, but only if you use a special shampoo for rugs. Using the head bristles of the vacuum, apply a small amount of shampoo, and spread it all over. After brushing the rug, leave the shampoo to dry. This will require some time. After a while, vacuum all the shampoo, and you will see how clean your shag rug will look.
Tips to Deep Clean Your Rug
Deep cleaning is an extensive process that professionals use to clean the rug. You do not need to follow this procedure every day, but twice every year. This procedure will extend the life of your rug and clean it deeply, even between the fibers. Follow the instructions given below to learn how professionals deep clean your rugs.
1. Steam Cleaning
Most professionals clean the rugs using an extensive deep cleaning method. Steam cleaning machines are available in various sizes and quality. The process is easy and quick, and you will find the result effective. Steam cleaning will kill and remove dust mites and allergens with regular use. The rug will be wet. You need to squeeze out the water gently. If you have a shag rug, you will need a lot of time to remove the water as it absorbs an access amount of water.
2. Hand Washing
Steam cleaning will not remove the dirt from the fibers. To clean the rug from the dirt, you need to fill the bathtub with water. The water should be cold. Add some laundry liquid and make sure that the detergent is non-scented and bleach-free. Now, add the rug to the bathtub and leave for a while, so it soaks the water. Now, squeeze the water carefully and hang the rug outside the home for the drying process.
Final Thoughts
Everyone wants to keep their rugs as new as possible. But is it possible? Rugs in every house get dirty easily. The best way to maintain your rug is with thorough cleaning and maintenance. Vacuum the rug daily and wash it from time to time. If you drop any food items, immediately take action, and follow the spot cleaning method.
Maintaining your rug will make it clean and prevent any health issues. Even pet dander can sometimes cause health issues when it falls on the rug. You need to give extra care to your rug if you have a child in the home. The dust, dirt, and bacteria can cause various health problems, such as respiratory problems, allergies, and other conditions.
You should never risk the health of your child and keep your rug clean. If you or your child is experiencing skin allergies, it may indicate that your rugs need deep cleaning. If you do not feel like cleaning the rugs on your own, you can hire professionals with the latest techniques and equipment to properly clean your rugs.
