How to Clean your Wool Rug

Wool rugs can be a great investment to your home. For one, they are a natural, renewable fibre that deters bacteria and dust mites, courtesy of lanolin. Wool floor coverings are also warm and soft underfoot, work beautifully with indoor decor, and are durable when cared for properly. Machine-woven wool rugs can last up to 20-30 years. Tufted wool rugs have been known to last up to sixty years. Not only are they long-lasting, but they maintain that new-rug-look with proper care. That is why we will tell you how to clean your wool rug at home.

Basic Knowledge on Wool Rugs

New wool rugs often shed fibres. So there is no need to worry about that. Hoovering twice a week will help with that. The majority of the shedding will last a few months. After that, it should die down a bit.

One good thing for maintaining a wool carpets new-look is regular vacuuming. But not too regular. Over-hoovering can pull fibres out of the rug, which isn’t good. We recommend hoovering 2-4 times a month tops after the initial shedding has stopped.

We also advise vacuuming the underside once every 1-2 months. The underside of any rugs and carpets can get shockingly dirty without anyone noticing, seeing as no one looks at the bottom of a rug. Accumulated dust and dirt on the underside can cause faster deterioration.

Another thing that is not great for your wool carpet is a high-suction vacuum, so a Dyson hoover really isn’t the best choice. If your vacuum has high-suction, placing a nylon screen type thing over the end of your hoover can help protect your wool carpet.

How to Clean your Wool Rug at Home

Here are the ingredients to the best cleaning method for your wool rug:

• Vacuum
• A bucket of cold water
• Gentle laundry detergent
• A few microfibre cloths and/or a sponge
• White towels; If you don’t have white towels, towels that don’t run colours will do

How to clean your wool rug at home:

1. If possible, take your wool rug outside and shake out as much dirt as possible. If your wool rug is too large to do this, find a place to drape it, like a handrail. Now beat it with a flat side of a broom.
2. Now, vacuum the rug to remove any stubborn, leftover dirt.
3. Detergent time! Mix a capful of gentle washing detergent into a bucket of cold water.
4. Next on the list, get a sponge or a clean microfibre cloth – whichever you prefer – and dampen it using the water and detergent from your bucket.
5. Lightly dab the surface area of your wool rug. Be careful to not soak your rug. The colours and patterns may fade or run. Never use more than the bare minimum of moisture.
6. After you have completed step 5, throw away the soap water, rinse out the bucket, and fill it again with cool water. Now get a few microfibre cloths and use the clean water to blot the surface of your rug. Keep doing this until there are no soapy suds left.
7. Now get your dry towels and use them to soak up as much moisture as possible, and leave your wool rug to dry completely before stepping on it.

A Few Tips on Wool Rug Care From the Professionals

Here are a few tips and tricks for wool rug care. We’ll let you know how to clean your wool rug like the professional cleaners do.

1. Often, pet hair will stick to your wool rug, even after you have vacuumed. We find that a stiff brush does the job. Always brush in the direction of the nap of the rug.
2. We said it before in the instructions on how to clean your wool rug at home, but it is an important rule, so we will say it again. Never use more water than needed when cleaning your rug at home. It can damage your wool rug.
3. If there are stains and spots on your wool rug, don’t clean the whole thing. Rather tackle the marks and stains individually. Use the same method as cleaning the entire rug, just on the affected area.
4. Use snow to clean your rug. This is an ancient technique. The idea is, that the snow freezes and kills any smelly bacteria. It is also supposed to loosen any grime stuck in the fibres.