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Oriental rugs don’t just feel good under the feet, they can look spectacular as well. These rugs are often centrepieces in a room. Good quality rugs don’t come cheap, however, and you should protect your investment.
Like any carpeting, oriental rugs are subject to wear, tear and damage. Even if you’re super careful about not spilling anything on your rug or walking mess on to it, it will start to look a little jaded as it gets older unless you take care of it. So what can you do to keep your oriental rug in the best possible condition?
Even if your rug looks clean, vacuum it regularly, ideally once a week. Dust and dirt settle easily in a rug. If these particles aren’t cleaned up, they drift to the base of the rug where they can crush or distort fibres.
A regular vacuum also helps keep the rug’s pile in place. The more you walk on a rug, the more crushed the pile’s fibres get. The suction action of a vacuum pulls compressed fibres back into position. This keeps your rug looking fresh and in good condition.
While most rugs are hardy enough to withstand a good vacuuming, do be careful if your rug has a fringe. Fringes also need to be cleaned but on a gentle setting. Fringe strands can be pulled out or damaged if they are sucked up into a vacuum’s hose.
If you keep your rug in the same position, then some wear and tear are unavoidable. You walk across the same parts of the rug repeatedly but don’t ever walk on other areas.
The pile or fibres on your tread paths will eventually flatten and look uneven compared to the parts of the rug you don’t walk on. Regular vacuuming won’t keep tread wear at bay forever but rotating the rug does help.
You only need to do this a few times a year, say every 3 or 4 months. All you have to do is to turn the rug so that you aren’t walking on the same areas all the time. So, if you have a square or circular rug, turn it 90° each time; a rectangular rug may need to go 180°.
Rugs are susceptible to sun damage. If your rug sits in the path of strong sunlight coming through a window, then it will start to fade. This damage is often down to UV rays rather than general sunlight.
This can be a tricky problem to solve. Rotating the rug helps in that it gives you a more gradual and even colour fade, but you may still lose some vibrancy. It may be a better idea to hang sheers or UV blocking blinds at the window.
Your vacuuming manages everyday dirt; however, it may not keep the rug completely clean. Spills, stains and ground-in dirt collect at the bottom of fibres. If you have pets, then any hair and dander skin flakes they shed also sink into the rug.
This accumulated dirt is hard to remove with regular vacuuming, but you should try to deal with it. Low-lying dirt clogs the base of fibres. This can make the rug wear more quickly. To avoid this, have your rug professionally cleaned every now and then. A deep clean goes places your vacuum cleaner can’t.
Davali Chem-Dry’s specialist deep-cleaning treatments give even valuable oriental rugs a new lease of life. Our treatments don’t just remove general dirt — they also deal with hard-to-remove problems like pet dander. To find out more, contact us.
