How to Clean an Oriental Wool Rug

Cleaning an Oriental wool rug is easy to do at home, but do not clean your rug more than necessary. If you pick up a corner of the rug and kick it from below, see if dirt clouds up. If it does, the rug needs cleaning. Washing a wool rug more often than necessary will shorten its life. Keeping shoes off the rug will also help to reduce the needed number of cleanings. Removing shoes at the door is a good policy for keeping rugs clean.

Vacuum
Rug shampoo
Soft, long-haired brush
Window squeegee

Instructions

How to Clean an Oriental Wool Rug
- 1
  Vacuum both sides of the rug thoroughly.
- 2
  Shampoo the rug with cool water and the rug shampoo. Test a corner of the rug first for color fastness. Use the long-haired brush to brush the rug pile in long, linear strokes in the direction of the nap. Do not scrub vigorously and keep the nap wet with the water and shampoo solution.
- 3
  Wash the fringes by combing them away from the rug with the same brush and shampoo solution.
- 4
  Rinse thoroughly with cool running water. This is probably best done outside with a garden hose.
- 5
  Use the window squeegee to scrape as much water as you can out of the rug nap. Move the squeegee in the direction of the nap.
- 6
  Lay flat to dry. When the nap dries, flip the rug over and lay it out to dry the back. Vacuum the nap again to remove any stiffness from the drying procedure.

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