Simple Ways to Keep Your Rugs Clean

A rug in a living space, particularly when it has been placed in a high traffic area, can get very dirty. Rugs collect dust, sand, greasy cooking residue and moisture, all of which affect them adversely. They can look as if they are fading when grime has been worked into the fibers by busy feet - a good clean can work wonders here.

You can't just toss a rug in a washing machine to get it clean again; so how do you clean a rug? Here some good rug cleaning methods that make your rug look bright and fresh:

The most basic way of cleaning a rug is vacuum cleaning. This should be done fairly regularly except for certain rugs that are too delicate for vacuuming and should be shaken out rather than subjected to a machine. These include Flokati rugs and leather shag rugs. Rugs made from natural fibers such as bamboo or sisal can be shaken out or vacuumed, whichever is more convenient. If a rug is too large to shake by hand, place it on a fence or drape it over a railing, and beat it with a stick to get rid of dust. The more movement of people that occurs on or around a rug, the more often you will have to clean it in one of the above ways. Remember that a rug is usually vacuumed in the same direction as the pile.

When a spill happens on a rug, it is a good idea to take immediate action. The quicker you deal with a stain, the less likely it is that you will need to take the rug to a professional cleaner. Quickly blot up liquid spill with a plain paper towel - a blotting motion, rather than rubbing hard, is necessary here, to prevent the stain from spreading, and to avoid pile damage that can occur if you scrub too violently. If something semi-solid has been spilled, it can be scooped up or scraped off with a spoon and the liquid stain remaining blotted up.

If spills leave unpleasant stains, you can use a weak solution of dishwashing detergent, vinegar and water as a cleaning solution for rugs. This will be effective for most kinds of stains.

Oxygen cleaners are useful for spot removal on synthetic rugs. Such cleaners are eco friendly products so one doesn't have to worry about adverse environmental effects when these are used. However, the directions for use should be carefully read and attended to, and a test in an unnoticeable area should be done, to make sure that color will not run or fade. You must also remember to rinse the spot after you have used the oxygen cleaner, and don't step on the spot till it has dried out fully. Never use oxygen cleaner on a wool rug or a silk one - the alkaline residue of the cleaner can harm such rugs.

Other methods of cleaning rugs include dry powder cleaners which are good for surface stain removal - the powder absorbs the dirt. You should vacuum the rug afterwards to get rid of the cleaning powder. Dry foam cleaners and steam cleaning are also used to clean rugs.

Autor: Fran Sloan

Discover what Home Decorating Professionals already know. They all use area rugs to add a new perspective to a room.

Added: March 6, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/