Cleaning Your Wool Rug

Wool area rugs are expensive and even if you found a wool area rug on sale for a fabulous price you still don't want to ruin it the first time you go to clean it. There are a variety of products and ways to clean your wool rug. Not all products are good for wool fibers; the following tips will help you clean your wool rug without the fear of harming it.

Immediate Cleaning

It is best to clean your wool rug regularly. If you find a stain clean it immediately. Use a towel to soak up the spill. Wool is very sensitive to abrasion so do not scrub the stain because this can cause unsightly matting of your rug.

Dry Foam and Absorbent Pad

This is a good method to spot clean your wool rug. This method uses a dry foam that is worked into the rug. Very little water is used in this process, which is good because you do not have to worry about the rug becoming to damp, and when dry, the rug is vacuumed clean.

Professional Steam Cleaning

Steam cleaning can be a good way to clean your wool rug if done by a professional. Although there are many steam machines that you can rent or buy, these machines are not recommended. Home steam machines can leave behind to much residue in your rug or could leave your rug much wetter than is safe. It is much safer to leave the large scale steam cleaning of your wool rug to people who do it for a living.

Vacuuming

Vacuuming is the best and easiest way to clean your wool rug and will help extend the life of your wool rug. For the first year or two of owning your wool rug you may notice that excess fuzz ends up all over the rug. This is just loose fibers working their way out and is not a malfunction of the rug. You can vacuum the fuzz up and eventually the rug will cease this "shedding".

Make sure that the beater bar of your vacuum is set high so that it does not agitate the rug too much. Also be sure to make a M with the vacuum to help prevent matting of the rug.

Do Not Use

Do not use dry powders to clean your wool rug. These can stay in the fibers of your rug causing the rug to mat. Also, do not use "oxi" type cleaners on your wool rug. This product is not meant for use on natural fibers.

These tips will help you clean your wool rug. Before using any new products on your area rug see the manufacturer's site or call a professional.