Maintaining Your Rug's Quality

Every blog post we've published has highlighting different subjects pertaining to Oriental rugs. We've covered the most popular styles, given the spotlight to Persian rugs, talked about how to decorate your household--a varied degree of content has been covered every week. With this abundance of information, there's a crucial part of owning an Oriental rug we haven't yet covered in absolute detail: how to maintain your rug.

Maintaining any purchase you've made is especially important. You can buy an item that's freshly grafted and it will still ware out far faster if you don't properly care for it. Though Oriental rugs stand the test of time through generation after generation naturally, their existence is prolonged the further you maintain its luster. To preserve your rug, there's a number of different approaches you can take. The first and foremost factor is the clean your Oriental carpet, but there are other moving parts that likewise have an impact on its standing quality. This week we're taking the time make you fully aware on how to maintain your Oriental rug's pristine composition.

1. How to Clean your Oriental Rug

The most encompassing and obvious method to preserving your rug is to clean it like any other facet that you own; however, Oriental rugs must be cleaned with care and diligence. 

Whenever you make a move to clean your standard carpet, the automatic assumption is to vacuum it. In doing so, dirt, grime, dust, etc. are removed from its fibers and your rug lives another day. While this is the case with an Oriental rug, there is a certain artform to vacuuming it.

First off, move with the fibers when you vacuum your carpet. As you vacuum your rug, do it carefully and only over its main body. We cannot stress this enough, so we're going to spell it out in the finest detail possible:

DO NOT VACUUM THE RUG'S FRINGES.

Now that that's squared and clear, let's explain the reasoning behind this. The fringes of the rug are the "endings" of its handmade weave. If you vacuum the fringes directly, you risk damaging the genuine structure of the rug. You can easily vacuum your rug, you simply have to be careful and work "with" it rather than against it. An Oriental rug is an antiquity--it's meant to be cared for, not manhandled.

An equal alternative is instead sweeping your rug. Like with a vacuum, move with the fire to up-heave dirt, grime, and other items that can attach to your rug's fibers. Either vacuuming or sweeping your rug is completely viable in terms of cleaning. It's highly recommended you do so every two weeks in order to prevent any dirt build-up. Take your time, go through the process described and your rug will thrive.

2. "Flip" your Rug

This procedure is rather straightforward. If you flip your rug and leave it be for a week, going through the usual motions of walking over it, having furniture placed on it, etc., all the dirt will fall out. In other words, this is a "risk free" yet different approach to cleaning your rug. Be sure to flip your rug back over to its original side once you feel as though all the grime has been knocked loose.

3. Rotate your Rug

Another straightforward approach regarding maintaining your rug. Like flipping your rug, it's good to expose its angles an equal amount rather than having one singular portion at a time absorb it all. Consider this: with your rug maintaining its placement in the same spot, sunlight will be exposed continuously to the same portions. Sunlight, like all things, can accumulate wear and tear. To counter this, rotate your rug to allow for all of its surface area to, again, equally gather wear and tear.

4. Padding for your Rug

Lastly, purchase a rug pad. They're incredibly cheap and incredibly beneficial for your rug's overall health. The purpose of a rug pad is to be placed on the underside of your rug--this ensures a reduction in accumulated dust or dirt. In doing so, it also allows the rug's underside to be protected from damage or wear and tear.