How to care for your fine rug

You will spend a fair amount of money on a good quality hand knotted rug and to get the best return from your investment it is important to care for your rug well.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

Underlay

Place your rug on underlay or rug pad. There are 3 main reasons you want to do this:

Reason 1

To protect it from the harsh impact of footfall – if you imagine the underlay absorb some of the impact of hard shoes on the rug.

Choose your underlay well. You can get underlay for rugs on hard floors: Click here for Hard Floor Rug Underlay

And you can get underlay for rugs on carpets - Click here for Foxy Rug Underlay

Reason 2

To protect rugs on carpets from crocking – no it has nothing to do with frogs making noise (that’s croaking!). This is a term used when referring to transfer of colour due to rubbing.

If an underlay is used it can save you the surprise when you lift the rug you laid down 4 months ago to find a ping patch on the carpet where the rug was

Reason 3

Finally, a reason for using underlay is to stop slips and falls, especially elderly people should be very careful with rugs slipping on floors. It is a sound investment for your health to get underlay for your rugs, imagine how can a broken hip affect your life? And how would it compare to a few pounds spend on a good quality underlay?

Vacuuming

Vacuuming your rug regularly will be essential to remove dry soil from your rug to prevent the fibers wearing out – it is like sandpaper on these precious fibers! – best is to turn your rugs upside down and use an upright vacuum cleaner to shake the soil out – spend a good amount of time (5 minutes per square meter) running the vacuum over the back of the rug . Turn the rug over and vacuum the front – Do this on a hard floor surface to prevent dry soil entering carpet fibers – Careful with the rug fringes when vacuuming – The best vacuum cleaner to use for this is a Sebo upright.

Regular stain removal and cleaning

Deal with a spot as soon as it happen – soak up spills and use safe stain removers – always test the product before you use it in larger areas – spray it down in an inconspicuous area and press a white cotton towel down on it for at least 5 – 10 minutes – weigh it down with a heavy item – check for colour transfer

Get a professional to clean your rugs. Make sure they have been trained in rug care and have a passion for rugs. It is very important to ensure they are insured to take your rug away for cleaning. Very few carpet cleaners are actually insured for goods in trust.

For more information visit our website at www.persianrugcleaningcambridge.co.uk or call us on 01223 863 632

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