10 Useful Tips to Protect Oriental Rugs  

Handmade Oriental area rugs can offer beauty and enjoyment to your home for many years by doing proper care and maintenance. If the rugs are not appropriately cleaned and protected, their natural sheen gradually deteriorates and their beauty begins to fade. So they are no longer able to boost the appearance of your home and create a great impression on your guests and visitors.  To maintain the appealing looks of your rugs and for prolonging their durability, certain steps need to be followed.

Place walk-off mats at all entrances: Walk-off mats should be used at the exterior of all entrances to absorb the soil and moisture. They can trap the excessive dirt, sand, grit, and other substances such as oil, asphalt, or driveway sealer that would otherwise get tracked into the home. Mats should also be cleaned on a regular basis so that they themselves don’t become the sources of soil.

Use a quality pad: You should always use a quality pad under your carpet, particularly on the stairs. A good carpet pad not only provides better resilience and comfort underfoot, but it also extends the life of your Handmade   Oriental area rugs. As some rugs carry warranties with specific density and thickness requirements, one should be sure to review the warranty before purchasing a pad.

Occasionally move your heavy furniture: Move heavy furniture periodically to avoid excessive pile crushing. You should also use floor protectors designed for handmade area rugs under the legs of tables, chairs, and other furniture to help distribute the weight. Avoid using chairs or appliances with rollers or casters without a chair pad designed specifically for the rug, which can otherwise cause heavy damage. While moving heavy-wheeled furniture (pianos, buffets, etc.), you can prevent damage by placing a protective barrier of heavy cardboard or plywood between the wheels and the rug.

Clean your area rugs: If you use Persian area rugs on top of a wall-to-wall carpet, be sure to clean them regularly . Clean and restore the pile of carpet underneath as well. Also, be sure to check the area rugs for colorfastness before placing them on the carpet because the color in some rugs may bleed through. After cleaning your carpet, allow it to dry completely before replacing the rugs.

Reduce long-period exposure to direct sunlight: Protect your carpet from prolonged exposure to direct sunlight with the help of blinds, shades, or awnings.

Carpet Care: Vacuuming – This is the most important step in caring for your carpet. Vacuum your carpet thoroughly and frequently, particularly in the high-traffic areas. Realize that walking on the soiled carpet allows the soil particles to work their way below the surface of the pile, where they are far more difficult to remove and can damage the carpet fibers. Frequent vacuuming removes these particles from the surface itself before they get trapped underneath. For rooms receiving light traffic, vacuum the carpet traffic lanes twice weekly and the entire area once weekly. In areas receiving heavy traffic, vacuum the carpet traffic lanes daily and the entire area twice in a week.

More passes of the machine are needed for vacuuming the areas which are heavily soiled due to increased foot traffic. Five to seven passes are necessary for these areas while up to three passes of the machine will suffice for the less soiled areas. For vacuuming Persian or Oriental rugs, the machine must be on one direction. It must be on the direction of the rug nap or with the rug nap, rather than against the nap. There are two ways to know the direction of the nap. The first is that the nap starts from the lighter side of the rug to its darker side. The second is that the nap feels soft to touch and against the nap feels rough to touch. 

Check the quality of your vacuum: A good vacuum cleaner is vital for the prolonged beauty and life of your Handmade Persian area rugs. An inexpensive machine can remove the surface dirt, but it will not effectively remove the hidden dirt and particles embedded in the pile. Magic Rugs recommends using vacuums with a rotating brush or combination beater/brush bar that agitates the rug pile and mechanically loosens the soil for removal. A rug with a thick loop pile construction, particularly wool and wool-blend styles, may be sensitive to brushing or rubbing of the pile surface and may become fuzzy. For these products, we recommend a suction-only vacuum or a vacuum with an adjustable brush lifted away from the rug so that it does not agitate the pile. A vacuum with a beater/brush bar can be tested for excessive fuzzing in an inconspicuous location before regular use.

Pay attention to vacuum bags: Replaceable paper vacuum bags do a better job of trapping small particles than the cloth bags. With cloth bags, the particles pass back into the room. High-efficiency vacuum bags, also called microfiltration bags, trap even smaller microscopic particles (such as mold and mildew spores and dust mite by-products) which are often found to be the source of allergies. All vacuum bags should be checked often and replaced when half full.

Check the belt and the setting: Make sure the belt is in good condition and that the brush or beater bar rotates when it comes in contact with the carpet. To adjust the vacuum to the correct height setting for the carpet, raise the beater/brush bar to the highest setting and then lower it until it is in enough contact with the pile to slightly vibrate the carpet several inches away from the machine. Do not lower it enough to cause the significant slowing of the motor.

Vacuuming alone won’t protect your carpet: Even though vacuuming can remove most of the soil, it is also necessary to clean your Oriental handmade rugs on a regular basis to remove the oiliness and stickiness that vacuums cannot remove. These can arise from cooking vapors, air pollution, and tracked-in dirt from outside. The particles of oil and soil deposited on the rug fibers can cause gradual but significant dulling of the colors. The color isn’t lost, but gets hidden under the film. If this type of oil layer is allowed to accumulate, it begins to attract and hold the dry soil in them. If the rug is cleaned before it becomes too unsightly, the cleaning chore is easier to perform and more successful. A Rug in a typical household should be cleaned every 12 to 18 months, depending on the above factors.

What cleaning system should you use?  

Choosing the proper cleaning system is important. Some systems may leave residues which accelerate re-soiling and defeats the whole purpose of cleaning. If followed properly, the recommendations provided below will help to prolong the time between cleaning.

Magic Rugs recommends the hot water extraction system:

Research indicates that the hot water extraction system provides the best capability for cleaning. This system is commonly referred to as ‘steam cleaning,’ although no steam is actually generated. The process consists of spraying a solution of water and detergent into the carpet pile and recovering the water and soil with a powerful vacuum into a holding tank. This can be done from a truck-mounted unit outside the home with only the hose and wand brought inside or by using a portable system brought into the home.

Rely on the professionals or do it yourself?  

It is to your advantage to rely on the experience of a professional carpet cleaner when your rug requires a full cleaning. Their equipment has more extraction power than the rental units available to individuals which helps the carpet dry more quickly. Good professionals also know about the usage of the equipment better, know the proper cleaning agents for the situation at hand, and better recognize the differences in fibers and carpet construction. Kindly give us a call today for all your rug and rug care needs!

We hope you will find these tips useful for retaining appealing looks and prolonging the durability of your Oriental hand-knotted rugs. So they can keep on enhancing the beauty of your home, delight you, and cast a great impression on your visitors and guests.

Magic Rugs offers a wide variety of high-quality and affordable Persian rugs and other Oriental rugs for fulfilling the specific decoration needs of homeowners.