Rug Care Tips

Does Vacuuming Damage My Rug?

Vacuuming your area rugs is essential; it helps to remove soils that can build soils that work their way into the foundation. These embedded soils accelerate wear and deterioration so vacuuming helps extend the life of your fine oriental rugs.

That said, vacuums can damage area rugs too. For example, the rotating beater bar on an upright vacuum can suck the fringe ends of a carpet and rip them off. Care should be taken when vacuuming rugs to minimize the risk of damage to your rugs.

Antique carpets are often more susceptible due to heavy wear, damage, low pile, or already compromised areas can be further damaged with vacuuming.

Thin rugs like Kilims or old worn Persian rugs can be pulled into a beater bar-style vacuum, so they should be vacuumed with suction only canister-style vacuum, and if small, they can be taken outside and gently shaken by hand.

If you want to vacuum your rug, well, take it outside on a nice day and vacuum the back very slowly with a beater bar-style vacuum. In the trade, we call this "dusting" a rug, and it's an essential prewashing step.

5 minutes of vacuuming this rug from the back yielded this nearly full dustpan of loose dry soil. It's this soil that settles into the foundation of oriental rugs that is destructive. routine vacuuming of your rug reduces the buildup of these soils and extends out cleaning intervals

Tips to keep your area rugs looking nice

Routine vacuuming weekly will help extend the life of your Oriental rug. Go slowly and allow the vacuum time to do its job and lift the soil. Be careful with thin or fragile rugs and consider using a suction-only vacuum on antique Persian rugs.

When possible, move furniture and vacuum in dark, undisturbed areas as these are the places moths like to hide. Inspect the rug while vacuuming and look for any issues such as missing yarns, holes, signs of moth infestation damage.

Weather and size permitting, take rugs outside and vacuum from the back with a beater-style vacuum to dislodge loose silty soil.

Turn rugs seasonally end for end to even out traffic patterns, wear, and soiling. This is also an excellent time to inspect your rug for any sign of moth infestation or damage.

Address spills promptly and consult our spotting guide. If you are not sure what to do, please call us for advice and avoid strong carpet cleaning products like Resolve Carpet Cleaner, Folex or rug doctor cleaning chemicals.

Rugs should be cleaned when they look dirty. The end fringe is often the first place to show soiling. So, If the fringe end tassels look dirty, the rug is dirty; it's just that the body of the rug hides it much better. Seek out a professional rug cleaner that knows rugs

Cleaning intervals. It's a fine line between cleaning rugs too often and not often enough. As soil builds up in an area rug, it amplifies the destructive power of regular use. Yet too frequent cleaning is a waste of your hard-earned money. Professional rug cleaning every 2-4 years for entry rugs; high-use kitchens may need yearly cleaning.