How To Properly Care for Your Indoor Area Rugs

Including an accent area rug ties the room together nicely, making the furniture or area inside it a natural focal point. It can be placed just about anywhere—in your living room under the coffee table and couch, in the kitchen with the dinner table, or even in the children’s playroom to provide extra knee support. However, you’re left stumped on how to take good care of it. Rugs accumulate dirt and debris while becoming worn out as the years continue. Without further ado, here are some tips on how to properly care for your indoor area rugs.

Check Care Tips

As soon as you arrive home, you start the rug caring process When you first purchase a rug, learning how to properly care for your indoor area rug is the first step. So, seek the care instructions—they are displayed across a small tag on the underside of the rug.

However, some rugs do not give these instructions. If this is the case, then speak to the merchant who sold you the rug by giving them a call or sending them an email. They are the experts in their products and will keep you informed. As for the care tag, it is always an excellent opportunity to look thoroughly and be sure of its maintenance steps.

Vacuuming Regularly

Owning a vacuum in your home is vital in terms of maintaining your rug. Depending on the model and make of your vacuum, it penetrates enough power to remove any excess debris, hair, and dust stuck deep within the rug’s fibers.

Vacuuming will be your rug’s best friend, and it will help keep the carpet’s original texture and brightness. By vacuuming your rug regularly, you’ll significantly lengthen its life. Also, the appearance of furniture wear reduces by doing it consistently. The average time spent vacuuming can be as little as once a week.

Spot Treatment

Spills happen more often than you’d think. Whether it’s a glass of wine, spaghetti sauce, or even chocolate milk, area carpets love to pull the liquid deep into their fibers. Unfortunately, spills can leave an unwanted stain behind. Removing stubborn stains requires good elbow grease, so take time out of your day to remove them.

How you want to approach cleaning the stain depends on its severity. A standard method in cleaning the deep stain is blotting it from the outside, working your way inward. There is a chance you will have to repeat this step, but be sure not to scrub, as the carpet fibers forcibly pull out if you scrub too roughly.

Deep Cleaning

There comes a time when a rug is too dirty for simply vacuuming or spot cleaning. Ranging from foot traffic to pet interaction, it wears it down further. So, as a result, you will have to resort to a deep cleaning session.

Depending on the material, deep cleaning only allows specific products and cleaning procedures. More delicate rugs only allow hand washing, so be cautious. Natural fiber rugs have a stiffer resistance, so using a mild cleanser and warm water will do the trick. Lastly, braided or woven rugs are machine-washer safe. Always refer to the care instructions, just in case.

Thorough Drying

When concluding your deep cleaning adventure, the area rug must be completely dry before returning it to its designated spot. If you are strong enough, squeeze as much excess water out. Otherwise, ask a tougher friend to assist you.

After you squeeze out the water, leave the rug in the sun to accelerate the drying process. If the outdoors is inaccessible, simply using indoor fans can do the trick. Drying then prevents the growth of mold and mildew. If you’re placing the rug on a hardwood floor, leaving it too wet can cause the hardwood to rot. So, caring for the carpet also means caring for what’s underneath, as well.

Shaken and Beaten

If your area rug has stubborn dust and debris, simply shaking and beating it can do wonders for its longevity. You can find a rug and carpet beater online or in your local shopping area. Not only does it help further remove build-up, but it also can be a fun time!

The only issue is that if the rug runs on the bigger side, you might need to ask a friend for help. You can end up stuck or hurt due to being unable to carry the carpet alone. By beating and shaking the rug, you remove unwanted dirt and dust from the surface area and deep fibers.

Rotation Periods

With foot traffic weighing down the rug’s integrity, it’s ideal to have a regular rotation throughout its life. By rotating around, the quality of the carpet is prolonged while cosmetically giving it a fresh appearance. With rotation cycling, you can vacuum the least touched areas more actively and provide the high traffic spots a rest while under furniture.

Depending on the household activity levels, rotation can be as soon as six months to as late as yearly. It all comes down to its residing area, how many people go through it, and how the carpet is used.

Switching Furniture Placement

While you focus on rotating your area rugs, perhaps it is time to freshen up your furniture placement. It’s as easy as switching the end table from one side of the couch to the other. It breaks up the natural pathways for foot traffic, therefore reducing wear across the rug.

Not to mention, switching up furniture placement changes up the entire look of the room. Furniture switching and adjusting can add years to your rug’s life, and may even get you compliments!

Support Underneath

As activity increases over time on rugs, consider purchasing padding for support. Adding carpet padding increases non-slip protection, reduces wear, and increases comfort.

It’s also a bright idea to keep the padding underneath cared for and cleaned during the same time as the rug. It gives you the ability to clean multiple things at once and promotes carpet lifespan.

Replace Over Time

As rugs and carpets age over time, replacement inevitably comes to mind. Consider looking into new indoor carpet rugs that suit your preestablished furniture and the purpose it would fill for the designated room. Koeckritz Rugs produces an extensive array of rugs and carpets, like plush or Berber. So, there are hundreds of beautiful options to choose from!

Area rugs and carpet maintenance shouldn’t be a frustrating endeavor. It should remain simple by keeping care and cleaning procedures in mind. So, take it one step at a time.