Cleaning Rugs

Rugs are the part of your home that get the most wear and tear. From being stepped on with muddy shoes to letting the dog curl up on it, rugs get dirty in a hurry, so it's smart to have a quick and easy cleaning plan to make it look great again.

• Vacuum your rug. An easy way to give your rug a quick clean is to vacuum over it. This picks up most of the dirt and debris on the upper portion of the rug, making it look just clean enough to pass if you're having guests over to your house. Vacuuming takes all of 5 minutes depending on how big your rug is, it's a very quick fix. It's not smart to vacuum over the fringe of your rug, as they can often get caught in the vacuum and fray the fringe or tear them off.
• Beat your rug. Take it outside and hang it over a clothes line or tree branch and beat the dirt out of your rug. Not only does it help to clean the dirt out of the deep crevices in your rug, but it's a great way to vent out frustration. After beating it with a broom handle or baseball bat, it would be wise to vacuum it, just to get some o the dust and dirt that might have settled on top. Be aware though, repeated beatings of your rug may loosen the fibers holding your rug together, so use this technique sparingly.
• Scrub your rug. If your rug has a stain on it, go ahead and get some stain remover and scrub at it. You might want to test it on just a corner of your rug or another piece of carpet first to see if it affects the color in anyway. What a tragedy that would be if you scrubbed a large portion of your rug, only to notice later that that portion of your rug is now pink instead of dark red. Don't use too much carpet shampoo, as after awhile that starts to attract dirt rather than help get rid of it. Rugs are very well known for homing odors, use 1 cup Borax and 2 cups cornmeal on your rug to help get odors out. Sprinkle it on, let it stand for a few hours, and then vacuum away.

However you decide is best to clean your rug, its important to remember that it's more of a combination of these cleaning techniques that will really get the job done right. Too much of one thing can end up harming your rug.