In this short video, we’ll answer the question, how often should I clean my wool rugs?
To answer that, let’s look at what abrasive dirt really is and how it affects your rugs.
A magnified image of sandpaper shows sharp edges that act as cutting tools.
A magnified image of common sand shows the same sharp edges on each grain. Sand is largely made of silica, and silica is what they make glass out of. You can think of sand as tiny little pieces of broken glass.
When you walk across your rugs, you put your full body weight on these sharp edges, and that results in damage and wear to your rugs. The sharp edges literally dig into and cut the fibers.
Remember, wool is just hair, so it’s soft and easy to cut.
Rugs can last hundreds of years if not exposed to this kind of wear. But there’s something that actually makes this problem even worse.
One of the really great things about wool is that it hides dirt so well. This is because of the way the fibers are made. The surface of the fiber has little ridges, almost like scales.
In one way, that’s good, because even if your rug has some dirt in it, it won’t look like it. Wool is excellent at hiding dirt, and that’s one of the reasons it’s such a perfect material for rugs.
The problem occurs when people that own rugs wait until their rugs look dirty before they bring them in for a good cleaning.
By the time a wool rug looks dirty, it can have almost unbelievable amounts of abrasive dirt in it, and that leads to damage to the fibers of the rug.
Once this damage occurs, it can’t be undone.
As more and more dirt penetrates the fibers, it leads to a loss of color and vibrancy, making the rug look dull and lifeless. This process happens gradually, so many times people don’t notice.
Proper washing removes the abrasive dirt and restores the shine that natural wool has.
That’s why most rugs should be washed every one to three years, depending on how good the wool is, how much traffic the rug gets, and whether or not the rug is properly vacuumed.
If it’s been too long since your rug’s last bath, give us a call and let us restore the beauty your rug was meant to have. If you have any questions, feel free to call and we’ll be happy to help you with no obligation.
