Preserving Your Hand Woven Rug: Cleaning and Care

Guarding Craftmanship: Unveiling the Art of Cleaning and Care for Your Hand-Woven Rug

Mastering the legacy elevates your hand-woven rug’s lifespan with expert cleaning and care.

Rug being sold on streets

For anyone who owns a truly hand-woven rug, cleaning can be tricky. Since they are very expensive and often fragile, it takes some real know-how to properly clean hand-woven rugs and prevent causing irreparable damage. The journey to ensuring the longevity of your prized hand-woven rug requires a deep understanding of the nuances involved in cleaning and preserving its beauty, all while safeguarding it from potentially irreparable damage. To aid you in this endeavour, here are several insightful tips that you can incorporate into your care routine, assuring the vibrancy and value of your hand-woven rug for generations to come.


Day-to-Day Care

When considering ways to maintain the integrity of your hand-woven rug, cleaning is just one aspect of its maintenance. Common mistakes people make that tend to take years off the life of a rug include the following:

  • Vacuums: Today’s vacuums are incredibly powerful, which can be good for heavy traffic, and standard carpets. However, for hand-woven rugs, cleaning them with a vacuum can damage the rug over time, particularly if there is a hardwood floor underneath the rug. Instead, invest in a lightweight carpet sweeper for regular cleaning. If you do use a vacuum, use a canister vacuum, if possible. Also, use it sparingly, and on the lowest setting. Remember that, if it’s feasible, the rug should be taken outside and shaken first. That way you can minimize the amount of vacuuming required.
  • Plants: Do not position plants on top of your hand-woven rug. Cleaning it will become pointless if the rug becomes irreparably damaged. Plants that are placed on top of a rug don’t allow the rug to breathe, and moisture from the pot eventually seeps down, causing the rug to mould, and then rot.

Cleaning

Hand-woven rugs should be professionally cleaned a minimum of every two to three years, even if they don’t appear to be dirty. Remember, bacteria are invisible, and the fringes and fibre of the rug can be revitalized with proper cleaning. While you can spot-clean a rug with a diluted cleaning solution (consult a professional for specifics), when the entire rug needs to be cleaned, it is always best to have it done professionally.

Note: If the rug is made of silk, you MUST get it professionally cleaned, or it will certainly be irreparably damaged.

Hand-woven rugs are expensive. As such, proper care is required to maintain the investment. This will allow you to enjoy your rug for years to come.

Amy Jensen
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About Amy Jensen

Amy is part of the Rug Wash Specialist online content team. As a bit of a clean freak, she loves a good tip to make it easier to keep a clean home.
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