Wool Oriental Rugs

If you have been bitten by the bug of wanting to own wool oriental rugs then you will need to know how to care for them.

It might come as a surprize to know that you can actually wash them at home, at least the small to medium size ones. The large ones would be too difficult to handle in the home situation.

You must first vacuum thoroughly and don’t forget to do this on the back of the rug as well.

Any particularly noticeable stains should be treated with a good stain remover made for wool carpets. Always try the wool for color fastness first.

Take your rug out into your back yard or onto deck and wet it thoroughly with your garden hose. Take some mild wool cleaner, perhaps Woolite and use this in COLD water. Whisk it all up until you have plenty of suds. Always use a very mild product.

You then use a clean sponge or cloth and spread the suds all over the rug, rubbing gently all the time.

After this you can rinse it off with your hose again until all the suds have been rinsed away.

Roll your rug into towels or some other cloth to absorb any water remaining in the rug. You need to be aware that this wet wool oriental rug is going to be very heavy to handle.

After that all you need to do is lay it flat until it is dry but try not to leave it in direct sunlight for too long because this could cause fading and perhaps shrinking.

That is cleaning but safeguarding the life of your rug means being on guard against moths. These creatures are the worst thing for woollen rugs.

It won’t be the moths you can see flying around that would harm your rug, it is the larvae because they feed on the wool.

Were you aware that a clothes moth can live from just a couple of months up to 2 1/2 years? Incredible isn’t it? Every female moth is going to lay between 100 to 150 eggs that will hatch out in around 5 days, but the larval stage is going to last anywhere from 2 months to 30 months!

If you don’t spot the problem the larvae are going to have enough food in your rug to last them for around 2 1/2 years, even after only a few weeks you could lose an amount of wool which would equal the size of your fist.

I think the answer is, not to pack your rug away in a dark area because this is where they will thrive. Have it out where it will be vacuumed regularly, especially if you have animals because moths really love the keratin contained in animal hair.

Don’t let your beloved wool oriental rug stay covered in cat or dog hairs because you are providing a paradise for the moth larvae.

Having said all that, if you are an absolute addict and just love this type of rug and have them all over the place, on your floor, on your walls etc. you are going to have your work cut out looking after them all properly.

It makes no sense paying out good money for one of these rugs not to take proper care of it.

Look after it properly and it will be a thing of joy forever, well perhaps not for ever, but certainly a lifetime and perhaps more.