How to Care for Wool Carpets and Rugs

If you want to bring luxury and comfort to your home, invest in wool rugs or carpets. Wool floor coverings are warm underfoot, long-lasting, and give fantastic aesthetic value to any home design. The natural and renewable wool fibre blocks bacteria growth since it contains lanolin-- it naturally keeps dust mites and stains away. Whether you look for a machine woven rug, a vintage hand-knotted Persian, or any other hind of wool rug or carpet, do your best and keep it in good condition for the longest time.

Many clients choose to leave the cleaning to professionals and only care for their wool floor coverings with regular maintenance and cleaning. Sil All Services Northampton is a reliable company expert in deep cleaning services such as end of tenancy cleaning, spring cleaning after builders cleaning, one-off cleans, move-in/out cleaning, after party cleaning, etc. The cleaners are experienced, and wool carpet cleaning is one of their many skills. Even if you take care of your wool rugs/carpets with regular housekeeping, we recommend hiring professionals from time to time for deep wool carpet cleaning. Since deep cleaning services are necessary once or twice a year, we suggest you take a look at our recommendations on how to care for your wool rugs and carpets.

How often should you clean a wool carpet?

Regular vacuuming is crucial to maintain the structure of the wool fibres. Wool carpets, especially new ones, shed many fibres, but that’s because of the woven. The shedding typically happens in the first couple of months, and vacuuming the carpet twice weekly will reduce the shedding.

We advise you to use a vacuum with a beater bar to lift the set dirt and dust for best results. For a rug with fringes, you need to begin in its centre not to damage its edge. Vacuums with beater bars and rims don’t make a good combination. You can clean the fringed edges with an upholstery attachment.

What steps to take when cleaning a wool rug/carpet?

When you clean, having the right products and equipment within reach saves you a lot of time, especially when you don’t have a lot of free time on your hands. One thing professional cleaners excel at is being meticulous and patient. For instance, the Sil All Services Northampton technicians never rush the cleaning process and spend as many hours as needed to obtain the best cleaning results. You should do the same when cleaning your wool carpet.

What you need

Just because you’re not a professional cleaner doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have reliable cleaning equipment:

• Vacuum
• Broom
• Two buckets
• Old towels
• Sponge
• Cool water
• 1 to 2 tablespoons gentle detergent for wool

What steps do you take

Clean your carpet/rug when you’re not in a hurry. You don’t want to speed the process unnecessarily and ruin it.

1.       Begin with shaking out the dirt

To deep clean a small wool rug, pick a sunny and moderate day. Take it outside and hang it over a clothesline or some sturdy chairs. You should use a rug beater, a broom, or even a tennis racket to hit the rug all over; you want to loosen the deeply set dirt. Also, remove the rug pad and shake it. Remember to vacuum and mop flooring under the rug.

2.       Vacuum the rug

Lay your rug flat on a patio/deck/clean tarp with the wrong side up. Vacuum the rug and turn it over to vacuum it on the other side as well. If you don’t have access to outside space, you can do this part in the kitchen/garage/any other dry area.

3.       Make the cleaning solution

In a large bucket with cool water, add one or two tablespoons of the detergent for wool carpets. Make sure you have the other bucket filled with clean, cool water.

4.       Lightly scrub

Dip the sponge in the cleaning solution and sponge at one end of the rug. Use gentle pressure and work your way in 3 feet by 3 feet grid. As the soil gets into the sponge, you need to rinse it out as often as possible. Make sure you don’t over-wet the fibres. Since wool is highly absorbent, it will take forever to dry.

Read: The 12 Ultimate Principles to use When cleaning your home

5.       Rinse

Now it’s time to dip a clean sponge in the bucket with clean water to rinse the cleaned areas. If you skip this step, the detergent left in the fibres will attract more soil.

6.       Blot the moisture

Get the old towels and blot the cleaned areas because you have to absorb all excessive moisture. Repeat the steps frequently as you need to make sure that you’ve blotted the whole surface.

7.       Let it dry

Let your rug dry entirely before you put it back in its place. You can speed up the process by elevating/hanging the carpet—it enhances the air circulation.

Is it possible to remove stains from wool rugs?

No matter how careful you are, stains, spills, and muddy footprints will happen, and you should always manage the stains the moment they occur. When it comes to wool floor coverings, the following tips are crucial to reducing the risk of permanent staining:

Don’t rub

Even if it’s tempting, never rub a fresh stain. You should, instead, lift away any solids with a dull edge (a spatula or a spoon); use many paper towels for liquids. When you rub the stain, you only push it deeper into the fibres.

Dab the stain remover

If you have a stain remover, you should never pour any of it on the wool rug. Simply add a bit of the cleaner on a white cloth and see if it doesn't bleed the colours of your wool rug. Dabbing the stain remover also reduces the risk of excess soapy residues.

Let the mud dry

Mud sounds impossible to remove from a wool rug, but it’s not that scary. You only need to wait until it dries before you clean it. Dry mud stains are easy to remove with a dull edge; vacuum the bits afterwards.

Never use bleach

You should never apply ammonia, chlorine bleach, or oxygen-bleach to a wool rug. They can all damage your wool rug and make the colours bleed or even disappear.

Be gentle

If you want to use a stain remover, make sure that it’s made for wool rugs. Sometimes, even a simple dishwashing liquid and some lukewarm water will be enough to clean a wool rug.

Can you use household chemicals with your wool carpet?

Many household chemicals, natural ones included, can damage your carpets. Temperature and humidity are essential for the effects, so it can take a couple of days and even weeks until discolouration appears. The safest way to protect your wool carpet against such products is to avoid contact with common household chemicals. Make sure to cover your wool floor covering when watering your plants and spraying with a cleanser. Otherwise, you may ruin your carpet without even realizing it.

Can you make the wool carpet last longer? How?

There are many things you can do to help your wool floor coverings last for the longest time. From regular cleaning to hiring professionals for deep-cleaning services every once in a while, you can protect and extend your wool rug's lifespan in numerous ways.

• Use a “no shoes indoors” policy so that you reduce the amount of dirt and dust that travels inside
• Hire professionals for cleaning wall-to-wall wool carpeting
• Go with a “dry bath” of dry carpet shampoo made for wool rugs every time you want to freshen your wool carpet
• Clean the wool carpet before it looks dirty and vacuums it regularly
• Restrict food and drink near the wool rug
• Use an entrance mat to reduce the dust and dirt inside. Make sure it’s a washable model.
• Rotate the rug at the end of each season. This way, you prevent excessive wear patterns and uneven fading from the sunlight. It’s a great tip to make your wool carpet have a long life and develop an even patina.

Do you need professional cleaners?

Sil All Services Northampton is one of the most trustworthy companies for deep cleaning services in Northampton. Deep carpet cleaning is on our checklists when we perform end of tenancy cleaning, deep cleaning, move-in/out cleaning, spring cleaning, after builders cleaning, after party cleaning, etc. Give us a call to find out more about our methods and get a free quote for the job.