Vacuuming Your Oriental Rugs Regularly Is An Integral Part Of Caring For It. So What Does ‘Regularly’ Mean In This Case?
It depends. If you live in a dusty area or your rug is in a place where it gets a lot of foot traffic, then you may need to vacuum it at least once a week and maybe more often than that too. If the rug is in a place where hardly anyone tramples all over it, once in 2 weeks should suffice.
Don’t wait till the dirt and grime on the rug are glaringly obvious. You should make it a habit to clean the rug before it reaches that stage.
Best Kind Of Vacuum To Use For Your Rug
When vacuuming your rug, always use a light canister vacuum. Avoid heavy-duty, industrial vacuums as these can damage the fibers of the rug and rob it of its natural gloss.
You will need a vacuum with good suction though as it should be capable of sucking out the dirt that may have gotten embedded at the bottom of the pile.
Is Vacuuming Enough?
For regular cleaning but once in a while you should send the rug to be thoroughly cleaned by experienced professional cleaners who will use specialized tools to give the rug a complete once-over without doing it any damage.
Vacuum Your Oriental Rug Side-to-Side
Always use a side to side movement when running a vacuum over your oriental rug.
This movement stirs up the pile just enough to loosen any dirt or dust that has penetrated the surface of the pile without causing the design of the rug to become blurry.
Avoid vacuuming the fringes of the rug as the fringes are more delicate and they can snap and break away.
Is Vacuuming The Back Of The Rug Necessary?
Yes, in fact, it recommended that you lift the rug off the floor and vacuum its reverse side every couple of weeks or so. This will help loosen any sand or dirt that has embedded itself in the pile and has sunk down to the bottom near the foundation.
The problem with leaving dirt and debris near the foundation of the rug, it cuts into the foundation a little bit at a time. Eventually, slowly, it will start thinning down the pile of rug and cause it to look frayed and worn out.
Precautions With Antique Rugs
If you have an antique rug, you will need to handle it very carefully when vacuuming. Antique carpets are usually very fragile. Vigorous vacuuming can cause irreversible damage to the rug and will cause its value to go down tremendously.
2 thoughts on “How To Vacuum Your Oriental Rug”
What about using a beater bar on the vacuum? Does that hurt the rug?
Yes it can damage the rug, it’s recommended to avoid using a vacuum with a beater bar. It’s specially problematic when used on the fringes at the ends of the rug.