How to Get Rid of Stains on Your Area Rugs (DIY)
Take a deep breath, spend some seconds glancing at the Area rugs in your apartment. Do you honestly like the way they appear? Aren't they overdue for cleaning?
Work, schooling, childcare, and many other activities can easily make anyone forget about cleaning their rugs. If yours are the classic oriental ones, there's a higher chance you will miss some dirt spots and believe it's in good shape until a visitor calls your attention to it. Living with stained, dusty, or dirty Area rugs does not only keep your house uninterestingly dull, but they also become breeding grounds for germs.
Guess what? Cleaning rugs is not usually as tedious as you may have been imagining. Instead, knowing what process works for what type of rug remains the smartest way to get them back to pristine conditions. One important thing to do is safely keeping the care tag that came with your rug when you bought it newly. Manufacturers usually include details of how to wash using rug shampooers and cleaning machines in the label. But if you still don't fancy these recommendations, you'll learn the practical and easy ways to get the job done in this guide. Read on.
How you can Clean Oriental and Antique Rugs
Do you use oriental rugs for high-traffic sections of your home, including the kitchen? Then, it is only natural to clean them periodically and more often than those in other areas. A vacuum cleaner will help you clean fast, but the pressure should be tender. To avoid damaging your rug, spread a nylon screen over its surface and keep it stable with slightly heavy objects you can find around. After covering your rug, vacuum until you have cleaned the entire surface. Alternatively, you can wrap a nylon mesh around your vacuum attachment, then clean slowly. Be sure to change the mesh once it gathers dirt. That way, your rug will regain its beautiful appearance. Another good practice that helps to retain evenness of color in oriental rugs is rotation. From time to time, change the areas that are exposed to sunlight and learn how to style your room around your oriental rug.
How you can clean Rush, Sisal, and Grass Rugs
Rush, Sisal, and Grass Rugs are natural fibers. When used to produce rugs, they usually have open weaves, allowing for dirt to settle into them from underneath. If you have a natural-fiber rug in your home, you will need to clean them with a vacuum regularly. Often, before you clean the rug itself, roll it to one side of the room and clean the floor beneath it. You can then move back and vacuum it. But whenever you come across stubborn stains as you clean, you should first protect the floor underneath, using a thick cloth or towel. Then, prepare soapy water in a bowl, get a soft brush, and scrub the area for some seconds. Once the stains are off, dip a towel in clean water and rub it on the cleaned area. If the rug becomes too wet in the process, you can use a handy fan or, better still, a hairdryer to dry off the water content. As you clean, be sure to avoid excess wetness. Don’t leave the wet areas to remain wet for long periods. Natural-fiber rugs do not do well with water.
You can also replace stained areas of natural-fiber rugs with new ones. Since they are usually produced in small squares before they are sewn together, you can purchase additional yards of the same rug. Cut out the densely stained areas and stitch the new squares on them, using a strong carpet thread.
How You Can Clean Woven Rugs
Woven rugs are almost the trickiest to clean. Despite their sturdy feel, they are delicate. If you have this type of rug in your home, you may want to check its care tag to be sure you can wash it. If you can, take some time to identify stitch breaks on it before cleaning, and as soon as you are through, recheck the breaks to see if they are still intact. To wash your woven rug, wrap them into a mesh laundry bag, and wash slowly in normal temperature water. After some minutes, rinse adequately and set your washer to dry off in low heat.
If your woven rug is broader than what will fit into a washer, you can move them to a clean concrete or vinyl floor around your home. Spray a quality foam rug-cleaner on the surface, paying more attention to the visibly stained areas. Let the foam sink in for a bit as you rub the surface. After that, rinse or vacuum the rug properly and let it dry completely before returning it to its original position.
These processes are basic routines you can follow if you’d like your Area Rugs to remain beautiful and charming for many years. While it may take some time to get used to them, you’ll spend only a few minutes once you’ve mastered the steps.
However, some tough stains may draw you back occasionally. Stains and their intensity vary, so there is no one size fits all approach to getting rid of them on your rug. Still, you don’t have to break the bank to find solutions to stubborn stains and reduce the time you may spend scrubbing them off. Below are some instances and how you can quickly get rid of them.
How to Remove Stubborn Stains from Areas Rugs, Easily
Gum Stains on Rug
When gum substance drops by accident on your Area Rug, gently peel whatever you can from the drop. Then, pack ice cubes in a plastic container and put it directly on the remaining drops you could not peel. The ice will harden it the gum within minutes, making it easy for you to peel off with a flat metal object such as a knife. Afterward, you can clean the area with a rug cleaner. And if you had planned to clean the entire surface of your rug, you can proceed with that.
Tomato Sauce Stains on Rug
To clean off tomato sauce stain from your rug, you can buy a citrus oxygen cleaner and add some drops inside warm water. Apply the solution subtly on the stained spot. Prepare a half cup of white vinegar and a cup of water in a container after that to rinse the citrus oxygen cleaner. Then, dry off the spot using a small towel.
Alcohol Stains on Rug
To clear off alcohol stains from your rug, turn a few drops of a liquid washer into a sizable bowl of water, and add about one-fourth teaspoon of white vinegar. Gently paste the solution on the alcohol stain spot. Then rinse and dry off after a few minutes.
Paint Stains on Rug
If either acrylic or latex paint accidentally drops on your area rug, you can mix detergent with water and clean the stain off before it becomes dry. But if it persists, you can clean the spot with rubbing alcohol. The stain will clear off after some dabbing. Stains from oil-based paint are not as easy to remove. You'll need to scrub the spot gently with white spirits or use some other spot-cleaning techniques. However, ensure that the cleaner does not penetrate too deep into the rug.
Coffee Stains on Rug
To clear of coffee stains on your rug, apply some drops of a carpet cleaner. Or you can mix detergent and white vinegar in a bowl, apply to the spot and rinse off. Don't forget to pat dry.
Urine/feces Stains on Rug
If you have babies in the house, you cannot avoid having this type of stains on your rug. But you can get rid of them in no time. A citrus oxygen cleaner is helpful here. Just apply, blot, rinse, and dry off.
Rug stains are regular unpleasant things that you must get rid of from time to time, especially if you are a clean freak. Still, they are less conspicuous in some area rugs than they are in others. Shop through Luxe Weavers’ quality Area rugs for the most suitable one for your home.