In most houses, carpets tend to be made of tougher material. It’s a pragmatic choice – your carpets will have to put up with plenty of abuse on the daily.

Rugs on the other hand tend to be more ornamental. Most use them to highlight specific rooms or to fit a certain style.

As such, there’s much more variation in terms of material and durability.

Consequently, deep cleaning a rug is different from cleaning your carpet. It often involves completely different techniques and tools.

Want to learn how to deep clean a rug? Read on to find out!

 

1) Start with a quick vacuum

Vacuuming is step one of deep cleaning a rug.

While it mightn’t rid your rug of deep stains and messes, it removes surface-level dirt and debris, making the rest of the job significantly easier.

Here are a couple pointers when it comes to vacuuming a rug:

• Start gently using a lower setting
• Make sure your rug is completely dry
• Don’t forget to vacuum both sides
• Zero in on discoloured areas

Once you’ve finished going over it with a vacuum, you can move on to the next step…

 

2) Check the label

Like we mentioned before, rugs tend to be ornamental in nature. That means materials too delicate for carpet use often find their way into rugs.

These materials often require special treatment. If you don’t know where to start, be sure to check for any special instruction on the tag.

Here are some things that you also need to consider, each of which can influence the approach you take:

• Type of dye used
• Material type (and any associated requirements)
• The manner of creation (hand or machine made)
• The backing (is it thick or thin?)

Each of these factors will influence which methods you use to deep clean your rug.

For example, if your rug uses material or dye that’s sensitive to moisture, then steam cleaning might not be appropriate.

 

3) Use mild dishwashing liquid soap and water

Depending on the information you uncover in the previous step (in particular, type of rug material and dye used), you can get to work.

Mild dishwashing liquid and warm water can be surprisingly effective at loosening stains and messes. Follow up by scrubbing your rug with a sponge or soft brush.

Be sure to use a safe combination to clean your carpet – you don’t want to accidentally leave yourself with bleached spots on your rug! Never use strong or harsh chemicals, even if you’re sure that your rug can handle it.

If you’re unsure, consult with Doctor Google to learn what your rug can and can’t handle.

You can even perform a test run if you want! Try putting a small amount of solution on an isolated part of the rug and leave it for a couple of hours, keeping a lookout for any reactions or colour changes.

4) Perform spot cleaning

Once again, only do this if you’re 100% confident your rug can handle it.

Vinegar is a surprisingly effective at dissolving stains – better yet, you can find it in just about any home.

Even more effective is steam cleaning. If you have a steam cleaner at home, we suggest you put it to good use!

Generally speaking, you’ll want to restrict vinegar to spot cleaning. And even then, only if the previous step isn’t yielding results. There’s no need to risk damage if you can avoid it!

 

5) Rinse and dry

After cleaning the rug, make sure to clear any soap suds by rinsing it with water.

Once that’s done, squeeze as much water out and put your rug out to dry.

When drying a rug, be sure to loosen up fibers first – you don’t want them clumping up together. Additionally, be sure your rug is flat while drying. That doesn’t necessarily mean laying it on a flat surface – hanging it up works too.

Just make sure there aren’t any folds in it – otherwise, it might dry up with giant creases in the middle!

 

6) Ask help from a professional carpet cleaner if you can’t DIY

Not all rugs are the same!

If you’re unsure how to clean your carpet or aren’t confident that these solution are appropriate, get in contact with a professional carpet cleaner.

Their experience and know-how can be hugely helpful, and can help you avoid ruining your rug by accident.

No matter what type of rug you have, a professional carpet cleaning service is able to offer advice on how to deep clean your rugs. They can even do it for you!

Get your rug cleaned by an expert!

Call MasterClean Carpet Care!

Need with your cleaning? Don’t know how to deep clean a rug yourself? Let a professional take care of it for you!

MasterClean Carpet Care specialises in cleaning your carpets and rugs. We knows what tools and specific cleaning techniques work for your rugs.

We use power hot water extraction cleaning. This is an advanced form of steam cleaning that combines heat, high-pressure steam, proven cleaning agents and water extraction.

What does this mean for your rug? More effective, faster drying rug cleaning that can be applied to a huge range of rugs, that’s what!

We also offer a range of unique techniques for rugs that require need special attention. If your rug is sensitive to heat, rest assured – we also offer alternative services that protect your material and stop your dyes from running.

Book our team of master carpet cleaners: call now on 1300 556 748 or request a quote online to bring the life back to your rugs and carpets.