A great way to start is by making sure that family and guests remove their outdoor shoes before walking across your area rug. This will minimize the amount of dirt that accumulates on it. As dirt particles can damage rug fibers, less dirt means less damage. For most of our area rugs, a daily to weekly vacuuming with a manufacturer’s approved appliance will suffice to keep them feeling and looking fresh. If your rug is in an area with light to medium traffic, a twice-weekly vacuuming will be fine. However, for rugs in heavy-traffic areas, a quick daily vacuuming is recommended. Other preventative maintenance tips include: placing carpet protectors under furniture legs, reducing the area rug’s exposure to direct sunlight, and limiting the amount of (heavy) furniture moving.
Rug Cleaning Tips
For vacuum cleaning tips for our Shaw Floors area rugs, visit this website.
For shag area rugs, it’s very important to protect the cable yarn when vacuuming. Not only can long yarns on from the area rug wrap around your vacuum’s beater bar, also known as a rotator brush, but the brush itself can damage your rug’s fibers. To prevent such damage, before vacuuming, consult your vacuum manual to see about disconnecting the beater bar. Once it’s disconnected, set your vacuum to the lowest height setting, which provides the best suction. You may also want to consider buying a carpet rake to loosen any soil before vacuuming.
Tips & Resources
Professional Cleaning:
We also recommend that, on occasion throughout the year, you either arrange for a professional carpet cleaning (especially one using the hot water extraction method) or that you shampoo your area rug yourself. Just be sure to consult – and follow – the manufacturer’s cleaning guidelines beforehand to ensure maximum effectiveness and a beautiful end result. An additional cleaning tip worth noting is to never dry clean your area rugs or use bleach on them. Consider making periodic cleaning of your area rug a part of your annual spring and summer cleaning routines.
Stain Removal
No matter how careful you are, and how much you stick to your care and maintenance routine, your area rug will still most likely fall victim to the occasional spill, dirt or mess over time, especially if you have kids or pets. Many of our area rugs are sold with stain-resistant technology built into the fibers, just like with Shaw Floors carpet with R2X Stain and Soil Protection. This makes cleaning common household stains a cinch! Watch how the R2X technology repels stains and soils in carpets and area rugs here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To0x5kBqP80&feature=youtu.be)
Your first instinct when it comes to common household spills, stains or soils on your area rug, like spilled juice, soda or wine and bloodstains or pet accidents, is to immediately start cleaning up the mess. However, we recommend first and foremost you establish whether it’s an oil-based stain or a water-based stain, and then consult our common stain removal guides. Since some messes will just wipe away with a cleaning cloth and others will require comprehensive stain removal directions, it’s best to consult our common stain removal guide to see how best to tackle each particular mess. (https://shawfloors.com/flooring/how-to/carpet/carpet-care-maintenance/order-r2x-carpet-stain-soli-remover)
Before making your new area rug purchase, speak your flooring representatives at Floors by Roberts about Shaw R2X Stain and Soil Carpet Remover, which boasts the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval among other certificates and seals of approval. We sell this product at our store location, and you can also order additional bottles online. (https://shawfloors.com/shopping/r2x-cleaner)
Additional resources:
Below is a list of additional care and maintenance tips plus stain removal resources to help keep your area rugs looking stunning.
Preventative Maintenance: https://shawfloors.com/flooring/how-to/rugs/care-maintenance/bound-rug-care-and-maintenance
The Lowdown on Rug Pads: https://shawfloors.com/flooring/how-to/rugs/care-maintenance/do-you-really-need-a-rug-pad
Common Household Stains: https://shawfloors.com/flooring/how-to/carpet/carpet-care-maintenance/carpet-cleaning
Vacuum Guidelines: https://shawfloors.com/flooring/how-to/carpet/carpet-care-maintenance/vacuuming-carpet
Vacuum Recommendations: https://shaw.app.box.com/v/vacuum-list-from-shaw
About Shaw R2X Technology: https://shawfloors.com/flooring/how-to/carpet/carpet-care-maintenance/order-r2x-carpet-stain-soli-remover
Shaw R2X Stain and Soil Protection in your Area Rug: https://shawfloors.com/inspiration/design-tips/decorating-with-a-rug-on-your-living-room-hardwood
