How to Clean a Vintage Oriental Rug

Vintage Oriental rugs require special care and cleaning. Cleaning an Oriental rug too frequently or incorrectly can wear out the fibers and ruin the rug. It's important to know the right way to clean a vintage Oriental rug. Since it is best to avoid having to clean an oriental rug at all, the best preventative measure that can be taken is to simply not let the rug get dirty to begin with. Sometimes accidents can't be avoided, but if you never allow anyone to walk on the rug with shoes and keep it away from pets, there's no reason it should get dirty.

Rug shampoo
Cool water
Bucket
Soft long hair brush
Laundry brush
Rubber squeegee
Vacuum

Instructions

- 1
  Vacuum both sides of the oriental rug.
- 2
  Mix cool water and rug shampoo in a bucket. Refer to the instructions on the rug shampoo bottle for the soap to water ratio.
- 3
  Dip a soft, long haired brush into the soapy water and then firmly scrub the pile. Scrub in the direction of the nap in a linear motion.
- 4
  Wet the nap with soapy water until it is very damp.
- 5
  Wash the fringes with a laundry brush and soapy water, brushing away from the pile.
- 6
  Squeegee the excess water out of the rug by wiping the pile repeatedly in the direction of the nap until there is no more water.
- 7
  Lay the rug on a clean, flat surface to dry. When the nap feels dry, turn the rug over. The other side will need some time to finish drying.

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